Will ‘friendly’ draws help local teams?
The randomness of the blind draws for high school state tournaments in Indiana create excitement. Who do we play? When do we play? Did we get the bye?
All valid questions and sometimes the draw plays a huge part in determining what team comes out of sectionals. A bye gives more preparation time - and healing time if needed for injuries - as well as one less chance of losing. Having the top teams in the opposite half of the bracket lets them beat each other up and maybe causes a physical or mental letdown in the aftermath.
For the most part, Pilot News area schools received excellent draws for the 111th annual high school boys basketball state tournament that begins Tuesday statewide and includes 399 teams in four classes. The question now is, Will the draw be advantageous? Here are previews for area teams playing in class 4A and 1A. Look for previews of 3A and 2A in tomorrow’s Pilot News.
Culver Academy the hunted this time
Plymouth’s rough year saw another unexpected
twist when the sectional site was changed just last week. Instead of playing the Class 4A Sectional 3 games at The Rock they will now take place at Michigan City HS in
order to accommodate more fans in the stands. On top of that, the Pilgrims drew the only ranked team in the loaded field. At this time of year you hear references to ‘just throw out the records.’ It is true that every team is 0-0 in the postseason, but you cannot dismiss what has already been accomplished by the teams making up this sectional lineup.
Culver Academy (5-5) has won sectionals the past four years at three different venues in two different classes. Will that impressive streak finally end? It will be a difficult road for the Eagles, who have played less than half as many games as the rest of the teams in the field. Culver Academy must first get past the host team in the lone game Tuesday night. If they do, South Bend Riley awaits. Michigan City (12-10) lost its last four regular season games, albeit against teams with a combined record of 54-27, including an 88-52 loss to Riley. The Wildcats (16-6), led by Notre Dame recruit Blake Wesley, also have a win over Culver Academy during the reg- ular season, 51-45 in overtime. If the Eagles make it through those two, they would most likely face another team of Eagles, fifth-ranked South Bend Adams (21-1). Culver barely hung on to defeat Adams in last year’s sectional final before the rest of the state tournament was called off due to the coronavirus.
Adams is who Plymouth (2-19) faces in the second game Wednesday night. Let’s just say the Eagles are prohibitive favorites over the Pilgrims. The winner faces the Laporte-mishawaka victor. LP (5-17) is coached by former Plymouth HS standout Kyle Benge. Adams has double-digit wins over either potential semifinal opponent.
If the final game is Adams-riley, the two Northern Indiana Conference foes played just nine days ago with Adams winning, 63-40.
Key players to watch include:
Plymouth - Owen Yoder, Nolan
Bales
Culver Academy - Deandre Francis, Cooper Farrall
SB Adams - Sidney Jeffries, Lynn King, Quentez Columbus, Brayden Saxton
Michigan City - Jamie Hodges, Evan Bush, Tahari Watson
SB Riley - Blake Wesley
Will it be Argos-triton Part II?
Four area teams are part of the sixteam Class 1A Culver Sectional, but the target will be on two - Argos and Triton. Argos (16-5), ranked No. 11, is the two-time defending sectional champ. The Dragons edged the Trojans in last year’s championship game by just two points. They defeated Triton (16-5) eight days ago by 12, but the gap was just three with a little over three minutes left in the game. Both teams became co-champs of their respective conferences in their final regular season games, but in much different ways. Triton defeated Knox to end in a tie with Laville atop the Hoosier North Athletic Conference standings while Argos lost to Elkhart Christian to finish tied with ECA in the Hoosier Plains Conference. Culver (7-15) and Oregon-davis (8-11) will most likely get cracks at Argos and Triton, respectively, in the semifinals to try and mess up the anticipated final pairing.
Key players to watch include:
Argos - JJ Morris, Michael Richard, Dylan Kindig
Triton - Ashton Oviedo, Tyson Yates, John Gardner, Cole Mckinney, Bruce Johnson
Culver - Owen Clingler Oregon-davis - Dylan Murphy
Lacrosse - Ben Garwood, Kyle Gorski
West Central - Blayden Huber