3 For 3: Week 10 Preview

The high school boys’ basketball season is underway and even though we could face some challenges throughout the year, 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 [player_tooltip player_id="783142" first="Colson" last="Montgomery"] – 6’5 2021 SG – Southridge: What a weekend Montgomery just had. He and Southridge took on Greensburg and even though they lost, Montgomery dropped 38 points and had 7 rebounds to go with it. He is a tall guard with great skill and athletic ability. He is a top player playing in the state at both basketball and baseball and overall is just an elite athlete. If you have not seen this guy play, I would highly recommend you do that before the season ends. Two big games for Southridge this week as they face both Forest Park (1/29) and Washington (1/30). Watch for Colson to continue his high scoring this week and for the rest of the season. [player_tooltip player_id="783171" first="Vinny" last="Buccilla"] – 6’1 2021 PG – Hamilton Southeastern: Buccilla is a tall guard who can shoot the ball very well. He can really mix up his game well on the offense with playing both on and off the ball. Great on the defensive end and matches up well with players at any size. For the past few years, Buccilla has been a glue type player for Hamilton Southeastern and has been playing a fairly high level. Even though HSE has only been having an okay season thus far, Vinny has been the one shining light for them. He has a few college offers and could probably come in right away and help out given the right opportunity. He and the Royals have a challenging week ahead, Connersville (1/26) and Noblesville (1/29), but expect Buccilla to show up and have two great games. Still a ton of upside in this senior. [player_tooltip player_id="868247" first="Jaxson" last="Gould"] – 6’2 2023 SG – Warsaw: Jaxson is an elite scoring guard with size and athleticism. Very creative player and good about hunting his shot down and getting the best look possible. He seems to always put up a ton of points, especially from behind the arc where he can shoot lights out. Very smart underclassman on the court and just knows how to play the game. Warsaw is currently 8-7 and has two really good opportunities for two wins this weekend facing Northwood on Friday and at Elkhart on Saturday. No question that Gould is going have two big games this weekend because this player is special and is going to be a big time prospect sooner rather than later. 3 Teams Homestead (4A): Is there any team hotter than Homestead in the state right now? 16-0 and have recently beaten teams like Blackhawk, Warren Central, Snider, St. Joseph, and the number one ranked team in 4A Lawrence North this past weekend. They are being led by the two B1G commits [player_tooltip player_id="529568" first="Luke" last="Goode"] (Illinois) and [player_tooltip player_id="1063961" first="Fletcher" last="Loyer"] (Purdue). They a team that every coach would dream of with a mix of D1 players, seniors with experience like [player_tooltip player_id="783208" first="Preston" last="Barker"], and underclassman with potential. They play as a team and can really dominate at all levels. They play Fort Wayne Northrop on Friday before an interesting game against 11-0 Peru on Saturday. Expect them to continue their dominance through this week and snag two more wins. This team should be the favorites to win it all at 4A level at this moment. This team is just flat out overflowing with talent. Beach Grove (3A): The Hornets have had a really good season so far. 10-3 and have beaten teams like New Palestine, Park Tudor, Decatur Central, and others. What they have been doing so well is winning the games they are supposed to win. On the other hand, the 3 losses have been against the best teams on their schedule so it is kind of hard to see just how good this team really is. They have a solid roster of players like Cam Brown, Rylan Horen, and others that have been huge pieces for this team. This weekend is a huge opportunity for them to climb the ranks of 3A with games against 12-1 Plainfield (1/29) and Avon (1/30). If they can win both games this weekend, especially versus Plainfield, then they might be able to crack the top 10 in 3A. Orleans (1A): The Bulldogs have quietly been having an awesome season. 10-1 with their only loss being against the always tough Barr-Reeve squad. They have a real experienced and talented roster led by seniors Devyn Martin and Griffin Deckard. This weekend is the start of a brutal last half of the season schedule, however. They host Borden on Friday before traveling to face a great North Daviess team. This is an opportunity for them to add two more to the winning column before they go onto the face the tough teams like Loogootee, Paoli, and Edgewood. The number 13th ranked team in 1A currently with chances to rise up in the coming weeks. 3 Matchups Blackford (2A) at Madison-Grant (2A) – Jan. 26th, 7:30 pm: This game could make an argument as the best 2A matchup on paper this week. [player_tooltip player_id="647199" first="Luke" last="Brown"] and Blackford are currently in the top five in 2A and even though they are not currently ranked, [player_tooltip player_id="963931" first="Kaden" last="Howell"] and Madison-Grant are 11-2 and have had a great season in their own right. The story for this game is all about Madison-Grant here trying to prove a point. Prove that they belong in the rankings and prove that Howell can compete with the elite players like Brown. They have the homecourt advantage and most certainty will put up a fight, but Blackford is good on so many levels. Blackford should be the winner when the dust settles. Silver Creek (3A) at Bloomington South (4A) – Jan. 29th, 7:30 pm: Just when people started to right off Bloomington South, they turn around and put up 12 wins with only 4 losses. Now they have not beaten super tough teams but, they have a chance to do so with Silver Creek coming to town. Silver Creek just came off a shocking loss to New Albany over the weekend so you know they are going to come into this game fired up and hungry. This is the big opportunity for South to knock off an elite team and show that they have not gone anywhere. Senior studs [player_tooltip player_id="783201" first="Joseph" last="Bomba"] and [player_tooltip player_id="874119" first="Trevor" last="Taylor"] are going to have to be nearly perfect if they want to knock off [player_tooltip player_id="569321" first="Kooper" last="Jacobi"] and [player_tooltip player_id="529572" first="Trey" last="Kaufman"]. I think Silver Creek is going to come in here with a "must-win" mentality and get the much needed road dub. Cathedral (4A) vs Crispus Attucks (4A) – Jan. 25th, 7:30 pm: In what has been a grueling Indianapolis City Alliance Tournament, we finally have a championship game with Cathedral and Attucks going at each other tonight. So much elite talent in this game with players like [player_tooltip player_id="783162" first="Vincent" last="Brady"], [player_tooltip player_id="870212" first="Tayshawn" last="Comer"], [player_tooltip player_id="769665" first="Peter" last="Moe"], [player_tooltip player_id="783150" first="Donovan" last="Barnett"], [player_tooltip player_id="868236" first="Qushawn" last="Ware"], and [player_tooltip player_id="868218" first="Jalen" last="Hooks"]. Both teams have just lost only a combined 3 games and have been playing a high level for most of the season. This game is going to be exciting and fast-paced throughout with elite prospects showing what they can do. Expect a back-and-forth battle with Cathedral being crowned the champs.