Preseason Team Rankings: #39

<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 #39.</p> <p><b>1A #39: South Central-Union Mills  </b><br /> The Satellites are coming off a very bad record of 4-19 with a blowout loss to Trinton in Sectional last season. There is some room for excitement, however, as this squad will return a majority of their varsity starters.They will be led by Zack Christy (12.3 ppg), who is a senior shooting guard that loves to finish at that basket. They will also be led by powerful, 6'7 center Brendan Car (11.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg). In order for this team to have success, junior guard Brady Glisic (6.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and the entire team will need to all step up. If they do not take the next step, their Sectional will be extremely hard to come out of. However, this is a team that has the experience to show improvement.    </p> <p><strong>2A #39: North Posey</strong><br /> The Vikings are coming off a 8-17 record with a blowout loss to Tell City in Sectional to add to that. They will return a majority of their players so there is a lot of room for improvement this season. All eyes this season will be locked on the Ricketts brothers, Josiah and Johnathan. Josiah is a fantastic shooting guard who averaged 22.7 ppg last season. His younger brother Jonathan, sophomore center, will take care of the post as he averaged 9.9 ppg and 7.5 rpg. Look for senior point guard Camden Bender to step-up yet continue his great passing (4.4 apg) this upcoming season. This is a good team but needs to be more active on defense. With being in a loaded Sectional, defense should be the focus of improvement as the offense should already be solid. North Posey has a chance to be a special team this season. </p> <p><strong>3A #39: Tri-West</strong><br /> Coming off a 10-13 record, three of the top four scorers for the Bruins will be returning this upcoming season. This is going to be a mature team that has lots of varsity experience. All eyes will be on junior guard Luke Robertson (10.1 ppg, 4.0 apg, 5.1 rpg), who was arguably their best overall player last year. The other two returning scorers are Taylor Gardner (10.2 ppg) and Dawson Wolfe (9.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg), both who are stud guards/forwards who will be crucial for the team's success this season. Overall, it will be extremely hard for this squad to come out of a loaded Sectional if the entire team does not take a step forward this year. Can Tri-West return to being a dominant program? They have the talent to certainly do so.      </p> <p><strong>4A #39: New Albany<br /> </strong>The Bulldogs are coming off a great 18-7 record but was followed by a blowout loss to Jeffersonville in Sectional. Though their record may seem to say otherwise, this is a team that seems to still be trying to find its identity since the graduation of Romeo Langford two years ago. For this season, junior Jaylen Thompson is looking to be the leader for this team. Look for stud sophomores Caleb Daily and Kaden Stanton to take a leap forward this year as well. Even though there are still some question with New Albany, they still should be one of the top teams in the conference. Their Sectional will be competitive with teams like Jeffersonville, Floyd Central, and Bedford North Lawrence, but the Bulldogs should be up for the fight like always.    </p>