Preseason Team Rankings: #31

<p>It’s now creeping up on the start of the high school season and we are looking to start our series of previews on some of the best teams in the state. Today, Eric Gardner and Kyler Staley join up to start our deep dive into some of these teams.</p> <p>Our series will take a look at the best teams in the state for each class with our rankings. Starting at #50 and going to #1, we will look at each class ranking across all classes starting now with #31.</p> <p><b>1A #31: Shoals</b><br /> The Shoals Jug Rox are coming into this season off an impressive 17-9 record but a loss in the Sectional Championship to Barr-Reeve to add to it. They will also come into season without a solid duo of outgoing seniors Jaycobson Wagoner and Adam Sukup, both who provided big varsity minutes for them last year. They do, however, return two incoming senior studs, Tayson Wright and Max Fischer. Both Wright and Fischer were arguably the Jug Rox's best players last season and both will look to have a huge senior campaign. Though Shoals is typically a losing program, they could be on their best run of contention at the moment. They return solid talent and have a schedule that can get them some good wins before Sectional arrives.    </p> <p><strong>2A #31: Westville</strong><br /> The Blackhawks will be coming into this season off a 10-13 record a season ago. To add to a bad record, they will also lose a loaded outgoing senior class that provided a lot of their talent last season. They do return two great studs in Josh DeChantal and Jace Woods. DeChantal is a 6'4 athletic guard that runs the floor very well for his size. Wood, on the other hand, is a lengthy guard that sees the court extremely well and makes smart decisions with the ball. Look for players like Carlin Young and Alec Hannon to step up this year and provide some valuable minutes. Even though they will need lots of JV guys to fill some huge roles, they return some good pieces. Look for them to be one the favorites along with LaVille and North Judson come out of Sectional. </p> <p><strong>3A #31: New Castle</strong><br /> The Trojans will be coming off a sub-par record of 13-11 and close Sectional loss to Delta heading into this season. They will already face some challenges as they also lose their top four scorers do to graduation, one being 31.2 ppg stud Luke Bumbalough. They will need lots of players to breakout this season like junior guard Cole McDaniel (3.3 ppg). Also look for players like forwards William Grieser (1.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and Collin Blessinger (1.3 ppg) to step up and be leaders on the court. This is a team that is going to need to find ways to make-up 31.2 ppg that they have lost already. Though all signs seem to be pointing towards a down year, this is a squad that has the talent that can step up and shock some people. Look for the is well-coached team to make the necessary adjustments and make some noise come Sectional.       </p> <p><b>4A #31: Munster  </b><br /> The Mustangs are coming off a great 22-5 record and Sectional Title heading into the 2019-20 season. However, they will be coming into season having loss eleven outgoing seniors. Incoming senior point guard Josh Davis will be looking to make a leap forward this year. This 6'1 prospect has really good passing skills and takes it to the basket off the fastbreak really well. His teammate Mekhi Banks, junior guard/forward, will be bringing back his excellent perimeter shooting. Look for senior center Daniel Senisais to provide the much needed post-presence. Losing eleven seniors obviously means there are some roles to be filled. They may have lost a lot, but the Mustangs bring back enough talent to make another Sectional Championship run.  </p>