3 For 3: Week 12 Preview

The high school boys’ basketball season is underway and we at PrepHoops Indiana want to give you the absolute best coverage in the whole state. Indiana is full of great teams and talented players thus giving the fans incredible matchups every week. Join me, Kyler Staley, every Monday during the season as I preview the 3 Players, 3 Teams, and 3 Matchups to watch for that coming week. Are you ready? Let’s get started! 

3 Players

Cleevas Craig – 6’8 2020 C – Richmond: One of the best remaining centers that is still available in the 2020 class is Craig. Craig is center with  great length and a frame to his build. He is not afraid to take a few jumpers as he has pretty good form. Crashes the glass extremely well too. His team, Richmond, is having an alright season and has recently been on a hot streak with winning 7 straight. Him and the Spiders take on Kokomo on Friday.                          

Jack Townsend– 6’2 2020 SG – North Daviess: Townsend recently just had arguably his best week of his high school career. In last Thursday’s game against Bloomfield, Townsend joined the 1000 point club and broke the school record in made 3’s as he hit the 114 mark. Townsend has fallen under the radar a bit even with recently committing to Ohio Dominican. Him and the Cougars take on Northeast Dubois and North Knox this week. Keep an eye on Townsend because he is going to be a major player not only this week but for the remainder of the season.                               

Zane Burke – 6’2 2021 SG – Blackhawk Christian: Burke sometimes gets overlooked a little because he has arguably the best player in the 2021 class, Caleb Furst, on his team. However, Burke is a great player in his own right. He shoots the ball extremely well and is very automatic for the most part. Recently just had a 24 point game versus Crispus Attucks. Him and Blackhawk take on a good Fort Wayne Snider team on Tuesday. Look for Burke to have another good game.                                 

3 Teams

Beech Grove (3A): I think it is safe to say that the Hornets have just had an okay season thus far. Even with that said, they are still ranked in the top 20 in 3A and has one of best senior trios with Vincent Pich, Brice Langford, Isaac Stennett. With three very winnable games this week, I expect to see Grove get back on track and improve their record tremendously. It is not out of the question to see Grove finish with one of the better records at the end of the regular season in 3A.                                 

Bloomfield (1A): After starting the season 8-1, the Cardinals have had a roller coaster season ever since. In their last 9 games they are just 4-5 but pretty much all of their losses have been extremely close to going their way. There are some great prospects on this squad like Turner Royal, Chris Royal, and Baylin Graf. They do not have an easy week with playing two top 3A teams with traveling to Washington and hosting Sullivan. Interested to see if Bloomfield can bounce back in a big way.                                 

Shenandoah (2A): As of right now, this is the best team in all of 2A. However, they did just have suffer a loss to 4A Carroll so I am interested to see if they will bounce back. Their are lots of opportunity to wipe away that hiccup with three important games on tab this week. Expect 2021 SG Andrew Bennett and team to win these next three.                      

3 Matchups 

Lawrence Central (4A) at Center Grove (4A) – Feb 14, 7:30 pm: This is one of my top games to watch this week because I feel as though this will be a lot better than what it looks like on paper. Yes, Lawrence Central has been extremely dominate this year but Center Grove has some good talent like Landin Hacker and Tayven Jackson that could potentially snag the upset. It is going to be tough for Grove to stop players like D’Andre Davis and Nijel Pack but it should be a good game.                                 

Loogootee (1A) at Bedford North Lawrence (4A) – Feb 11, 7:30 pm: The end of the “Bailey era” is drawing to a close as 2020 SG Brayton Bailey will have his senior night on Tuesday. The Baileys, especially Damon, have been closely tied to Indiana High School basketball for decades so with this being the final time a Bailey will be playing on Bedford North Lawrence’s court, it will be emotional. However I can tell you that Loogootee is wanting to spoil that night and they could certainly do so with Silas Bauer leading them. This is one of the more interesting games this week that has BNL’s 5-game win streak in jeopardy against one of 1A’s best squads.                             

Westview (2A) at Prairie Heights (2A) – Feb 14, 7:30 pm: This will be a battle of 2 Top 10s in 2A when #6 Westview goes on the road to face #7 Prairie Heights. There is a real intriguing matchup in this game with Charlie Yoder (Westview) facing off with Elijah Malone (Heights). No matter the outcome of this game, these two squads will likely meet up again in the Sectional Championship. For this one in particular, I give the slight edge to Westview just because I believe they have a slightly more talented team. But I could easily be wrong.