4A State Preview: Carmel vs. Ben Davis
Matchup: Carmel (25-1) vs. Ben Davis (20-7) Head-to-Head Record (Past 10 years): 9-1 Carmel Last Matchup: January 25th, 2019 — Carmel 49, Ben Davis 39 State Finals History: Carmel: Record: 3-2 Championships: 1977, 2012, 2013 Last State Finals Appearance: 2018…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingMatchup: Carmel (25-1) vs. Ben Davis (20-7)
Head-to-Head Record (Past 10 years): 9-1 Carmel
Last Matchup: January 25th, 2019 — Carmel 49, Ben Davis 39
State Finals History:
Carmel:
Record: 3-2
Championships: 1977, 2012, 2013
Last State Finals Appearance: 2018 (54-48 loss to Warren Central)
Ben Davis:
Record: 3-1
Championships: 1995, 1996, 2017
Last State Finals Appearance: 2017 (55-52 win over Fort Wayne North)
Projected Starting Lineups:
Carmel:
#11 Luke Heady – 5’11 PG – Senior
#3 Karsten Windlan – 5’11 PG – Senior
#20 Andrew Owens – 6’6 SF – Senior
#10 Peter Suder – 6’2 SG – Freshman
#33 John-Michael Mulloy – 6’10 PF – Senior
Ben Davis:
#24 Jalen Windham – 6’5 SF – Senior
#35 Jeff Clayton – 6’6 PF – Senior
#54 Dawand Jones – 6’8 C – Senior
#2 Cameron Maul – 5’11 PG – Senior
#5 Dominic Day – 5’10 PG – Senior
Overview:
When looking into this matchup, you have a very familiar feeling with these two teams. It seems like just yesterday, Ben Davis won their third ever State Championship and now they are making a run where no one seems to be picking them. I’m sure they are preferring that at this point.
Carmel is also at a point where they have refined their play of their team to the point where things are even getting close in games. They aren’t 29 points better than Penn but that is how much they beat them by. They are 25-1 and their only mistake this season came on a snowy night when no one else in the state was playing against a pretty solid Brownsburg team on January 19th.
Both teams obviously have a ton of momentum, they have made it to the State Championship game. But, moreover, they have found a way to make their particular styles work for themselves and they have calmed down any potential hiccups that might have come their way.
The easy prediction here is to take Carmel as they have beat them before, they have the better record, and they have more depth and overall talent right now. But, Ben Davis has had to grind way more to get to this point and they have had enough time to recover and that edge could be helpful.
Prediction: Carmel 48, Ben Davis 41