Lafayette All-Area Team

<p>My first post for Prep Hoops was back in January where I provided a list of the best players in the Lafayette area about halfway through the season - https://prephoops.com/2021/01/top-players-in-l…y-through-season/. The Lafayette All-Area boys basketball team was recently announced, highlighting several of the players I mentioned in the first article. I wanted to compare these two lists just for fun. The all-area team was announced by the Journal &amp; Courier. </p> <p>First Team: </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/brooks-barnhizer/">[player_tooltip player_id="783143" first="Brooks" last="Barnhizer"]</a> - Senior - G/F Lafayette Jeff - 33 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 6.5 APG </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jonah-lucas/">[player_tooltip player_id="870258" first="Jonah" last="Lucas"]</a> - Junior - G Harrison - 15 PPG, 3 RPG, 2 APG</p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/leyton-mcgovern/">Leyton McGovern</a> - Senior - F McCutcheon - 20 PPG, 7 RPG, 3 APG</p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/joseph-phinisee/">Joe Phinisee</a> - Senior - G McCutcheon - 20 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.5 APG</p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/braeden-shrewsberry/">Braedon Shrewsberry</a> - Sophomore - G West Lafayette - 21 PPG, 4 RPG, 1.5 APG</p> <p>Second Team: </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/ashton-beaver/">[player_tooltip player_id="874137" first="Ashton" last="Beaver"]</a> - Senior - G Lafayette Jeff - 17 PPG, 4 RPG, 2.5 APG </p> <p>Jacob Collicott - Senior - G Lafayette Jeff - 10 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.5 APG</p> <p>Connor Hall - Senior - F Benton Central - 15 PPG, 6 RPG, 1 APG</p> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jesse-hall/">[player_tooltip player_id="963222" first="Jesse" last="Hall"]</a> - Senior - F Crawfordsville - 19 PPG, 7 RPG, 3 APG  (pictured) <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/07/Jesse-Hall.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1021033 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/07/Jesse-Hall-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a></p> <p>Noah Johnston - Senior - F Twin Lakes - 16 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 APG</p> <p>Recap:</p> <p>The players selected for the all-area first team are not a surprise to me and many others as I had all five players mentioned in the first article back in January. Those five guys were consistently the best players in the area with Barnhizer leading the group. Barnhizer finished fourth in Indiana’s Mr. Basketball rankings and led the state in scoring - very much a historic season for the future Northwestern Wildcat. Moving on to the second team, there are a lot of names that I didn’t have on the first list - [player_tooltip player_id="874137" first="Ashton" last="Beaver"] being the one that I did have. Jacob Collicott, Connor Hall, [player_tooltip player_id="963222" first="Jesse" last="Hall"], and Noah Johnston all had fantastic seasons and deserve the nod for the second team. The numbers that these players on this list are what jumps out to me. For example, [player_tooltip player_id="963222" first="Jesse" last="Hall"]’s numbers of 19, 7, and 3 a game and he is on the second team? That just shows how talented this area is. There are also several players who were left off of this list and received honorable mentions but could make the case for the second team. </p> <p>As you can see, this list is dominated by upperclassmen. With eight out of the ten players being seniors, there will be ample opportunity for new players to be on this list next year. The only Junior, [player_tooltip player_id="870258" first="Jonah" last="Lucas"], will more than likely be the favorite for Area Player of the Year. The only Sophomore, [player_tooltip player_id="868245" first="Braeden" last="Shrewsberry"], will likely be moving to Pennsylvania as his dad was recently hired as the next Head Coach at Penn State. That being said, that leaves nine open spots for next year’s list, creating a lot of excitement and opportunity for younger guys to put their names on the map. </p>