Class 2A Regional Preview: Breakdown

Kyler Staley March 11, 2022 @ 04:06 AM

Sectional play is over but we are still locked in for the State Playoffs. It is that time of year where we start looking ahead and previewing each and every Regional. Time to take a look at the pairings that make up the Class 2A Regionals.   Regional 9: North Judson The Teams: North Judson, Fort Wayne Blackhawk, Hammond Noll, Central Noble Our Contenders: North Judson, Fort Wayne Blackhawk, Central Noble Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="769682" first="Connor" last="Essegian"] (2022) - Central Noble Prediction: Besides Hammond Noll, really any of the other three teams I could see making it to semi-state. Just going to get this out of the way here, Central Noble should get through Hammond Noll easily. The other game between North Judson and Blackhawk is a little tougher to call. It really comes down to if North Judson has a guy that can matchup to [player_tooltip player_id="1042499" first="Josh" last="Furst"], which they really don’t. [player_tooltip player_id="1049181" first="Kelson" last="Jordan"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1049197" first="Ty" last="Schumacher"] are great players but Furst will be the guy to worry about with them. In the finals, expect Blackhawk and Central Noble to meet there Saturday night. This will be the first time these two teams meet this season and it should be a barnburner. [player_tooltip player_id="1042496" first="Gage" last="Sefton"] and Essegian will put up high numbers and the post matchup of Furst and [player_tooltip player_id="870256" first="Logan" last="Gard"] will be awesome. Give me Central Noble in a very close one.   Regional 10: Lapel The Teams: Tipton, Monroe Central, Rensselaer Central, Carroll (Flora) Our Contenders: Tipton, Monroe Central, Carroll (Flora) Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="1158205" first="Nolan" last="Swan"] (2024) - University Prediction: Right off the bat here, we have a game that could feature a major upset with [player_tooltip player_id="1180867" first="Samuel" last="Ridgeway"] and Tipton vs [player_tooltip player_id="870304" first="Jackson" last="Ullom"] and undefeated Monroe Central. Somehow, someway Monroe Central has just found ways to arguably be the most consistent team in the state all season. They do run into one of the better teams they will play this postseason with Swan, Ridgeway, and Conner Hussong leading this Tipton squad. It is just one of those cases where I wont believe it until I see it so I am going to go with Monroe Central to move on here. With Carroll (Flora) and Rensselaer Central, I really don’t see Rensselaer Central getting past [player_tooltip player_id="1391325" first="Owen" last="Duff"] and the Cougars. And again, until I actually see it happen, Monroe Central is the pick here.   Regional 11: Greenfield-Central The Teams: Southmont, Eastern Hancock, Triton Central, University Our Contenders: Southmont, Eastern Hancock, University Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="643481" first="Larry" last="Pierce"] (2022) - University Prediction: In all honesty, this Regional is a toss up. Two of our contenders will square off first with Southmont and Eastern Hancock. Like most matchups when it comes to Regionals, this a fresh game where the two teams did not see each other in the regular season. Southmont has a reliable wing in [player_tooltip player_id="1049184" first="Carson" last="Chadd"] whereas Eastern Hancock has one in [player_tooltip player_id="1269995" first="Landon" last="O’Neal"]. Going to go with the senior leadership of O’Neal being the one that pushes Eastern Hancock to the finals here. As far as the University and Triton Central game, I feel like Triton Central will have a tough time containing the elite athleticism of Pierce so I like University to advance here. I think Eastern Hancock is the slightly better team overall so I like to come out of the Greenfield-Central Regional.   Regional 12: Southridge The Teams: Forest Park, Paoli, Providence, Linton-Stockton Our Contenders: Linton-Stockton Player To Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="868240" first="Joey" last="Hart"] (2023) - Linton-Stockton Prediction: We can dance around this all we want to but the conclusion we are always going to come to is that Linton-Stockton is the only logical pick here to win the Southridge Regional. [player_tooltip player_id="1273735" first="Casey" last="Thomas Kaelin"] and Providence is a real tough team in their own right but they will not be able to get past the unit of Hart, [player_tooltip player_id="935736" first="Logan" last="Webb"], and [player_tooltip player_id="1158180" first="Braden" last="Walters"]. On the other side, Forest Park and Paoli are evenly matched but this Forest Park is a dangerous team so I like them to meet up with Linton in the finals. Again, it will be a tough one for Linton, but the talent almost always prevails and the Miners have the best unit of talent here. Linton is well on their way to a state championship.