Raise your hand if you have Lawrence North jumping out to a 27 point lead!!

Rough gig for Lawrence Central this year.  They were undefeated this year outside of their vs. teams not from their own township.  Kudos to LN, as it's extremely tough to beat a team three times in a season.  They have Crispus Attucks coming up, which they beat by 8 earlier in the season.

Sectional Predictions Go Down

• Northwestern beaten by West Lafayette
• Fort Wayne Luers, which I had getting to the 3A finals, losing to Leo. 

Comeback Specials

There might've been more, but Lake Central, Covenant Christian and Crispus Attucks survived double digit deficits in the first half to advance.  Attucks trailed Cathedral by 12 at halftime, while Covenant Christian was down to Howe by 15 at point.  Lake Central started in an 11-0 hole to Gary West.

On A Side Note

The loss to Covenant Christian doesn't just ends Howe's season.  It ends this era's  basketball program.  The school is closing...AGAIN...as the Indianapolis Public Schools system continues to dismantle its school district.

Jimtown Sectional

Marian vs. Washington

Game one saw a rematch from last Friday, in Marian vs. SB Washington, and the outcome was the same. Marian prevailed again. Washington had the game within 5 at half, but that's as close as it ever got the rest of the way.

Five Takes

•  I've seen Marian 4 times now this season and I can say the same thing about how they play every game. Their zone defense is so tough. They can extend it full court if needed, and they have great length inside. Their offense is ran by senior guard, 6'2" Jerry Bracey  (19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and freshman guard, 6' Deaglan Sullivan (17 points), although this team has great role players that do their jobs well.
• Jerry Bracey knows how to attack, get to the basket, and finish at the rim. Loves finishing with his left hand. He even showed a little midrange game in this one as he pulled up at the elbows and hit a couple shots. Excellent handles and passer. Haven't seen him shoot anything outside the arc, but will definitely be playing somewhere at the next level.
• 6'5" sophomore Kaleo Kakalia finally had a game that I had been waiting to see out of him. Had 10 points and a 4 rebounds. Solid game for him. The other games I've seen he usually finds himself in foul trouble, so it was good to see him step up in this one. They'll need him to again Friday vs. St. Joe.
• I really like 6'3" sophomore Da'reon Thornton and 6'4" junior Ky'rell Franklin for Marian. These 2 are great role players with length and some size that give opposing teams fits on D. They rebound well and are guaranteed to get a steal and score or two and and clean up the glass for some offensive rebound put backs.
• The 3 headed senior monster of Jylen Petty (6'6"), Janye Griffin (6'1"), and Demarcus Vaughn (6'4") just couldn't get things going consistently in this one. Petty finished with 14 and 8. Vaughn had 15 and 5. Griffin ended with 8 and 2. All of which were under season averages, but all had to do with the Marian defense. They just couldn't get it figured out. Solid guys who will probably all end up somewhere at the next level. Just got a tough first round draw.

John Glenn vs. Jimton

Game 2 saw a dog fight between two scrappy teams that both lack depth. Jimtown came up with the overtime win 53-50, and look to get to the sectional championship if they can get by SB Clay.

• Led by 6'7" senior Preston Phillips and his 23 points and 8 rebounds the Jimmies were able to close this one out in the end. He has some interest from local NAIA schools and I wouldn't be surprised if smaller D1s didn't take a look to maybe fill a PWO spot or maybe redshirt. Upside is there with his size and length.

See our Game Take from the Noblesville Sectional, and now a look around at the rest of the state.  

Sectional Picks Done Early

North Posey dropping Evansville Mater Dei is right up there.  North Posey has been up and down most of the season, but when you have the best player on the floor you always have a chance.  Josiah Ricketts is that guy.  

Mater Dei came with a better record on a tougher schedule, so it reasoned they were definitely a favorite in this game in what looked to be a pretty balanced sectional.

Covington jumped up and beat Lafayette Central Catholic.  How big of a loss is this for LCC?  This is only the third time in the class basketball era LCC hasn't won their sectional.  THIS matchup, by far, was the anticipated sectional final, and people who cry for seeding could point to this game.  It didn't matter when they faced each other.

Tri-Central losing to Wes-Del.  OK...not an overwhelming favorite, but Tri-Central entered with the best record by at least three games. 

Winamac outgunning Lewis Cass in a high scoring affair.

Some Surprises

Frankfort over Greencastle is the biggest of this bunch.  At six wins, Frankfort didn't have a successful season, and Greencastle had a strong season playing good schools outside of their conference schedule.  

Ben Davis losing to Southport isn't as big of a surprise, but they were favored.  The Giants have been largely inconsistent, but their schedule stacks up better vs. Southport's, and their losses were more competitive. 

No one should be too surprised when Twin Lakes jumps up and upsets someone, and they have found a lot of success of late in March.  However, Peru has been excellent most of the year, their best in nearly a decade.

Jennings County over New Albany.  New Albany has been battling injuries all year, and they are relative young, but JC relies on a freshman too.

The One Possession or OT Games

• We gave you Zionsville at the buzzer over Fishers,but scores in the 20's isn't too exciting outside of the finish.  
• Center Grove avenged a loss to Franklin Central just a couple of weeks ago.  
• Both games at Jimtown
  • Mishawaka Marian over South Bend Washington
  • Jimtown in OT over John Glenn
• Both games at Shortridge
  • Manual in OT over the host
  • Brebeuf over Guerin Catholic
• OT losses by host underdogs
  • Vincennes Lincoln to Washington
  • Boonville to Evansville Memorial
• Tri squeezes by Union City
• Edinburgh, led by freshman Caleb Dewey, wins over Trinity Lutheran

Noblesville Sectional

While the Zionsville/Fishers game was a rock fight--Zionsville 23, Fishers 21 -- it provided for a great fourth quarter.

Five Takes

• Jackson Hughes, 6'5" senior forward, obviously made the play of the game, the high banking shot the goes in as the buzzer sounds.  Chaos ensued!  
  • Hughes, who transferred in from Rensselaer Central over the summer, has given them versatility up front.  He's freed up Anthony Scales a little, and Zionsville rarely has rotations where they don't have two of Hughes, Scales and Gunnar Vannatta. 
• The play that turned the tide for Zionsville, which was down five at the time -- freshman guard Logan Imes drives baseline, goes behind his back, forcing help from Vannatta's defender then drops a dime to Vannatta who gathered and dunked.
  • This is the third time I've seen Zionsville where Imes' play turned the tide of the game.  More of Imes = good
• Given the pace of the game, Vannatta was very effective.  Ignore raw totals.  He was the main influence in the game on both ends. 
• Neither team had any outside shooting, or at least not enough for their top shooters to be covered.  Alex Szilagyi may have only gotten three shots the entire game for Fishers.  The only other three they hit was from Isaac Farah, 6'8" senior center, who hit a corner 3.  
  • Zionsville, playing without Ben Weidner since he tore his ACL...I don't even recall if they took a 3.
• Jeffrey Simmons, 6'6" sophomore forward, struggled against Zionsville's size.  He got a lot of touches in the high post vs. Zionsville's zone and not once did he look to hit the shot or score.  Most of his scoring efforts came from stationary or cuts to the low post, where he was swallowed up by Vannatta.

Carmel led most of the game vs. Hamilton Southeastern, but it was never truly in control until the final 90 seconds, as Carmel won 50-43.

Game Takes

• I said heading into the fall Carmel will be as good as Brian Waddell is.  The 6'6" junior wing had a great June, and while it doesn't mean everything, it was telling to what he could be in a bigger role.  He was sick then injured to start the year, and Carmel struggled to score.  Since his return, Carmel has been very efficient.
  • Waddell had 19 points last night. 
• Kole Hornbuckle, 6'5" senior wing, was equally impressive for HSE.  He scored the game's first basket, spent the rest of the first half at the FT line, then took over a stretch in the second half.  
• HSE got nothing outside of the paint last night, and Carmel made Mabor Majak, 7'2" senior center, work for every catch then work for every shot.  He one contested shot that was "easy", a smooth righty hook over Charlie Williams.  Everything else when he wasn't clean had to be a double move or battle through a double team.
• HSE won on Valentine's Day by crushing Carmel on the offensive glass.  I don't know the  rebound totals this time around, but that didn't happen until the fourth quarter.  As it did start to happen, it felt like that would put HSE over the hump as Hornbuckle really got going, but they couldn't convert.
  • They had three possessions in the mid-fourth quarter with multiple looks at the basket.  I'm not sure they scored on any of them.