Sectional Preview: Washington Regional

Kyler Staley February 24, 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 Washington Regional.   Sectional 29: Connersville The Teams: South Dearborn, Franklin County, Lawrenceburg, Connersville, Rushville, Greensburg, Batesville Our Contenders: South Dearborn, Franklin County, Lawrenceburg, Connersville, Greensburg Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="870278" first="Colin" last="Comer"] (2022) - Greensburg Prediction: Bedsides Rushville and Batesville, this Sectional could very well be wide open now. [player_tooltip player_id="1220332" first="Eli" last="Hoffman"] and South Dearborn got the advantage with the bye and will very likely play [player_tooltip player_id="870263" first="Jackson" last="Bobo"] and Lawrenceburg in the semis after they beat Rushville. Other opening round games will feature Franklin County vs Batesville and without question the biggest game of Sectional 29 between Greensburg and Connersville. [player_tooltip player_id="870269" first="Chad" last="Cox"] and Franklin County should get past Batesville but it will be a battle between Greensburg and Connersville and due to homecourt advantage, got to give the edge to the Spartans just a little bit here. In the semis, expecting Lawrenceburg to fight past South Dearborn and Connersville having a slightly easier win over Franklin County setting up a huge up a rematch between the Spartans and Tigers that just recently saw Connersville destroy them 52-31. Connersville will win this Sectional because they simply have the better surrounding talent with [player_tooltip player_id="1063975" first="Tobey" last="Billups"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1295356" first="Lucas" last="Barron"]. Plus they have been one of the best teams in 3A all season long.   Sectional 30: Salem The Teams: Silver Creek, Charlestown, North Harrison, Corydon Central, Scottsburg, Madison, Salem Our Contenders: Silver Creek, North Harrison, Corydon Central, Scottsburg Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="769684" first="Branden" last="Northern"] (2022) - Silver Creek Prediction: Another Sectional that could realistically see one of four teams win it is Sectional 30. Corydon Central (14-8) got the bye here and has been a team that has done way better than any had expected for them. They will likely play North Harrison after the Cougars beat Charlestown in the opening top half of the bracket. In the bottom half, expect Silver Creek to get past the host Salem and Scottsburg to beat Madison. The semis will probably see [player_tooltip player_id="870295" first="Logan" last="McIntire"] and North Harrison beat Corydon Central and close, hard-fought battle between [player_tooltip player_id="870241" first="Hayden" last="Cutter"] and Scottsburg and Silver Creek which should see the Dragons just barely getting by. In the finals, even though Silver Creek has a tough backcourt duo of Northern and [player_tooltip player_id="868258" first="Kaden" last="Oliver"], I think North Harrison has the better overall team, especially if McIntire goes off. North Harrison is the projected winner of Sectional 30.   Sectional 31: Princeton Community The Teams: Pike Central, Princeton, Vincennes Lincoln, Sullivan, Washington Our Contenders: Washington, Sullivan Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="870312" first="Randy" last="Kelley"] (2022) - Sullivan Prediction: The winner of Sectional 31 will be decided in the semis when Washington and Sullivan face off. In bottom half, [player_tooltip player_id="1158189" first="Julian" last="Gish"] and Pike Central should have an easy route to the finals first beating host Princeton (3-19) and then Lincoln (1-2). Going back the semi game between Sullivan and Washington, Sullivan should win this one simply due to having more talent but if Washington could somehow pull off the upset, they might win their first Sectional championship since the 2019-20 season. However, Sullivan should be the one to be cutting down the nets when it is all said and over when they beat Pike Central in the finals. Kelley plus [player_tooltip player_id="1168250" first="Jackson" last="Hills"] and [player_tooltip player_id="870315" first="Rocco" last="Roshel"] will be giving all the others teams trouble throughout the tournament.   Sectional 32: Boonville The Teams: Evansville Bosse, Boonville, Heritage Hills, Evansville Memorial, Gibson Southern, Mount Vernon (Posey) Our Contenders: Evansville Bosse, Heritage Hills Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1297118" first="Trent" last="Sisley"] (2025) - Heritage Hills Prediction: The likely two favorites to win Sectional 32 are on the opposite sides of the bracket, which is beautiful to see. Starting with Heritage Hills, they have a tougher route to the finals than Bosse does because they have to get through Gibson Southern and Evansville Memorial while Bosse will need to go though Mount Vernon (Posey) followed by host Boonville. However, don’t expect either one to get beat by any of those four as both Bosse and Hills are undefeated this year vs Sectional 32 teams. The finals here is going to be just a battle of two 13 win teams with two very talented underclassman in [player_tooltip player_id="1158192" first="Taray" last="Howell"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1297118" first="Trent" last="Sisley"] facing off. Even though Sisley is a phenom of a freshman, I think experience will hurt him a bit here and Bosse has that with senior [player_tooltip player_id="870221" first="Matt" last="Wagner"]. Bosse is my pick to win here.