Prep Hoops Indiana Regional Preview – Class 1A North

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 114th Annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament began on Tuesday, February 27th with 399 participating teams across four classes. Now, we are doing to 64 Sectional champions still remaining. Prep Hoops Indiana had boots on the ground coverage through Sectional week and will be in several gyms across the state on Regional Saturday. As we did prior Sectional week, we will spend this week previewing the 32 Regional games that will be played on Saturday, March 9th. Here is our preview of the four Regionals that make up the Class 1A North.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>***Remember that the Semi-State will get redrawn from the eight remaining teams as opposed to maintaining "north" and "south" designation. Still for preview purposes here in the Regional, we will continue to refer to the left side of the bracket as the north and the right side of the bracket as the south.***</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Marquette Catholic vs. DeMotte Christian (South Bend Washington Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior guard Luke Terpstra scored 25 points in the championship game to secure DeMotte Christian's third Sectional title in the last seven years. Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='2272861' first='Tony' last='Bos'] added 14 points for the Knights. As for Marquette Catholic, it was a youth movement that led them to cutting down the Sectional 50 nets. Freshman guard [player_tooltip player_id='2414957' first='Josiah' last='Mays'] scored 20 points to lead the Blazers while sophomore center [player_tooltip player_id='1561100' first='Colson' last='Dobre'] chipped in 17 points and 7 blocked shots. DeMotte Christian looks better on paper sporting a 19-7 record while winning 10 straight games, which began with a 73-64 win over Marquette Catholic on February 6th. However, the Blazers are better than their 11-15 record suggests. Only two of those 15 losses came at the Class 1A level and they were both to Sectional champions (Elkhart Christian and DeMotte Christian). <strong>The Prediction: DeMotte Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tri-County vs. Elkhart Christian (North Judson Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elkhart Christian features of the top scorers in the state that you may not have heard about in [player_tooltip player_id='2379851' first='Aiden' last='Hibbard'] who averages 22.6 points per game. That average increased to 28.7 points per game in the Eagles' three wins on their way to winning Sectional 51. They are now 16-9 on the season. As for Tri-County, senior wing Koby Bahler is the player to watch as he leads the Cavaliers in scoring at 13.8 points per game. They are 14-11 on the season, but have been strong since starting the season 0-5. <strong>The Prediction: Elkhart Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Seton Catholic vs. Liberty Christian (New Castle Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's face it, most of thousands of fans that come to The Largest and Finest High School Fieldhouse in the World on Saturday will be in attendance to watch Kokomo vs. Fishers in the second game. However, don't sleep on this matchup between Seton Catholic and Liberty Christian. Seton, who is 19-7 on the season, won the first matchup between these two teams 67-57 back on January 12th. However, the Lions went 8-3 since that time, including winning six straight, to finish the year 16-9 overall. Their only loss at the 1A level was that game against the Cardinals. 6'7" unsigned senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1275728' first='Mason' last='Harvey'] is the obvious star to watch in this one as he averages 21.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.3 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Liberty Christian is led by an extremely talented freshman class. TJ English scored 22 points in their Sectional championship win over Cowan and leads the Lions in scoring at 12.7 points per game. [player_tooltip player_id='2140408' first='Kendrick' last='Martin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2267054' first='Tywaine' last='Fuller'] are two other freshmen to watch. <strong>The Prediction: Liberty Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fort Wayne Canterbury vs. North Vermillion (Frankfort Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We identified Canterbury a while back as a potential sleeper in Class 1A and now their path to make a run is really opening up. Led by a talented inside-outside duo of seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1761696' first='Devon' last='Lewis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1158215' first='Tucker' last='Day'], the Cavaliers have won eight of their last nine and 13 of their last 14 games. North Vermillion, at 15-10, is led by a trio of scorers in double-figures. Jerome White (12.7 points), Matthew Dawson (12.4 points), and Owen Edwards (11.4 points) lead their balanced attack. They are a veteran team with good size that should matchup, at least on paper, with Canterbury. <strong>The Prediction: Fort Wayne Canterbury</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->