Way Too Early Class 1A Top 5

<p>The month of June is all about getting back to Indiana High School Basketball. After two months on various grassroots circuits, players return to their high school teams for workouts, summer leagues, and various shootouts. This is always a good opportunity to get an early look at which groups are ahead of the pack going into next season. Also, you will begin to see where transfers have landed and who are some up-and-coming prospects ready to breakout as they get a year older. Now that we have a couple of weeks under our belts like take a way too early look at the five best teams in the state starting with Class 1A.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#1 Indianapolis Lutheran Saints</h2>   <p>Fresh off of winning the Class 1A state championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in March, the Saints return enough to earn preseason #1 honors going into next season. At least for now. Rising junior guard Lonte Ward has emerged as one of the best players in Class 1A after averaging 13.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.8 steals per game for the state champs as a sophomore. He has had a great spring as well. Additionally, rising junior Cayden Loescher brings back 9.3 points per game. The 6'4" bigger guard was excellent in the state championship game. Lutheran lost some very important pieces, but the one-two punch of Ward and Loescher is an excellent place to begin rebuilding for a shot at repeating.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#2 Evansville Christian Eagles</h2>   <p>Their 16-10 record doesn't exactly jump off of the page, but Evansville Christian was arguably the most talented team for most of the season last year at the Class 1A level. They only lost two games at the Class 1A level including a Sectional championship upset in overtime to Northeast Dubois. Other defeats came in close contests to the likes of North Daviess, Jeffersonville, Blackhawk Christian, Linton-Stockton, and Noblesville. Indiana Junior All-Star [player_tooltip player_id='1158176' first='Josiah' last='Dunham'] is back to run the show after averaging 24.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. Meanwhile, four of their five other primary rotation players will also return to the Eagles lineup.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#3 Orleans Bulldogs</h2>   <p>Returning your top three scorers, and six of your eight rotation players, from a 22-4 team is a pretty darn good place to start. The Bulldogs came up short in Sectional 63 losing to Loogootee, but they will return the most in the loaded field and have a chance to be one of the better teams in southern Indiana. Rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='1158190' first='Ian' last='Hall'], a versatile wing, brings back a team-leading 12.2 points per game while classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1386673' first='Xavier' last='Alston'] averaging 10.3 points per game. This is a balanced group that is no stranger to winning basketball games. Look for them to compete towards the top of Class 1A this coming season.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#4 Bethesda Christian Patriots</h2>   <p>Bethesda Christian went 21-5 a year ago and captured the Sectional 58 championship. Now, they return their top two scorers including talented rising senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1761698' first='Sam' last='Mlagan'] who averaged 16.9 points per game. His classmate and running mate in the backcourt is Luke Douglas who averaged 11.6 points per game. Two seniors graduate that averaged 8.5 and 8.0 points per game, but there is enough coming back that the Patriots should be one of the more talented teams around the Indianapolis area in Class 1A once again.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#5 Christian Academy Warriors</h2>   <p>The Warriors were playing some of their best basketball of the season down the stretch last year rattling off seven straight victories. However, they stumbled twice down the stretch to South Spencer and Rock Creek Academy to end the season 16-7 with a first round Sectional exit. Rising junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1297066' first='Joshua' last='Renfro'] and company will be hungry to prove they can go further this time around. Renfro, one of the top scorers in southern Indiana, averaged 21.2 points per game as a sophomore while making 77 three-pointers at a 41.6% clip. The Warriors second leading scorer, rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='1749327' first='David' last='Cook'], is back as well after averaging 13.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. They will lose some valuable size, but returning your top two scorers and five of six primary rotation players is a good place to start.</p>

The month of June is all about getting back to Indiana High School Basketball. After two months on various grassroots circuits, players return to their high school teams for workouts, summer leagues, and various shootouts. This is always a good opportunity to get an early look at which groups are ahead of the pack going into next season. Also, you will begin to see where transfers have landed and who are some up-and-coming prospects ready to breakout as they get a year older. Now that we have a couple of weeks under our belts like take a way too early look at the five best teams in the state starting with Class 1A.