Preseason Team Rankings: #41

<p>It’s now creeping up on the start of the high school season and we are looking to start our series of previews on some of the best teams in the state. Today, Eric Gardner and Kyler Staley join up to start our deep dive into some of these teams.</p> <p>Our series will take a look at the best teams in the state for each class with our rankings. Starting at #50 and going to #1, we will look at each class ranking across all classes starting now with #41.</p> <p><b>1A #41: Wood Memorial   </b><br /> The Trojans are coming off a 9-16 record and tough Sectional Championship loss to Evansville Day heading into this season. They face the challenge of replacing elite outgoing senior Paxton Bartley, who averaged nearly 28 ppg last season. The player that will face the brunt of that challenge will be 6'2 shooting guard Coltin Page, who is a stud around the rim and distributes the ball extremely well. Other shooting guard Griffin Parke, who is an effective shooter that worked on his play at the rim this summer, will be looking to help take some scoring pressure off Page. Look for senior leader Logan Keeker's great defense and continued development of an outside shot to be a big factor for the Trojans success this year as well. Though all eyes will likely be on Page this season, it will be interesting to see just how Coach Dustin George will get the rest his players take it to the next level and make up for the 28 points that Bartley provided them last season. If the team as a whole can step up, look for Wood Memorial to make some noise come Sectional time.  </p> <p><strong>2A #41: Lake Station</strong><br /> The Fighting Eagles are coming off a great 17-7 record with most of their talent being seven outgoing seniors. They only return one of their top six scorers, 6’5 senior center Nate Duckich, who provides easy baskets down low. Averaging a double-double last year (14.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg), Duckich is going to be a valuable piece for this new looking squad. Players like Dante Pritchett, Edwards Fragoso, and others are going to need to step up this year as there are a lot of roles to fill. For Lake Station to have a chance to repeat a great regular season and come out of a loaded Sectional, players are going to need take on larger roles. Along with that, the Fighting Eagles will need to feed Duckich as much as they can.  </p> <p><strong>3A #41: Western</strong><br /> The Panthers will be coming off a 13-10 record and close Sectional loss to Maconaquah. All eyes this year should be on junior guard Kyle Sanders. Sanders is a tough-minded guard and does not back down from anybody. He will also likely be the leader of the team both on and off the court. Look for 6’3 forward Kace Howard and 6-4 forward Parker Dean to be the main men down low and provide the much-needed post presence. The team as a whole plays extremely hard. They are in a very competitive Sectional with teams like Benton Central and West Lafayette still being the top dogs. If Western can determine what their identity is and be competitive throughout the season, they could shock the state and make it out of Sectional.    </p> <p><strong>4A #41: Castle<br /> </strong>The Castle Knights are coming off a fantastic 17-6 record last season. To add to that they will be bringing back 2 of their top 4 scorers. They will undoubtedly be led by stud junior guard Isiah Swope. Swope is a great combo guard who averaged 11.4 ppg, 3.7 apg, and 2.3 rpg a season ago. The other lead scorer that they have returning is strong small forward Bob Nunge, who led the team in rebounding with 3.4 rpg. Power Forward Louis Brock (2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg) will be looking to take a leap forward and provide the post needs. Come Sectional time, along with Evansville Reitz, Castle should be one of the favorites to make it to Regionals. With Swope looking to have a breakout year, Castle should be one of more exciting teams in the state.  </p>