Sectional Preview: 46
The coming high school season is almost upon us. With that, we are taking a look at each Sectional in the state. Starting with 64 and ending with 1. Today, we are previewing Sectional 46.
Austin (9-15) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Austin loses two of their top four scorers from last year but do return their leading scorer. They struggled a bit last year and with losing two of their top players they should be right around where they were last year. They may be a tad bit better but not much.
Clarksville (13-11) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Clarksville lost a lot of talent from last year and most of that talent were the primary scoring options for them. They do return their leading scorer, but after him there isn’t much there. Three seniors do return who contributed but they alone won’t be enough to carry the team this year.
Crawford County (22-7) – Lost State Final
Crawford County had a great run last year and they lose a lot of those players to graduation. They have a few players coming back that contributed last year at a high level but not enough to be able to make a deep run like they had last year. They lose a ton of leadership from last year and with that leadership goes wins.
Eastern (Pekin) (5-18) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Eastern struggled last year and this year won’t be much different. They had one good year in the last few but other than that they haven’t really done much other than a few seasons with a couple wins in each. This year won’t be much different for them.
Henryville (19-6) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Henryville loses three players but return their leading scorer, Nick Walker, who scored 18.8 a game last year. They do lose their next two leading scorers from last year but they do return a host of players including the best player in the sectional. They aren’t gonna lose their first round game this year that’s for sure.
Paoli (15-9) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Paoli doesn’t lose from their team last year and that suits them well as they are the only team that didn’t lose anyone. They have six juniors and six seniors coming back this year and they lose to be much improved. I look for them to be one of the best teams in the sectional.
Providence (22-3) – Lost Sectional Final
Providence had a great year last year but they lose seven players from that squad. This will bring the team down a little bit but I still think that they are so well coached that they could contend still this year. They won’t win 22 games again but a 13-15 win season isn’t out of the question.
Contenders For 2017-18: Crawford County, Henryville, Paoli, Providence
Prediction: Paoli
Player to Watch: Nick Walker (Henryville)