2A Regional: Preview, Predictions, and Notes

<p>The first week of the State Playoffs are complete and we are looking ahead to this Saturday and the day long fight that is Regionals. Today, we take a look at the matchups in the 2A Regionals in preparation for this weekend’s games.</p> <p><strong>HOST: North Judson<br /> </strong>Game 1: Fort Wayne Blackhawk vs. Churubusco <br /> Game 2: LaVille vs. Bowman</p> <p><strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Notes</strong>: I would say that 3 out of the 4 teams that are in this Regional were projected to be here with Churubusco being a slight surprise here. Churubusco is a great team but just looking at their Sectional on paper, some maybe thought that Central Noble or Westview would be playing Blackhawk here. Blackhawk won their Sectional with ease as expected. Same can be said with the other 2 teams in here, LaVille and Bowman, as they really showed no signs of struggles in their respective Sectionals.</p> <p><strong>Biggest Surprise To Get Here</strong>: Going back to Churubusco on this one. Looking at their Sectional on paper, I would automatically put [player_tooltip player_id="874125" first="Landen" last="Jordan"] and the Eagles as the third favorite behind Westview and Central Noble to have won that. They got hot at the right time having won 6 straight before entering the post-season. No matter what your take on Churubusco is, they for sure have earned this spot in this Regional.</p> <p><strong>My</strong> <strong>Prediction</strong>: By pretty much a landside, I am going with Blackhawk to win the North Judson Regional. Just too stacked of team with Purdue commit [player_tooltip player_id="529561" first="Caleb" last="Furst"] and SG [player_tooltip player_id="569345" first="Zane" last="Burke"]. Expect LaVille to barely get by Bowman to meet Blackhawk in the final game. I expect Blackhawk to easily get passed Churubusco and LaVille to slightly give them a challenge.</p> <p><strong>HOST: Lapel<br /> </strong>Game 1: Rossville vs. Wapahani<br /> Game 2: Rochester vs. Blackford</p> <p><strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Notes</strong>: Blackford (21-5) and Wapahani (20-5) are no question the two best teams in this Regional. Blackford has not lost a game since Feb 11^th and Wapahani has only lost once in their last 10 games. Rossville (18-7) had kind of an up-and-down year and was able squeak out of their Sectional beating Western Boone by 2. Rochester blew out Winamac in their first Sectional game and beat Rensselaer by 8 in 2OT to get here.</p> <p><strong>Biggest</strong> <strong>Surprise</strong> <strong>To Get Here</strong>: Rochester, but just slightly. Their Sectional was not necessarily “loaded” but I probably would have predicted Rensselaer here instead of them. Just had a real inconsistent season and at this point in the season it is usually the teams that have consistently played great that make a run. It is just really hard to trust Rochester at this point.</p> <p><strong>My</strong> <strong>Predictions</strong>: Such a huge tossup between Wapahani and Blackford but I am going to go with [player_tooltip player_id="647199" first="Luke" last="Brown"] and Blackford just barely. Along with Brown’s teammate, [player_tooltip player_id="875779" first="Brandon" last="Stroble"], Blackford is going to have a tough matchup against another great due in Wapahani’s [player_tooltip player_id="875760" first="Andrew" last="Luce"] and [player_tooltip player_id="875772" first="David" last="SpenceIII"]. The atmosphere is going to be crazy and this could arguably be the best 2A game of the day. This will be a dog fight that could go either way.  </p> <p><strong>HOST: Greenfield-Central<br /> </strong>Game 1: Covenant Christian vs. South Decatur<br /> Game 2: Park Heritage vs. Shenandoah</p> <p><strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Notes</strong>: All 4 teams have played great all year. Covenant Christian (19-7) has won their last 6 games. Park Heritage (23-3) has not lost a game since January. Shenandoah (23-2) beat all 3 of their Sectional opponents (Knightstown, Cambridge City Lincoln, Northeastern) by 12+ points. South Decatur (24-2) has won the most games out of all 4 teams. Overall, this is a pretty even Regional.</p> <p><strong>Biggest</strong> <strong>Surprise</strong> <strong>To Get Here</strong>: Covenant Christian. Looking at Sectional 42, many people had University facing South Decatur here. Though [player_tooltip player_id="785250" first="Noah" last="Hedrick"] and Covenant struggled to get past Indianapolis Howe in the first round, the Warriors were able to defeat both Heritage Christian and Park Tudor by double-digits. All 4 teams are good, but Covenant Christian just sticks out a little among the rest.</p> <p><strong>My</strong> <strong>Predictions</strong>: This one was by far the toughest group for me to predict here. But with that said, I am going to go with Shenandoah. When looking at the roster of each team, I just feel as though Shenandoah has the best built squad with those group of juniors led by SG [player_tooltip player_id="783204" first="Andrew" last="Bennett"]. I have a weird feeling that Covenant Christian will upset South Decatur and meet Shenandoah in the championship game.   </p> <p><strong>HOST: Southridge<br /> </strong>Game 1: South Spencer vs. Providence<br /> Game 2: Linton-Stockton vs. Crawford County</p> <p><strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Notes</strong>: Linton (24-2) and South Spencer (22-4) lead this group as far as the best teams in this Regional. Both squads have been in the Top 10 for most of the year and have proven how good they can be. Providence (18-7) Coach Ryan Miller has his team playing great in his first year and has them riding a 5 game win-streak heading into the game versus South Spencer. Crawford County (14-11) is the odd team out here but is playing their best ball at the right time.  </p> <p><strong>Biggest</strong> <strong>Surprise</strong> <strong>To Get Here</strong>: Crawford County by far. [player_tooltip player_id="875795" first="Colton" last="Nickelson"] and the Wolfpack shocked Paoli last weekend in the Sectional 46 Championship game beating them 36-34. This was Crawford County’s first Sectional Championship since 2017. I think it is pretty well-established that the Wolfpack is the “Cinderella Team” in all of the 2A Regionals.   </p> <p><strong>My</strong> <strong>Predictions</strong>: Linton-Stockton is going to win this one. Really was not that hard to predict here as [player_tooltip player_id="783147" first="Lincoln" last="Hale"] and Linton have been one of the best teams in 2A all year. I see them easily getting past Crawford County and facing South Spencer in the final game. [player_tooltip player_id="874144" first="Jace" last="Kelly"] and South Spencer have the talent to give Linton fits but stopping Hale will be a tough task. Linton wins their second straight Regional and continues their path to a State Championship.  </p>