Class 3A Sectional Breakdown

The defending state champion Washington Hatchets are back atop the Class 3A poll and are looking to repeat at Conseco Fieldhouse. However, a balanced field of opponents are primed to knock them off the top, including Princeton, Rushville, Hamilton Heights, and Lebanon.

2010 State Finals: Washington 65 Gary Lew Wallace 63 OT

Sectional 17: Gary Lew Wallace

Sectional 18: Andrean

Sectional 19: Culver Academy

Sectional 20: Western

Sectional 21: Wawasee

Sectional 22: Peru

Sectional 23: Fort Wayne Concordia

Sectional 24: Delta

Sectional 25: Lebanon

Sectional 26: Brebeuf Jesuit

Sectional 27: Hamilton Heights

This is without a doubt the deepest Sectional in 3A, and quite possible regardless of class. Rushville is currently ranked #3 with a 17-2 record and they certainly have their eyes on bringing home the title. However, the play a very good Shelbyville team in the opening round, and then Mt. Vernon Fortville after that. I give Heights the edge because they only need to win 1 tough game, the final.

Sectional 28: Batesville

Sectional 29: Sullivan

Sectional 30: Charlestown

Sectional 31: Washington

Cody Zeller and the defending state champions should have no problem adding another Sectional trophy to the display case.

Sectional 32: Princeton

Very anxious to see how a few of these Sectionals play out. Even more interesting will be some of the Regional and potential Semi-State match-ups! Should be a great tournament.

Good luck to all teams!

Class 2A Sectional Breakdown

Class 2A features two undefeated teams at the top of the rankings in #1 Forest Park and #2 Hammond Bishop Noll. However, defending state runner-up Park Tudor will also be looking to come home with the title this year. Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and Tipton also have strong hopes of becoming state champions as well.

2010 State Final: Wheeler 41 Park Tudor 38

Sectional 33: Hammond Bishop Noll

Noll is currently undefeated, and we certainly like nothing more than finishing off this great season with some state championship rings. They should have no trouble in their Sectional.

Sectional 34: North Judson

Sectional 35: Westview

Westview is 18-1 and ranked #4 right now. They just suffered their first lost of the season in overtime to a solid 3A Wawasee team. Look for them to also make a run at Conseco.

Sectional 36: Churubusco

Sectional 37: Delphi

Sectional 38: Fort Wayne Luers

Sectional 39: Northfield

Sectional 40: Tipton

This Sectional should offer one of the most interesting final games as Guerin Catholic should math up against Tipton.

Sectional 41: Winchester

Sectional 42: Eastern Hancock

This Sectional is near and dear to my heart. As a 2010 graduate of Centerville High School I still have many good friends on the team. Centerville certainly has a shot at winning a third straight title, but I have to give the edge to Hancock. I hope I am wrong!

Sectional 43: Park Tudor

Sectional 44: North Decatur

Sectional 45: Eastern Greene

Sectional 46: Tri-West

Sectional 47: Brownstown Central

Sectional 48: Forest Park

Lots of good Sectional's this year in Class 2A, as well as lots of very tough Regional match-ups in store.

Good luck to all teams!

Class 1A Sectional Breakdown

With the state tournament approaching it is time to give a run down of the Sectionals across the state, beginning with 1A. I will pick a winner from each Sectional, and will add a few comments to any notable ones.

2010 State Final: Bowman Academy 74 Barr-Reeve 52

Sectional 49: Bowman Academy

Even though they will finish with a .500 record at best, Bowman has the most talent of any team in the class. Their first round opponent, LaCrosse, will be the first 1A team they have faced all season. They feature one of the top prospects in the Class of 2012 in DeJuan Marrero. I see no reason that they can not repeat as State Champions.

Sectional 50: Triton

Sectional 51: Fort Wayne Canterbury

The current #1 team in the state should have no trouble advancing to regional play.

Sectional 52: Pioneer

Sectional 53: Lafayette Central Catholic

Sectional 54: Southern Wells

Sectional 55: Blue River

This Sectional features what is most likely the real championship game in the opening round when Blue River takes on Logan Thomas and Monroe Central. MC defeated Blue River in OT 68-66 just a week or two ago. Monroe Central reached the Semi-State last season before losing to Bowman. This matchup could be one of the most intriguing opening round games in the state.

Sectional 56: Rockville

Sectional 57: Shakamak

Sectional 58: Edinburgh

Sectional 59: Indy Metro

Sectional 60: Shawe Memorial

Sectional 61: Orleans

Sectional 62: Rock Creek Academy

Sectional 63: North Daviess

Sectional 64: Wood Memorial

The Class 1A field is pretty deep this year, however the only team that really stands out as state champion material to me is Bowman.

Fort Wayne Canterbury and Lafayette Central Catholic offer the best competition. Unfortunately Canterbury and Bowman will have to face off in the regional, so one team with be going home early.

Good luck to all teams!

NBA Monday

If any of you know me personally you know that I am one of the biggest NBA fans still left. I enjoy watching any regular season game, not just the playoffs, am a HUGE Boston Celtics fan, and just flat out love the game. The NBA All-Star Weekend is one of my favorite parts of the entire season. In the past I had written a separate NBA blog, but have recently been focusing more on this blog. So, I have decided to merge the 2 a little bit and have a weekly "NBA Monday!!!"

First off, this years Dunk Contest may have been one of the best ever. The fact that Serge Ibaka pulled of a dunk from the free-throw line and only got a 45 is ridiculous! Almost every year we see somebody attempt that dunk and each and every time they take off a foot inside the line. Even Dr. J and MJ took flight from inside the charity strip. However, Ibaka ACTUALLY DID IT!!! I still don't know why the announcers weren't making a bigger deal about this. Okay, enough of my rant on that subject.

Javale McGee deserved to win this contest. The dunk that he did with the two goals and two balls may have been the highest degree of difficulty dunk I have ever seen!!! Also, the dude gets so high that all of his dunks are cooler than they even seem. On his finally dunk his hand was so high above the rim that he could have easily thrown down on a 12 foot rim.

The Blake Griffen dunk over the car was overrated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSSdMUYzGzQ He didn't really jump over the car, he jumped over the hood. I am not saying it was easy or that I could do it, just saying the fact that the car was there made the dunk no more difficult that it would have been by jumping from where he did without the car.

As for the game, Kobe Bryant played like he was 26 again. In the first 6 minutes alone I could tell it was going to be a special night. He started with the turn around jumper over D-Rose, then the awesome reverse dunk after one of the best first steps I have seen all year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMbUTfWmAys Then, he toped it all of by draining a three while being tightly guarded. In those three possessions Kobe really showed his full range of talent.

Early in the game I was bashing Kevin Durant because he would not stop shooting, and missing. After putting up an embarrassing 6 spot in the 3-point contest, he started the evening off 0-4 from the field. However, he quickly stopped my flow of witty anti-Durrantula Tweets as he went off for 34.

One of my observations from last night was how good Amar'e looked. For one, he was playing hard, yes you read that correctly. He finished with 29 points, including a late 3-pointer to keep the East in the game. Also, I have decided that I have a slight man-crush on Russell Westbrook the dude is super fun to watch. His athleticism is just second-to-none, even in this glorified street ball game.

Around the 5:10 mark in the 4th quarter LeBron decided he wanted the East to come back. So, he finished off his triple-double, one possession after Kobe pulled down his 10th rebound to get his dub-dub. Bron Bron completely carried the East down the stretch finishing with 29/12/10, joining MJ as the only players to have a triple-double in the All-Star game.

However, it was still Kobe's night as he finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds while leading the West to a surprising 148-143 victory in front of the hometown fans. He tied Bob Pettit by earning his 4th All-Star Game MVP.

This was a great game to cap off another great All-Star weekend. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of this season play out!! If you have any comments please contact me at ramseyb14@hanover.edu!

Weekend Wrap

Another great week is in the books as the regular season winds down and teams begin to prepare for tournament time. Lots of recruiting news this week as well as some big games that deserve being mentioned.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera 2012 guard from North Central picked up an offer from the Texas Longhorns. After de-committing from Xavier, DSR has been receiving lots of interest from UCONN as well as Texas. The junior is averaging 26.2 points per game for NC this season.

Purdue picked up a verbal commitment from one of the top 2013 prospects in the state, Basil Smotherman. The Small Forward from Heritage Christian has a sweet lefty stroke and is a great rebounder for his size. He is leading HC with nearly 15 points per game.

After picking up the commitment from Smotherman, Coach Painter stayed on the recruiting trail. He was able to get three big time 2012 prospects in the house for today's upset over Ohio State. Gary Harris of Hamilton Southeastern, Jeremy Holowell from Lawrence Central, and Bowman Academy star DeJaun Marrero were all on hand for the big game.

2012 Southport guard Kellon Thomas picked up an offer from Belmont following his visit on Saturday. He is averaging 17.8 points this year.

Coaches from Xavier and IPFW were on hand to watch 2012 Forward Nick Osborne of Muncie Central take on Marion this week. William Barnes of Marion is also receiving interest from IPFW.

As for big games this past week, the showdown between Bloomington South and LaPort LaLumiere was the highest profile match up. Many IU fans came out to see 2012 commit Hanner Perea of LaLumiere play. The game between Bishop Luers and Warsaw ended up being a bit disappointing because Warsaw star Nic Moore was out due to a leg injury. His absence allowed Luers to pick up a 54-51 victory. Senior Evan Blackmon joined with James Blackmon Jr. for 35 points. The NCC conference title was decided this week as well as Kokomo defeated Richmond 71-61.

Tonight is a big night for Indiana High School Basketball as the Sectional draw is tonight at 7:00!!!

Seth Small to St. Francis

The defending NAIA Division II National Champions picked up another prospect today as point guard Seth Small from Hamilton Heights verbally committed. Small will be joining rival point guard Greg Dickey from Tipton and Shooting Guard Spencer Comer of Rushville.

Seth Small recently appeared on the Indiana Recruit Guide's top unsigned/sleeper list, now he may be the second person from that list to find a place to play, Connor Rich who also appeared on the list was reported to have committed to Tusculum, however Assistant Coach McBride told me that he had not committed, but does hold an offer. Either way, I hope to see all of those players in the college ranks next season.

Once again, congrats to Seth Small on his commitment to the University of St. Francis!