Class 3A Sectional Reactions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A field of nearly 100 Class 3A basketball programs was quickly whittled down to just 16 Sectional champions last week. Before the 16 remaining teams move on to Saturday's Regional round let's take a quick look back at the opening rounds of the IHSAA Boy's Basketball State Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Team to Watch</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Bend Washington has spent most of the season ranked in the Prep Hoops Indiana Class 3A Top 10. They were #8 in the final regular season poll and certainly a contender to win Sectional 19. However, #2 ranked Mishawaka Marian, the defending state runner-up, would be their first game of the tournament. The Panthers avenged a 20-point loss from January 27th to pull off the 43-41 upset. Then, Washington took down South Bend St. Joseph 62-61 in overtime to cut down the nets. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='868232' first='Marcus' last='Northern'] hit the game-winner over Marian and is playing at a high level. Watch out for freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1561449' first='Steven' last='Reynolds III'] as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Biggest Upset</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fort Wayne Dwenger entered Sectional 21 with a 9-13 record and wouldn't have been considered a top contender to cut down the nets. However, they rattled off three consecutive wins culminating in the upset victory over Concordia Lutheran to win Sectional 21. 6'8" senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1049161' first='Preston' last='Ross'] was outstanding throughout the tournament leading the Bishops to the Regional round where they will take on Twin Lakes. Their 36-33 win over Concordia Lutheran was certainly one of the most surprising scores of the Sectional championship round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Best Game</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Sectional 28 championship game between defending state champion Beech Grove and Cardinal Ritter went down to the final seconds. With 30 seconds left in the game senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1530699' first='Jeremiah' last='Alexander'] hit a pair of go-ahead free throws to secure the 51-50 victory for the Hornets fifth straight sectional championship. Beech Grove will take on Indian Creek on Saturday at the Lebanon Regional.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Best Individual Performance</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Peru knocked off two very good teams in Oak Hill and Norwell in back-to-back games to win Sectional 23. Their path the title was led by talented junior wing [player_tooltip player_id='1158198' first='Matthew' last='Roettger']. He started the tournament off with 26 points and 8 rebounds against Mississinewa and then 18 points and 9 rebounds against Oak Hill. In the championship game against #4 Norwell, Roettger finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Tigers to their second straight Sectional title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->