A couple of surprise sectional winners headline this field. Northridge won Sectional 4 after favorite Warsaw was knocked out by Concord in the opening round. The Raiders are led by point guard Pete Smith. He averaged 13 points, five rebounds and four assists this season. Forward Tom Morrison does a little bit of everything for Northridge as well. The Raiders take on the other surprise sectional winner, South Bend Riley, who captured Sectional 3 by upsetting Penn in the title match. Riley was just 7-14 during the regular season and had losing streaks of four and five games throughout the year.  Riley is led by junior Reontre Lawrence and freshman Damezi Anderson, who had 23 and 17 respectively in the victory over Penn. Anderson is averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game. The second game features Munster and Crown Point. The Lake County schools played on December 19th, with Crown Point winning 65-57. It's hard to pick against a Mike Hackett coached squad, especially with talented pieces like his son Drew and forward Nikola Mandic. Drew Hackett had 51 points in the sectional final against East Chicago Central. He had never scored 30 or more points in a high school games before that. Crown Point has a talented duo of their own in St. Joseph's College signee Nick Jeffirs and perimeter marksman Grant Gelon. Crown Point is the most balanced team in the regional. Along with Jeffirs and Gelon, sophomore Sasha Stefanovic is also capable of beating opponents with his outside shootings.

 

Jeff's pick: Munster

Trevor's pick: Crown Point

 

 

Marion Regional

Two conference rivals face off for the third time this year as Carroll takes on Homestead. Homestead won both regular season meetings between the two schools by 12 and 9 points. Jordan Geist and Caleb Swanigan dominated the sectional final for the Spartans against Jay County. Homestead is on a mission to improve on its semi-state appearance from last year. The offense flows through Swanigan but Geist, Tahj Curry, Dana Batt and Teddy Ray all contribute at a high level for Homestead. Carroll doesn't have the size to matchup with Homestead, but does have solid guard play in Chandler White, Jacob Redding, and Kyle Mallers. This game should be a treat. In the other semifinal, Carmel faces McCutcheon. Carmel senior Ryan Cline was spectacular in their sectional title, averaging 31 points in a pair of victories over Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern. Carmel is back to its old tricks after losing to the sectional final last year to Hamilton Southeastern. The Greyhounds do not beat themselves and play tough defense. A potential match-up of Homestead and Carmel would be fantastic.  McCutcheon guard Tre'Shon Heard was great in his own right, putting up 19 points, 8 boards, 8 assists, and 5 steals in the championship win against Logansport. Junior Darnell Butler has been big for McCutcheon at times this year. If they are going to advance, Butler and Heard will need to have good games.

 

Jeff's pick: Homestead

Trevor's pick: Homestead

 

 

Southport Regional

Always a great field here for regional play. Pike and Richmond both made appearances here last year before falling to eventual state champion Tech, Richmond in the semis and Pike in the nightcap. Those two face off in the first game in what should be a high scoring affair. Both teams have talented backcourt with Justin Roberts and Justin Thomas of Pike against Joel Okafor and Davious Webster of Richmond. Richmond will have to find a way to deal with 6'8 Ball State signee Tahjai Teague, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the sectional title win over Southport. Will Pike have a let down after defeating Southport last week? Brownsburg and Lawrence North round out this field. That game features one of the best scorers in the state in KJ Walton of Brownsburg against maybe the best defensive guard in the state in Lawrence North's Jaylen McKay. This should be a fun game to watch as they have similar makeup. Brownsburg's backcourt of Walton and Darrian Ringo possess athleticism, scoring and a defensive stopper. Lawrence North has Pat Bacon, McKay and Antwaan Cushingberry. Bacon has been fantastic all season for Lawrence North. An experienced Bulldog squad with three senior starters takes on a youthful LN team that starts a pair of freshmen in Antwaan Cushingberry and Kevin Easley. All four teams have a legitimate chance of advancing to the semi-state round.

 

Jeff's pick: Pike

Trevor's pick: Lawrence North

 

 

Seymour Regional

Franklin Central and their 8-15 record faces off against Bloomington South in one semifinal. Junior guard Marcus Burk scored 22 points in the Flashes' win over New Palestine in the sectional finals. Burk has had a breakout junior year especially from behind the arc. He faces off against one of the best shooters in the state in junior Tucker Blackwell of Bloomington South. The Panthers are currently riding a 19 game winning streak dating back to December 12th. One of the Panthers' two losses this year game to New Albany, who plays in the second semifinal. New Albany has arguably the best freshman in the state in off guard Romeo Langford. Langford had 22 points in their 79-33 blowout win over Bedford North Lawrence for the Seymour sectional. They face off against Evansville Reitz, who defeated Evansville Central Monday night 70-61 in their sectional title game. The 70 points in the lowest total of the year for Reitz, who beat New Albany 81-51 on January 2nd. Reitz has one blemish on the season, an 88-80 loss to Southport on the last day of the regular season. This is a tougher Regional than most are giving it credit for, Bloomington South and New Albany could challenge Reitz for the title.

 

Jeff's pick: Evansville Reitz

Trevor's pick: Evansville Reitz