Sectional Preview – South Bend Washington Regional

It is officially almost time for Indiana High School Basketball to enter into the most exciting time of year. We have made it through over three months of regular season action and now culminate with a win-or-go-home state tournament. Here at Prep Hoops Indiana our staff will be previewing all 64 sectionals around the state over the next several days. Let's dive on in with Sectionals 17-20 which feed into the South Bend Washington Regional.   <h2>Sectional 17: Hanover Central</h2>   The Teams: Boone Grove, River Forest, Lake Station, Griffith, Highland, Hammond Noll, Calumet, Hanover Central   The Contenders: Lake Station, Hammond Noll, Hanover Central   Players to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id='1162708' first='Willie' last='Miller'] (Lake Station, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1157213' first='Jaedin' last='Reyna'] (Hammond Noll, 2024), [player_tooltip player_id='1253799' first='Chase' last='Kuzma'] (Hanover Central, 2023)   Prediction: For the most part, this is a pretty balanced bracket from top the bottom. Whoever wins Sectional 17, will legit have to win 3 games as there are no byes. The top half, you have Boone Grove vs River Forest and Lake Station vs Griffth. The bottom half, you have Highland vs Hammond Noll and Calumet vs Hanover Central. Lake Station has the easier route here to the championship and a likely meeting between Hammond Noll and Hanover Central in the semifinals will determine who plays the Fighting Eagles. I think we see the slight upset here with Noll over Hanover Central thus meeting Lake Station in the finals. Even though Noll has the ebst player in this Sectional with [player_tooltip player_id='1157213' first='Jaedin' last='Reyna'], I think Lake Station is the better overall team and will advance to the South Bend Washington Reginal.   <h2>Sectional 18: Knox</h2>   The Teams: Knox, Culver Academy, Bremen, John Glenn, Tippecanoe Valley   The Contenders: Knox, Culver Academy, John Glenn, Tippecanoe Valley   Players to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id='868239' first='Cooper' last='Farrall'] (Culver Academy - Bentley commit, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1293386' first='Fola' last='Fayemi'] (Culver Academy, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1391323' first='Brycen' last='Hannah'] (John Glenn, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1272950' first='Nolan' last='Cumberland'] (Tippecanoe Valley, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1578459' first='Riley' last='Shepherd'] (Tippecanoe Valley, 2024)   Prediction: Out of the 5 teams in Sectional 18, you legit could make a case for 4 of them to win this one. The only team that really has no chance here is Bremen as they have only won 1 game this year and don't have the talent to matchup here. However, Bremen does have a bye here and will play the winner of John Glenn and Tippecanoe Valley. Culver Academy and Knox will face off in the top half where either team only needs to win this one in order to make the finals. In the championship, I expect to see Culver Academy and Tippecanoe Valley going at it. Going to have to give the edge to Tippecanoe Valley here simply because they have more depth even though Culver Academy has the better talent in [player_tooltip player_id='868239' first='Cooper' last='Farrall'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1293386' first='Fola' last='Fayemi']. It really is a toss-up as to who could win this one.   <h2>Sectional 19: Jimtown</h2>   The Teams: South Bend Washington, Mishawaka Marian, South Bend Clay, New Prairie, Jimtown, South Bend St. Joseph   The Contenders: South Bend Washington, Mishawaka Marian, South Bend St. Joseph   Players to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id='868232' first='Marcus' last='Northern'] (South Bend Washington, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1561449' first='Steven' last='Reynolds III'] (South Bend Washington, 2026), [player_tooltip player_id='1049162' first='Deaglan' last='Sullivan'] (Mishawaka Marian, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1297002' first='Chase' last='Konieczny'] (South Bend St. Joseph, 2025)   Prediction: This bracket is extremely top heavy. South Bend Washington got a bye in the top half and will play the winner of Mishawaka Marian and South Bend Clay. In the bottom half, New Prairie got the bye and will play the winner of Jimtown and South Bend St. Joseph. The top will come down to South Bend Washington and Mishawaka Marian while I think South Bend St. Joseph will get past both Jimtown and New Prairie to advance to the championship. While it will be tough for them to get past [player_tooltip player_id='868232' first='Marcus' last='Northern'] and South Bend Washington, I see Mishawaka Marian beating them and South Bend St. Joseph to win Sectional 19. The Knights have been arguably the best 3A team all season and I see no stopping them this early in the post-season.   <h2>Sectional 20: Northwood</h2>   The Teams: Lakeland, West Noble, Fairfield, NorthWood, Wawasee   The Contenders: Lakeland, West Noble, NorthWood   Players to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id='1158635' first='Austin' last='Cripe'] (West Noble - Bethel commit, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1226596' first='Cade' last='Brenner'] (NorthWood - Huntington commit, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1391324' first='Ian' last='Raasch'] (NorthWood - Grace College commit, 2023), [player_tooltip player_id='1297122' first='Tyler' last='Raasch'] (NorthWood, 2023)   Prediction: Even though they might be the host and overall favorite to win Sectional 20, NorthWood got no favors as they have to go through 3 teams in order to accomplish their goals. However, even though it will be tough, I think they make it to the championship game. On the top half of the bracket, Lakeland and West Noble will go at it with the winner of that one going straight to the championship game. I think we are going to see a rematch between NorthWood and West Noble in the Sectional 20 Championship. NorthWood beat West Noble at West Noble 55-47 when these two met a few weeks ago and I think we get the same result here. NorthWood is the pick here simply because they have loads of talent and have the roster built to make a strong post-season run.

It is officially almost time for Indiana High School Basketball to enter into the most exciting time of year. We have made it through over three months of regular season action and now culminate with a win-or-go-home state tournament. Here at Prep Hoops Indiana our staff will be previewing all 64 sectionals around the state over the next several days. Let's dive on in with Sectionals 17-20 which feed into the South Bend Washington Regional.