Sectional Preview – Southridge Regional

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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 beginning with Sectionals 45-48 which feed into the Southridge Regional.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Sectional 45: South Ripley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Teams:</strong> Hauser, Milan, North Decatur, South Ripley, Switzerland County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Contenders:</strong> North Decatur, South Ripley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Watch:</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1299745' first='Camden' last='Craig']</strong> (Switzerland County 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1381454' first='Taeshaun' last='Tungate']</strong> (Hauser 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158200' first='Jacob' last='Williams']</strong> (Switzerland County 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1561048' first='Chase' last='Youngman']</strong> (North Decatur 2026)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Prediction: </strong>Sectional 45 features 18-win North Decatur and a pair of 11-11 teams with South Ripley and Hauser. It is hard to think that the Friday night matchup between North Decatur and the hosts, South Ripley, doesn't produce the Sectional champ. North Decatur won by 12 back in December. Hauser will be waiting in the championship for the winner, and Hauser fell to both teams by 13 during the season. Realistically, it is North Decatur's championship to lose, but I think the hosts have the best chance to rattle them on their home floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Sectional 46: Southwestern (Hanover)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Teams:</strong> Austin, Brownstown Central, Clarksville, Eastern (Pekin), Henryville, Providence, Southwestern (Hanover)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Contenders:</strong> Brownstown Central, Providence, Southwestern (Hanover)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Watch:</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1556396' first='Jakob' last='Arthur']</strong> (Brownstown Central 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158245' first='Jack' last='Benter']</strong> (Brownstown Central 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1049165' first='Jacob' last='Cherry']</strong> (Eastern-Pekin 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1296999' first='Chace' last='Coomer']</strong> (Brownstown Central 2025), <strong>Peyton Gwinn</strong> (Southwestern-Hanover 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297005' first='Colby' last='Hall']</strong> (Brownstown Central 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578457' first='Quentin' last='Hesse']</strong> (Providence 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1273735' first='Casey' last='Kaelin']</strong> (Providence 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1761700' first='Jamison' last='Lewis']</strong> (Southwestern-Hanover 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1287890' first='Noah' last='Lovan']</strong> (Providence 2024)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Prediction:</strong> Sectional 46 could be the best Sectional in the state with five 15-win teams in the Sectional. Brownstown Central, led by Benter, has been at the top of 2A all season long. They beat Providence on the road by 10 back in November. Providence, the defending state champs, beat Southwestern (Hanover), by 26 back in early January. Brownstown Central, Providence, and Henryville should all take care of business early in the week setting up a monster Friday night with Brownstown Central vs Providence and Henryville vs Southwestern. I am going out on a limb here to say that Providence, who is a much different team since Kaelin came back from injury, will bring home the title for the second year in a row. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Sectional 47: North Knox</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Teams:</strong> Eastern Greene, Linton-Stockton, Mitchell, North Knox, Paoli, South Knox, Sullivan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Contenders:</strong> Linton-Stockton, Paoli, South Knox, Sullivan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Player to Watch:</strong> <strong>Luke Adams</strong> (Sullivan 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1561438' first='Cooper' last='Bock']</strong> (Sullivan 2026), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297025' first='Fletcher' last='Cole']</strong> (Paoli 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868240' first='Joey' last='Hart']</strong> (Linton-Stockton 2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1560992' first='Paul' last='Oliver']</strong> (Linton-Stockton 2026), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297111' first='Sam' last='Singleton']</strong> (South Knox 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158180' first='Braden' last='Walters']</strong> (Linton-Stockton 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='935736' first='Logan' last='Webb']</strong> (Linton-Stockton 2023)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Prediction:</strong> Sectional 47 is Linton-Stockton's to lose at 22-1 this season with the one loss coming to a school in Kentucky. However, there is a clear next tier of Paoli, South Knox, and Sullivan who could all win it should one knock off the Miners. Linton beat Sullivan by 10 on a neutral floor in the Wabash Valley Classic, but they did not play the other two schools. The winners of Linton-Paoli and Sullivan-South Knox will play on Saturday night in the Championship game. I am going to take Linton, but I think they will get a scare in one of those games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Sectional 48: Tell City</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Teams:</strong> Crawford County, Forest Park, North Posey, Perry Central, South Spencer, Tell City</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Contenders:</strong> South Spencer</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Watch:</strong> <strong>Jace Berg</strong> (Forest Park 2024), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297121' first='Ty' last='Brown']</strong> (South Spencer 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297117' first='Thomas' last='Edwards']</strong> (Perry Central 2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1761699' first='Jackson' last='Graff']</strong> (North Posey 2024), <strong>Reid Howard</strong> (Forest Park 2024), <strong>Isaac Nickelson</strong> (Crawford County 2023), <strong>Collin Schipp</strong> (North Posey 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Prediction:</strong> South Spencer comes into Sectional at 20-1 with their lone loss coming in double overtime to Boonville. The Rebels are also 6-0 against Sectional opponents by an average of 22 points per game. South Spencer's only win by less than 13 points came by 3 at Forest Park who they will probably face in the finals. I am taking South Spencer to take their 23-1 record into Regional.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->