Sectional excitement to roll into weekend
Mar. 1—The sectional action has been fast and furious this week. We knew that the Princeton Sectional would be tight and truthfully there could easily be three different teams playing on Friday night. I think both Washington and North Daviess made statements all year and now have teams that will return a lot of talent. ND had three sophomores that will help them challenge for most likely a Class A sectional next year. Those kids got a lot of experience this season after having to have a steep learning curve.
The Hatchets lost a close game to a much improved Pike Central and WHS put five players in double figures. They are another team that trended on the young side during the first half of the year but showed a huge improvement after Christmas. Four of the five scoring in double figures on Wednesday, will return for coach Miiller next season.
In the Loogootee sectional, the Lions will have to beat two of the top three in Class A, B-R will have to beat No. 7 and No. 3, and Orleans will only have to come up with one big win to take the title. Friday and Saturday should have a very old school feel to it and I would imagine even with just one game on Saturday, it will be packed.
Hatchet fans got a chance to see Purdue coach Matt Painter at the Princeton Sectional on Wednesday. I am a Purdue guy, so I'm biased, but over the last decade, I have seen an incredible rise in Purdue support, especially in Southwest Indiana. This area was probably 75% IU fans with Purdue, UK, Louisville and UE making up the other 25%. However, just from what I've seen in the non-scientific sweatshirt/ball cap polling, I'll bet it is closer to 40% now. One of the things that really surprised me are the number of elementary and junior high kids that seem to be fans. From the local coaches I have talked to, Painter seems to be very accessible and frequently seen at games all over the state. When you look at the roster, 12 of the 17 names are Indiana kids.
Next year's Purdue recruiting class is a top 10 class and two of the five are from Indiana. Right now, IU has only five Indiana kids on the roster who call the Hoosier state home. You often hear people talk about what is special about Indiana kids and Indiana high school basketball and Purdue has simply done a better job of finding those players. Another alarming trend is two of the top four players in the state, aren't actually from Indiana and play a national schedule at non-IHSAA La Lumiere School in LaPorte. I would venture to guess that mean there would be no allegiance to the Hoosier state coming signing day.
One thing is certainly for sure, the two sectionals played in our part of the state this week have Indiana basketball written all over them and I expect it will remain that way for a while.
