Sectional Draw: 2A South Breakdown
The Sectional Draw was last night and we are beginning our look and preparation for the upcoming week of elimination games. Today, we have our Sectional-by-Sectional Breakdown in 2A South.
Sectional 41: Hagerstown
Breakdown: With Sectional 41, look for a number of teams that will be in on this one. John Harrell has four teams predicted between 32 and 19% chance. Union County, Hagerstown, Northeaster, and Centerville in that order. With that, the draw is very valuable and those two winners are Hagerstown and Centerville. Centerville more so because they were able to avoid Union County and Hagerstown. Union County has done really well this year but Northeastern was able to beat them earlier this month. With that, you still have to look at Union County as the favorite but Centerville could be a sneaky pick.
Best First Round Matchup: Cambridge City Lincoln vs. Union County
Prediction: Union County
Sleeper: Centerville
Sectional 42: Shenandoah
Breakdown: At Shenandoah, like it has been for a while now, look for Shenandoah and Indianapolis Howe as the two teams to beat. They are setup to meet in the Sectional Championship game but things could change a bit this year as Eastern Hancock and Irvington Prep have had really good seasons and those are the two teams Shenandoah would have to go through. Howe on the other hand, will get two relatively easy games before Saturday. Howe is a 65.1% favorite with Shenandoah up next at 13.8%. If we are going for a sleeper here, look for Irvington Prep who has the bye game.
Best First Round Matchup: Eastern Hancock vs. Shenandoah
Prediction: Indianapolis Howe
Sleeper: Irvington Prep
Sectional 43: Speedway
Breakdown: At Speedway, there are a ton of options to pick from with many storylines. Do you go with Park Tudor who has been bad all year but is extremely young and just got a transfer eligible? What about Heritage Christian who has upset teams the last two years and been in all their games. What about Scecina or Arlington who look like the best two teams on paper? Tons of options but Harrell gives Scecina a 40.9% chance to win. We like them as well especially with their draw but don’t be surprised if Park Tudor plays their best ball of the season now and shocks some teams.
Best First Round Matchup: Heritage Christian vs. Indianapolis Arlington
Prediction: Indianapolis Scecina
Sleeper: Park Tudor
Sectional 44: South Putnam
Breakdown: At South Putnam, John Harrell gives Cloverdale the advantage at 37% with Monrovia, Covenant Christian, and Cascade right behind them. However, with Cloverdale and Monrovia playing each other in the first round, how will that change the percentages because Cascade and Covenant are on the opposite side and have the easier path. Games against Sectional opponents have been close all year with only game or two where there was a big point difference. This isn’t so wide open but I believe it will be very close and competitive and if you see an “upset” or two don’t be shocked.
Best First Round Matchup: Cloverdale vs. Monrovia
Prediction: Cloverdale
Sleeper: Cascade
Sectional 45: Southwestern (Hanover)
Breakdown: Looking at Sectional 45, Harrell predicts the winner as Southwestern at 65.4%. They are 20-2 at this point in the year and they have been very good and should be the runaway favorite as the next best team is Milan at 13-9. However, those two teams just played last week and Milan lost by only two. With the way the draw sets up, it should be those two in the final and would be a little bit of a surprise if anyone else really threatened. With that, Milan is our sleeper team to watch to see if they can actually pull off the upset on Saturday.
Best First Round Matchup: Milan vs. North Decatur
Prediction: Southwestern (Hanover)
Sleeper: Milan
Sectional 46: Paoli
Breakdown: At Paoli, you have a number of teams in the mix. Look for Paoli and Henryville, who open up against each other, as the two teams to be favored. Paoli at 31.8% and Henryville at 21.2% by John Harrell. Outside of the top tow, Clarksville, Austin, and Crawford County have decent chances. Our sleeper pick here is Crawford County because they got the bye game and avoid Paoli/Henryville until Saturday.
Best First Round Matchup: Henryville vs. Paoli
Prediction: Paoli
Sleeper: Crawford County
Sectional 47: North Knox
Breakdown: For North Knox, this might be the second best Sectional behind Lapel. Linton-Stockton, South Knox, and Eastern Greene are all set up to do very well. It was unlikely South Knox and Linton-Stockton would not face each other as the overwhelming favorites so them playing in the first round is okay. Linton is the heavy favorite at 66.1%. However, much of that is due to the fact they are though to beat Linton and in turn knocking down South Knox’s chances. Even so, Linton looks setup to go far beyond this Sectional. One other team to watch is Eastern Green who gets put on the much, much easier side with winnable games over North Knox and Mitchell.
Best First Round Matchup: Linton-Stockton vs. South Knox
Prediction: Linton-Stockton
Sleeper: Eastern Greene
Sectional 48: Castle
Breakdown: Castle will host the Tecumseh Sectional this year and will have some really interesting teams in it. Forest Park is really good and predicted to win at 56.1% by John Harrell. However, North Posey and Evansville Mater Dei are the teams to watch. North Posey got the good draw on the opposite side of Forest Park. Mater Dei is a very large team with some imposing players to make life difficult and the draw against Tell City could be a good one for them.
Best First Round Matchup: Evansville Mater Dei vs. Tell City
Prediction: Forest Park
Sleeper: North Posey