The Boys Basketball team (17-4) heads to Bloomington North High School tonight to play Mooreseville in the first round of the sectional tournament. The Trojans are the top ranked team in the sectional and have a favorable path to the championship game.
Center Grove is heading into their opening game against Mooresville on an 11-game win streak, including a 70-55 win against the Pioneers two weeks ago.
“I think last game our scout wasn’t accurate against [Mooresville],” senior guard Joey Schmitz said. “We know who to guard, and we’re able to see what kids can play this time around.”
Bloomington North received the bye on the Trojans’ side of the bracket and await them in the next game. Center Grove was knocked out of last year’s sectional tournament in the championship game by Bloomington North when then junior Luke Lindamen (who is the Cougars’ leading scorer this season at 17 ppg) nailed a baseline three-pointer with seconds left.
“Being that we have a lot of guys coming back who played last year, I think it fueled us because no one wanted to feel that way again,” senior forward Will Spellman said. “It was sad, and it sucked that everything we had worked so hard for came to an ending like that. I think the competitor in everyone really lit a fire.”
The Trojans are led in scoring by Schmitz, who averages 17.7 ppg, followed by Jalen Bundy (10.8) and Will Spellman (10.3). The Trojans score an impressive 65.9 points per game as a team and have put up over 60 points in 15 games, including 10 games where they eclipsed the 70-point mark. Scoring has been a pillar for the Trojans’ success this season, and Schmitz says that keeping that up will be important.
“It will be very important to make sure our offense is still firing at 100% throughout the tournament,” Schmitz said. “Although even when our offense isn’t as hot as it can be, we will find other ways to win.”
The other side of the sectional bracket is a game one matchup between Greenwood (8-14) and Bloomington South (16-10), with Martinsville (3-19) receiving the bye. Greenwood has been on a hot streak as of late, with senior guard Jake Mosemann averaging 22 ppg in the last five games. However, in the realm of high school basketball, the last thing you can do is count the winningest coach in the history of high school basketball, JR Holmes of Bloomington South, and his squad out.
“It would mean a small amount [to win the sectional]. We are supposed to win this sectional and this is expected of us,” Schmitz said. “It would mean so much more if we could make a run past sectionals and into semi-state.”
