When the Indiana High School Athletic Association on Sunday sits down and conducts its annual blind draw for the boys post-season basketball tourney, you might want to keep your eye on Class 3A, Sectional 27.
Hello, Hamilton Heights!
Sectional 27, to be played at Shelbyville, consists of Heights, Mt. Vernon, New Palestine, Rushville and the host Golden Bears.
On paper, there is no evidence that Hamilton Heights might win a sectional championship. The Huskies are 10-7 and that mark stands side by side with Mt. Vernon at 10-6 and New Palestine at 10-7. But, Heights has lost to the only two Sectional 27 teams the Huskies have played this season, falling to Mt. Vernon 52-51 at Heights back on Nov. 24 and losing to Shelbyville 76-65 on Jan. 5 at Shelbyville.
Even with the loss to Shelbyville, playing on the sectional court during the regular season will help Hamilton Heights come tourney time.
Forget what’s on paper. What makes this sectional so interesting is that Coach Chad Ballenger’s Huskies are playing well.
Since dropping back to back games to Shelbyville and Western Boone in early January, Heights has won four of six games. The two losses have been to Tipton 50-44 and Northwestern 73-64. Tipton has lost one game, to Northwestern, and is ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 2A. Northwestern has lost one game and is ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 3A.
Hamilton Heights has survived a couple of problems, having lost freshman standout Austin Etherington and senior Chad Sherer to injuries.
Entering the final three games of the regular season, basically Heights is a seven-man team. That’s not all that bad. Austin Weatherford, Aaron Heinzman, Nick Hartley, Caleb Small and T.J. Witham give Ballenger a strong starting combination. Any of those five Huskies are capable of putting big numbers on the board in any given game. Hartley (one of the best shot-blockers and rebounders in the county), Small and Weatherford had carried the scoring role most of the season, but when Witham burned the nets for 20 points and Heinzman (who has nursed an ankle injury most of the season) poured in 15 points, Ballenger’s eyes had to light up a little following the Northwestern game.
Coming off the bench for the Huskies are Jared Mills, a good rebounder, and Grant House, a good shooter.
It’s hard to get a read on Sectional 27.
Shelbyville, for example, is just 5-13, but has beaten Mt. Vernon 55-44, Rushville 76-75 and Hamilton Heights and lost to New Palestine 68-65 in overtime.
It’s hard to give the favorite tag to Shelbyville, with only five victories, but the Golden Bears’ record against the field and playing at home certainly speaks highly of the host team.
After beating Hamilton Heights on Jan. 5, Shelbyville didn’t win again until last week when the Bears pulled out a 50-49 decision at Seymour. They will play at Delta on Friday and then end the regular season on Feb. 21 at home against Batesville.
Mt. Vernon is 2-2 against sectional foes with wins over Heights and Rushville 72-65 and losses to Shelbyville and New Palestine 41-39. The New Pal loss was in a December tourney. The two clubs will play again Friday at Mt. Vernon and after that Mt. Vernon has road games at Westfield and Yorktown.
New Palestine, after traveling to Mt. Vernon on Friday, will end its season by hosting Westfield on Saturday and playing at Greenwood on Feb. 22. The Dragons have lost five of their last six games, with the only win being the overtime decision over Shelbyville.
Rushville (7-10) has beaten only South Dearborn and Greensburg in its last seven games and still must play Greenfield-Central, Morristown and Knightstown before the sectional.
It looks like a wide-open sectional. Don’t let the Huskies 0-2 record against sectional teams fool you.
