Preseason Team Rankings: #1

<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 finishing now with #1.</p> <p><b>1A #1: Barr-Reeve</b><br /> Barr-Reeve is coming off of their third State Championship game in the last 6 years. The loss to Blackhawk was tough but they no longer have to worry about that. Barr-Reeve will be far and away the best team in Southern Indiana in 1A this year and they are loaded with returning players like Keegan O'Neill, Jacob Wagler, Brycen Graber, and Hagen Knepp. They will need to find some shooting to replace Gabe Gladish but this team shouldn't have any issue with toughness, defense, or talent.</p> <p><strong>2A #1: Blackhawk Christian</strong><br /> Last year, Blackhawk Christian won the 1A State Championship in pretty dominating fashion. They were as talented a 1A team as you were ever going to find. Now, they have moved up to 2A but expectations remain in place. They lost a couple talented players including Frankie Davidson but return standout Caleb Furst and Zane Burke. Add in transfer Luke LaGrange and junior Marcus Davidson and you have enough shooting ability and plenty of size all around the floor. This team should put up some crazy numbers this season and along with Andrean, should be the two teams to watch in 2A from the jump.</p> <p><strong>3A #1: Silver Creek</strong><br /> Silver Creek is coming off a State Title in 3A last year and should be right back in line to make another run. They return nearly all their pieces with Kooper Jacobi, Trey Kaufman, and Branden Northern back in the mix. They only have one senior this year so this could just be the middle of a run for this team. 3A South is no fun this year for teams as they have 4 of the best teams in 3A located there. But, none has a State Championship to their name right now like Silver Creek or the high-end talent across the board. Should be another fun season in Sellersburg.</p> <p><b>4A #1: Lawrence Central<br /> </b>Lawrence Central will come into this season as the #1 team in the state, not just in 4A but all classes. They have a superb amount of talent with D'Andre Davis and Nijel Pack leading the way. But, they are also very deep this year. D'Ante Davis has really emerged since last season and should be another high-end producer. Shawn Hart and Jasen Graves are a couple guys that can really fill in their roles well. They also have more depth that could be part-time JV guys that could step up downt he road. They have so much size and scoring ability, it might be more of an issue about how the scoring is dispearsed rather than how much they have. Regardless, this team is looking at all the pressure from every team with the target on their back but it is for good reason, they are the best team on paper.<b><br /> </b></p>