Prep Hoops Indiana Regional Preview – Class 2A 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 2A 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:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/2024/03/prep-hoops-indiana-regional-preview-class-1a-north/">Class 1A North</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/2024/03/prep-hoops-indiana-regional-preview-class-1a-south/">Class 1A South</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wabash vs. Westview (Triton Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams come into the Triton Regional with a 20-5 record and each had a similar path to make it here having gone through three teams to win their respective Sectional championships. On paper, these two teams are nearly identical. On the Wabash side of things, they are led by senior duo [player_tooltip player_id='1158201' first='Izaak' last='Wright'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1158208' first='Trevor' last='Daughtry'], with latter making the Prep Hoops 2A All-Sectional Team with his performance of a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists to lead Wabash over Lewis Cass in the Sectional 36 championship. For Westview, you look at junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='2221650' first='Luke' last='Helmuth'] who is coming off a monster weekend with him totaling 34 points while leading Westview their Sectional championship win over Churubusco. With this game, it really comes down the backcourt of Wabash versus the frontcourt of Westview. While the size can cause problems for Wabash, with the way Wright and Doughty have been playing all season it is tough to pick against them. <strong>The Prediction: Wabash</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">North Judson vs. Gary 21st Century (North Judson Regional) </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There might not be a hotter team in Class 2A North right now than the Gary 21st Century Cougars who, after pretty much steamrolling through Sectional 33, enter this game having won their last 13 games. It helps when you have three players scoring in double-figures while being led by one of the more high-upside guards in the class of 2026, [player_tooltip player_id='1561080' first='Terrence' last='Hayes'], with his 19.2 points per game. Follow sophomore Ron Mosley and junior [player_tooltip player_id='1539551' first='LeMetrius' last='Williams'] have also been key factors for the Cougars. The North Judson Bluejays only had to go through LaVille and Hebron to get to this point, but are a team that seems to be hitting their stride at the right moment even though they were pretty inconsistent the last half of the year. When it comes down to picking this game, it is extremely difficult to go against Gary 21st Century at the moment. <strong>The Prediction: Gary 21st Century</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wapahani vs. Tipton (Lapel Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In all of Class 2A Regional matchups, there is not a bigger game than the one we have at Lapel this Saturday. Both Wapahani and Tipton are considered potential favorites to make it to Indianapolis and represent 2A North when it comes time to compete for the state championship. While both teams had to go through three games to get here, they were able to win their respective Sectional championships without much of struggle. Wapahani's [player_tooltip player_id='1158181' first='Isaac' last='Andrews'] and Tipton's [player_tooltip player_id='1158205' first='Nolan' last='Swan'] are two of the better senior guards we have in the state so that matchup sells itself. The x-factors for both of these teams are Wapahani's [player_tooltip player_id='1561131' first='Camden' last='Bell'] and Nick Cook while on the Tipton side you look at [player_tooltip player_id='1297029' first='Grady' last='Carpenter'] and Jackson Money. There was a reason that both of these teams stayed in the top 3-5 all season long in the Class 2A rankings, it's because they are that good. This one is going to be a barn burner. It could go either way, it is a tough one to call, but whoever wins this could very well have a one-way ticket to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. <strong>The Prediction: Tipton</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Blackhawk Christian vs. Lafayette Central Catholic (Frankfort Regional)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the Frankfort Regional, you will get a chance to see the defending Class 2A State champion Blackhawk Christian who continues to defend their crown very successfully after getting past two tough opponents in Adams Central and Bishop Luers in Sectional 37. The Braves feature one of the best duos in Class 2A in [player_tooltip player_id='1364589' first='Kellen' last='Pickett'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1277730' first='Isaac' last='Smith'], who each scored 21 and 20 points in two games in the Sectional. The Knights of Lafayette Central Catholic came out of Sectional 38 where they defeated Carrol (Flora) in the championship this past Saturday. Senior post player [player_tooltip player_id='2379828' first='Albert' last='Schwartz'] is the main guy for the Knights and averaged 11.7 points this season, but overall they are a very balanced team. LCC can give Blackhawk Christian a fight, but until beaten, Blackhawk is the favorite here. <strong>The Prediction: Blackhawk</strong> <strong>Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->