3 For 3: Week 8 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022-23 high school boys' basketball season is underway and we at Prep Hoops Indiana want to give you the absolute best coverage in the whole state. Indiana is full of great teams and talented players thus giving the fans incredible matchups every week. Join me, Kyler Staley, every Monday during the season as I preview the 3 Players, 3 Teams, and 3 Matchups to watch for that coming week. Are you ready? Let's get started!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3 Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1049176"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63bc36f23c7d4"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When you look at 2023's that are still available, [player_tooltip player_id='1049176' first='Devon' last='Woods'] is near the top of that list. The dynamic point guard has had multiple big games for Pike this season, which is a big reasons to why the Red Devils are on a 6 game winning streak. Always been a big fan of Wood's game and his ability to just get a bucket anyway he can. Has a good amount of offers right and would expect him to get a little more before the end of the season. He and Pike play Speedway in the first round of the Marion County Tournament on 1/10. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1158181"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63bc36f23c893"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Said this multiple times, but it is hard me to say that there are very many tougher guards that [player_tooltip player_id='1158181' first='Isaac' last='Andrews']. He is one of the best pure scoring guards in the state and he is someone that has proved to have a ton of range from three. Wapahani is 10-1 this season and the play of Andrews is a big part of that. He and the Raiders play the winner of Wes-Del at Delta on 1/13 as part of the Delaware County Tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1297019"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63bc36f23c931"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At 6'7, [player_tooltip player_id='1297019' first='Dezmon' last='Briscoe'] is carving out a spot as one of the most dominant bigs in the state this season. He is recently coming off a triple-double on Purdue-Poly with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots and high major schools are starting to take interest. He is a guy that takes up so much space around the post and will take advantage of any mismatch he gets. He and Attucks play at Urbana (Ill.) on 1/11. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3 Teams</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Peru</strong> <strong>(3A):</strong>&nbsp;The Peru Tigers have sneakily become one of the best teams at the 3A level. On the surface, this a fairly young team and they are being lead by 2024 shooting guard [player_tooltip player_id='1158198' first='Matthew' last='Roettger']. They may have lost their last 2 games but have 9 wins on the year including wins over Tippecanoe Valley and Maconaquah. They only have 1 game this week but they will host a tough Eastern (Greentown) on Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>University</strong> <strong>(2A):</strong>&nbsp;The Trailblazers enter into this 8-1 and are a legit top 10 team in 2A. Lead by players [player_tooltip player_id='1556354' first='Andre' last='Ozlowski'], [player_tooltip player_id='1578464' first='Sabien' last='Cain'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1578353' first='Bryce' last='Gray'], this team has been sharp all season long up to this point. With Cain, he might be one of the biggest stock-risers in the entire 2024 class. Real tough week coming for University with three road games at Shenandoah (1/10), Muncie Burris (1/13), and Indianapolis Ritter (1/14). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Evansville Christian</strong> <strong>(1A):</strong>&nbsp;Safe to say, it has been an up and down year for the Eagles. Sitting at 6-6, they have lost 6 of their last 8 games but have played some tough opponents. Their best win of the season is against Loogootee who they beat 68-63. However, when you have one of the best guards in the state, [player_tooltip player_id='1158176' first='Josiah' last='Dunham'], you can easily get back on the right track. This week, the Eagles play some out of state teams vs Trinity (Ky.) (1/10) and Springfield Southeast (Ill.) (1/13). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3 Matchups&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cathedral (4A) at Carmel (4A) – Jan. 11th, 7:30 pm:</strong>&nbsp;Looking at the slate of games this week, this has to be the biggest right? A top 8 matchup which will put two of the best 2023s in the state against each other, [player_tooltip player_id='868219' first='Xavier' last='Booker'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1042491' first='Sam' last='Orme']. Both teams sit at 8 wins right now and have been tested early. I think the supporting cast of [player_tooltip player_id='868252' first='Jaron' last='Tibbs'] and [player_tooltip player_id='868251' first='Jake' last='Davis'] are going to cause problems for Carmel. Give me the Irish to get the bog road win here. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wabash (2A) at Manchester (2A) – Jan. 13th, 7:30:&nbsp;</strong>This is a sneaky good 2A matchup that might be a little overlooked here in the state this week. These two already played each other once this year and it saw Wabash beating Manchester 55-47 in the Wabash County Tournament a few weeks ago. The Wabash Apaches will once again have to go on the road and beat the Squires, which will be tough to do. However, I see a big game from 2024 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1578477' first='Trevor' last='Daughtry'] leading Wabash to another win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Harrison (West Lafayette)&nbsp;(4A) at Kokomo (4A) – Jan 13th, 7:30:</strong> The first thing you see on paper is the battle of an undefeated team vs. the best player in the state. Harrison enters into this game 11-0 on the year but they will play their toughest game yet when they are tasked to try and slow down Kokomo phenom [player_tooltip player_id='1363488' first='Flory' last='Bidunga']. Harrison does have some studs like [player_tooltip player_id='1049173' first='Ben' last='Henderson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1049196' first='Chris' last='Lucas'], but no guys that will be able to matchup well with Bidunga. Road matchup against the best player in the state? Yeah, I think I am going to go Kokomo with this one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->