Sectional Preview: Southridge Regional

Kyler Staley February 26, 2022 @ 12:00 PM

The high school season is almost over and we are getting locked in for the State Playoffs. It is that time of year where we start looking ahead and previewing each and every Sectional. Time to take a look at the pairings that make up the Southridge Regional.   Sectional 45: Southwestern (Hanover) The Teams: Switzerland County, Austin, Providence, Henryville, Clarksville, Southwestern (Hanover) Our Contenders: Providence, Southwestern (Hanover) Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1273735" first="Casey" last="Thomas Kaelin"] (2023) - Providence Prediction: Overall, Sectional 45 is pretty balanced with the two favorites, Providence and Southwestern (Hanover), on both sides. Providence has the slight edge over Southwestern (Hanover) because they have the bye and will play the winner of Switzerland County and Austin, which should be the Pacers. Southwestern (Hanover) is the host here and they the tougher route as they first will need to go through Henryville and then Clarksville in the semis. Some how some way, Providence and Southwestern (Hanover) will meet up in the finals and even though Providence beat Southwestern (Hanover) earlier this year 49-48, Southwestern (Hanover) should be about to get it done here and homecourt advantage will surely help that.   Sectional 46: Tell City The Teams: Perry Central, Tell City, Eastern (Pekin), Crawford County, Paoli Our Contenders: Perry Central, Eastern (Pekin), Paoli Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1297025" first="Fletcher" last="Cole"] (2025) - Paoli Prediction: On paper, this is a very interesting Sectional. Two of the three contenders, Perry Central and Eastern (Pekin), will play each other right off the bat with the winner heading straight to the Sectional 46 finals. Our other contender, Paoli, will play two teams that have a combines 5 wins with Crawford County first then host Tell City in the semis so they have an easy route. Going to go ahead and predict the final matchup will be Paoli and Eastern (Pekin) with Eastern (Pekin) getting the win here. This will be the Musketeers first Sectional championship win since 2014-15 season.   Sectional 47: North Knox The Teams: Mitchell, Eastern Greene, South Knox, North Knox, Linton-Stockton Our Contenders: North Knox, Linton-Stockton Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="868240" first="Joey" last="Hart"] (2023) - Linton-Stockton Prediction: Even though Linton-Stockton is the clear-cut favorite here, Sectional 47 is going to be a grind it out tournament because all 5 teams are tough. Starting at the top half, the Mitchell Bluejackets and South Knox will play in the semis right away whereas on the bottom, Linton-Stockton got the bye here and will play the winner of North Knox and Eastern Greene. With that only opening round game, even though [player_tooltip player_id="870314" first="Bryan" last="Rippy"] will give North Knox some trouble in the inside, North Knox senior guard Holtman Doades has been playing really well this year so I think the Warriors advance here before falling to Hart and the Miners. With the Mitchell and South Knox game, I actually like the upset win here by the Bluejackets cause they have played hard and I think they are on the verge of finally getting that big victory. In the finals, you got a great matchup between [player_tooltip player_id="1267685" first="Nick" last="Mundy"] and Hart but I think the difference maker could be Linton’s 2024 PF [player_tooltip player_id="1158180" first="Braden" last="Walters"]. In the last meeting, Mitchell gave Linton a battle through 3 quarters with Linton getting the 57-42 win. This is Linton’s Sectional to lose until proven otherwise.   Sectional 48: Southridge The Teams: South Spencer, Tecumseh, Evansville Mater Dei, Southridge, North Posey, Forest Park Our Contenders: South Spencer, Forest Park, Southridge, North Posey Player To Watch: Drew Howard (2022) - Forest Park Prediction: Sectional 48 is a very top heavy draw but it is more wide open than you might think. Starting with the loaded top half of the bracket, you have host Southridge vs North Posey with South Spencer getting the bye. Southridge/North Posey is a tough one to call but with homecourt advantage, Carter Whiteland and the Raiders get it done there and move onto the semis before falling to a flat out tough South Spencer squad. On the bottom half, Forest Park technically got the best draw here having to play two below .500 teams with Tecumseh first then Evansville Mater Dei in the semis. We should see South Spencer and Forest Park in the finals with South Spencer getting it done. Drew Howard is one the of toughest lead guards in Southern Indiana but [player_tooltip player_id="1063966" first="Holton" last="Compton"] and South Spencer are a tough team to beat this time of the year. South Spencer wins Sectional 48. Watch out for some big time upsets here.