Sometimes a little clutch goes a long way. Hitting two FT's with :04 left on the clock vs. New Castle, Isaac Andrews sent their game vs. the 3A #8 Trojans into overtime. He topped that by hitting a half court shot at the buzzer to put Wapahani in the win column. Andrews finished the game with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The night before vs. Randolph Southern, the 6'1" sophomore guard totaled 31 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assist. All of that making Isaac Andrews the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week for the week of January 17-22.
Others Considered
Milestones
Other Nominations
Sophomores/Freshmen Nominated
With 28 points in their Tuesday night win over Angola in the opening around of the Northeast Corner Conference Tournament, Connor Essegian eclipsed the 2,000 career scoring mark. The 6'4" senior guard, who is headed to Wisconsin, also grabbed 8 rebounds.
The rest of the week went like this as Central Noble took the NECC tournament title:
All of this earned Connor Essegian the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week for the week of January 10-15
Others Nominated
Currently third in the state in scoring (among reporteds stats) Karson Jenkins is averaging 26.9 points per game on the season thus far. The 6'2" senior guard had an impressive week.
Karson Jenkins is the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week for the week of January 3-8
This back and forth featured both teams having three possession leads. Carmel playing without seniors Charlie Williams and Josh Whack, as well as Peter Suder spending most of the game in foul trouble. Westfield played the whole game with the threat of Braden Smith not being able to finish due to an injury, worsened by a couple of falls.
These are the players I saw this week who can play at the next level and make a difference. Whether that be at the D1 or DIII level, each could land in the right situation and make a difference.
Markus Burton - Penn 2023 - 6' Guard
Joey Garwood - Penn 2023 - 6'1" Guard
Jack Smiley - Valparaiso 2025 - 6'1" Guard
Mason Jones - Valparaiso 2023 - 6'7" Wing
Landon Biegel - Oak Hill 2023 - 6'5" Guard/Forward
Matt Ross - Peru 2022 - 6'5" Forward
Matthew Roettger - Peru 2024 - 6'3" Guard
Drew Hogan - Goshen 2022 - 5'9" Guard
Lukas Balling - Marquette Catholic 2023 - 6'5" Forward
Kaden Manna - Marquette Catholic 2022 - 6'5" Forward
It's hard to overlook what Hunter Johnson did from South Decatur over break (see below), but we're heading a different direction over break.
Connersville came into their own event #1 in the state in 3A, and while Monroe Central is going to be a threat in 1A this year, it was still viewed that Connersville would square off against Bloomington North. Not only did Monroe Central beat the host Spartans, they turned around later that night and defeated Bloomington North.
They were led by Jackson Ullom. The 5'11" senior guard totaled 40 points and 9 assists in the two games, including an impressive 17-19 from the FT line for both games in the 4th quarters alone.
Gavin Smithson-Burciaga, Luke Jones and Josiah Ullom also produced, Smithson-Burciaga' 28 points on the day, Jones' 21 points in the championship game, and Ullom being their defensive stopper.
All of that is giving us first, awarding the whole team of the Monroe Central Golden Bears Courtside Indiana's Player of the Week for the period of December 20, 2021 - January 1, 2022.
Sophomore/Freshmen Nominated