Prep Hoops Indiana 2024-25 High School Preview – Class 4A (North)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is almost time to tip-off the Indiana High School Basketball season. The games begin on Monday, November 25th which means we are in full season preview mode here at Prep Hoops Indiana headquarters. Last week we gave our preseason Top 10 class-by-class rankings, highlighted the Top 20 players in each class, previewed the candidates for the Indiana All-Star teams, and much more. Now, this week, we will dive a bit deeper into previewing each class before it is time to see it all play out next Monday. We will dive in here with an overview look at the Class 4A (North).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Field</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 1 @ Lake Central</strong><br>Crown Point, Hammond Central, Hammond Morton, Lake Central, Munster</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 2 @ Valparaiso</strong><br>Chesterton, Hobart, Merrillville, Portage, Valparaiso</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 3 @ Michigan City</strong><br>LaPorte, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Penn, South Bend Adams, South Bend Riley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 4 @ Elkhart</strong><br>Concord, Elkhart, Goshen, Northridge, Warsaw</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 5 @ Carroll (Fort Wayne)</strong><br>Carroll (Fort Wayne), Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 6 @ Fort Wayne Wayne</strong><br>Fort Wayne South Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead, Huntington North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 7 @ Kokomo</strong><br>Harrison (West Lafayette), Kokomo, Lafayette Jefferson, McCutcheon</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sectional 8 @ Carmel</strong><br>Carmel, Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Toughest Sectional: Sectional 8 @ Carmel</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Historically, Sectional 8 has been one of the toughest Sectionals in the entire state for a long time. That will once again be the case this season. Fishers, the defending Class 4A State Champions, begin the season as our Prep Hoops Indiana Preseason Class 4A number one ranked team. Carmel and Noblesville are also ranked in the Top 10 while Zionsville features a pair of Division I prospects in [player_tooltip player_id='1525678' first='Maguire' last='Mitchell'] (IU-Indianapolis) and [player_tooltip player_id='1525679' first='Drew' last='Snively']. Westfield and Hamilton Southeastern certainly won't be pushovers either. There will be no such thing as a good draw when Sectional time comes around and whoever makes it through this gauntlet will have a real chance at cutting down the nets at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">State Title Contenders</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crown Point: This team is probably a year away, but Crown Point is absolutely a Top 10 team this season. [player_tooltip player_id='1561617' first='Dikembe' last='Shaw'], an Indiana Junior All-Star candidate, will lead a talented group including [player_tooltip player_id='1561063' first='Kingston' last='Rhodes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1561064' first='Kaiden' last='Rhodes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1561445' first='Mason' last='Darrell'], Quinn Begley, and more. The Bulldogs will be the favorite in Sectional 1 and has recent postseason success having made it to the Semi-State last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fishers: The defending state champions are the preseason Class 4A #1 team once again. Miami (OH) signee [player_tooltip player_id='1297069' first='Justin' last='Kirby'] and Stanford football signee [player_tooltip player_id='1525664' first='JonAnthony' last='Hall'] are back as Indiana All-Star candidates while the dynamic backcourt of sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='2140345' first='Cooper' last='Zachary'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2267046' first='Jason' last='Gardner Jr.'] is a year older after playing major roles as freshmen. [player_tooltip player_id='1297097' first='Nathan' last='Baker'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1525682' first='Millen' last='McCartney'] will step into larger roles as seniors as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fort Wayne Wayne: Will this be the season that Fort Wayne Wayne breaks through and makes it to Gainbridge Fieldhouse? The Generals won the Regional in 2022-2023 and then advanced to the Final Four last season before falling to Fishers. Taking one more step this time around would get them to the state finals. [player_tooltip player_id='1297001' first='Chase' last='Barnes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1297032' first='Trey' last='Dillard'], [player_tooltip player_id='1297102' first='Preston' last='Comer'], and company will certainly have their eyes set on that prize.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Top Players</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1297001' first='Chase' last='Barnes'] (Fort Wayne Wayne H.S. 2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1534261' first='Justin' last='Curry II'] (Noblesville H.S. 2026)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1297069' first='Justin' last='Kirby'] (Fishers H.S. 2025 - Miami Ohio)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1525678' first='Maguire' last='Mitchell'] (Zionsville H.S. 2025 - IU-Indianapolis)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1561617' first='Dikembe' last='Shaw'] (Crown Point H.S. 2026)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quick Hitters</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>5 of our Prep Hoops Indiana Preseason Class 4A Top 10 are here in the North including defending state champion Fishers.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Portage is a team that we have not mentioned yet that deserves some shine. They are loaded with talent featuring [player_tooltip player_id='1297094' first='Michael' last='Wellman'] (Grace), [player_tooltip player_id='1297027' first='Garrett' last='Clark'] (Portage), [player_tooltip player_id='1297112' first='Samuel' last='Wellman'] (Bethel), and others. Don't be surprised if they spend some time in the Top 10 this season.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fort Wayne Snider has an up-and-coming team with talented sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='2140449' first='Trell' last='Hogue'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2140409' first='Ketron' last='Paschall'] leading the way. They could start to make some noise as early as this season.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list -->