Class 1A

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THE HERALD ■ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2016

SECTIONAL ■ PAGE 19

Class 1A @ Tecumseh High School

Northeast Dubois Jeeps Record: 9-13 Coach: Terry Friedman (114-116 in 10 seasons) Opponent: vs. Wood Memorial (16-8), 8 p.m. EST Tuesday Postseason history: 9 sectionals, 1 regional Probable starters: G Drew Jacob (6-1 Sr.); G Alex Harder (6-0 Soph.); G Alan Kerstiens (6-2 Soph.); F Kaden Quinn (6-1 Sr.); F Keigan Meyer (6-4 Soph.) Team tidbits: The Jeeps lead 11-8 all-time against Wood Memorial; their first meeting as conference opponents came in 2001-02

Tecumseh Braves Record: 9-13 Coach: Kevin Oxley (297265 in 24 seasons) Opponent: vs. Cannelton (4-18), 6:30 p.m. EST Tuesday Postseason history: 12 sectionals, 2 regionals, 1 semistate, 1 state title Probable starters: G Jackson Fowler (5-9 Sr.); G Jon Jenkins (5-9 Jr.); F Keenan Lautner (5-11 Sr.); F Grant Pemberton (6-0 Sr.); F John Dossett (6-5 Sr.) Team tidbits: After going 13 consecutive seasons with a .500 record or better from

Cannelton Bulldogs Record: 4-18 Coach: Michael Snyder (5-40 in two seasons) Opponent: vs. Tecumseh (9-13), 6:30 p.m. EST Tuesday Postseason history: 6 sectionals Probable starters: G Damon Powers (5-9 Sr.); G Caleb Cravens (5-10 Sr.); F Logan Northerner (6-2 Sr.); F Jacob Pearey (6-1 Jr.); C Ethan Melton (6-3 Soph.) Team tidbits: Cannelton has managed just one sectional win since 2000, which came in 2012 against now-defunct New Harmony.

when the Trojans moved from the PAC. The teams have met four times in the postseason, with each team winning twice. ... The Jeeps have won at least one sectional game in five of the last seven seasons. Keep an eye on: Making shots. Sounds simple, but the Jeeps shot 37 percent in the regular-season clash with Wood Memorial, when they fell behind 29-15 at the half and lost 47-40. They’ll be tested by a Trojan defense that allows 46.3 ppg, the best mark in the sectional. Moment to remember: In back-to-back games in December, the Jeeps upended sectional foe Tecumseh then rallied from a double-digit deficit to edge Southridge 5752 in the Dubois County Hoops Classic.

Wood Memorial Trojans

1996-97 through 2008-09, Tecumseh has not had a winning season since. Still, the Braves have reached the sectional final three times in that sub-.500 span, winning it in 2010 and losing twice to Northeast Dubois. ... Fowler and Dossett both average near 11 points per contest; Fowler adds 2.5 assists while Dossett claims 7.5 rebounds per game. Keep an eye on: The number 50. The Braves are 9-0 when they’ve scored 50 or more. They’re 0-13 when they score 49 or less. Moment to remember: In the first six days of February, the Braves scored wins over sectional foe Evansville Day (60-59) as well as Lanesville (54-49), which has 17 wins.

Evansville Day Eagles

... The Bulldogs won a sectional title in the first year of class basketball (1998); their other sectional titles came back in 1933, ’36, ’46, ’48 and ’52. ... Cannelton has won four games this season after managing just three total over the last two seasons. Keep an eye on: Powers. He averages 20.9 points a game and is responsible for nearly half the scoring output of a Bulldog team averaging 43.7 ppg. Powers also tops the Dogs in rebounds (6.2 per game), assists (3.8) and steals (3.2). Moment to remember: A putback at the buzzer by Cravens gave Cannelton a 64-62 win Dec. 18 over Fox Creek Christian (Ky.) — it also gave the Bulldogs two consecutive wins for the first time in four seasons.

Springs Valley Blackhawks

Record: 16-8 Coach: Josh Thompson (49-50 in four seasons) Opponent: vs. Northeast Dubois (9-13), 8 p.m. EST Tuesday Postseason history: 6 sectionals Probable starters: G Paxon Bartley (6-2 Fr.); G Tristan Vickers (6-0 Jr.); G Tyler Fleisher (6-4 Jr.); F Jacob Jarboe (6-2 Sr.); F Walker Nurrenbern (6-2 Soph.) Team tidbits: Bartley, whose 12.5 ppg leads the team, is the son of Johnnie Bartley, who once held the National AAU Junior Olympic

Record: 12-11 Coach: Kelly Ballard (201228 in 19 seasons) Opponent: vs. Wood Memorial (16-8) or Northeast Dubois (9-13), 8 p.m. EST Friday Postseason history: 1 sectional Probable starters: G Humaad Khan (5-9 Jr.); G Levi Willis (5-9 Soph.); G Trey Waller (5-10 Jr.); F Joey Ballard (6-2 Sr.); F Patrick Cinelli (6-4 Sr.) Team tidbits: Day School’s lineup changed complexion at the beginning of February when star sophomore forward Rilee Epley

Record: 11-11 Coach: Rick Scholl (17-28 in two seasons) Opponent: vs. Tecumseh (9-13) or Cannelton (4-18), 6:30 p.m. EST Friday Postseason history: 12 sectionals, 2 regionals, 1 semistate Probable starters: G Zach Carnes (5-7 Soph.); G Josh Weddle (6-0 Jr.) F Isaac Brown (6-0 Sr.); F Braden Whitaker (6-2 Soph.); C Reece Walker (6-4 Sr.) Team tidbits: Springs Valley is a newcomer to the sectional field this season. The

JUST TO BE ASKING: GRIFFEN BAUER THE NORTHEAST DUBOIS SOPHOMORE HAS TAKEN ON AN OLD-SCHOOL NICKNAME AS HE’S BATTLED AGAINST FELLOW BIG MEN IN THE PROGRAM. With your nickname, “The Fonz,” how does a kid in 2016 get a nickname of a TV character from the 1970s? It all started last year when coach (Dwayne) Knies joked with all the JV players that, since I’m a socalled ladies man, they should call me that because I guess back in his day that was the important sexy guy. What are your thoughts on the nickname? Is it one you’ve grown to like? Well, at first I didn’t really like it until Dwayne told me about how they just called him that because he got all the ladies, and it kind of grew on me. I don’t mind. (laughs) So it sounds like you needed him to explain the back story to you? Dwayne sat all of us down and he kind of explained it to us in a huddle and everybody just kept calling me it. That’s great. And I’ve heard Coach Friedman has even called you The Fonz a few times this year, so it must be official now. Yeah, he likes to get in on our jokes and everything. Switching gears ... I love the sport goggles you wear. Was that a decision because contacts hurt your eyes or did you want to bring back

the old-school look? (laughs) Well, we tried contacts but I couldn’t put them in, so Coach Friedman said the other way would be to wear the goggles, so that was kind of the last resort. ... At first, they were kind of really strong because they were so close to my eyes but I’m getting used to them and now I’m playing better. Have you been getting compliments from other people on them? Yeah, everybody says me and (Jeep JV player) Malachi (Baumeister) look the same, but I don’t think he’s Fonz material. You’ve had to go against some big guys in practice the past couple years in Eric Dodson (2015 graduate) and Keigan Meyer. Are the goggles almost like throwing on your armor before duking it out with them in practice? In practice, if you get hit in the face with the goggles on, it hurts probably two times more. So... What’s it been like going up against those guys? Well, with Eric Dodson (6-foot-7, 250 pounds) it was usually me and another JV player both having to guard him, so it was intense. Going up against those guys has to be great competition. Do you feel your game has improved because of those daily battles? Oh yes, they improved drastically over the past year. ... But yeah, Big Ed (Dodson), he would dominate two guys 6-4 and dunk over us.

high jump record with a leap of 7 feet, 0 inches. ... Nurrenbern adds almost 12 ppg for the Trojans, who were 3-0 against other sectional teams in the regular season. Keep an eye on: This team — and for a while, too. The Trojans are the favorite to repeat as sectional champs and are wellstocked with young talent. They’ve thrived this season even without one of their top players, sophomore guard Lathan Falls, who’s out for the year with a knee injury. Moment to remember: The Trojans enjoyed new scenery playing games in January at the Frankfort (Ky.) Civic Center in the KentuckyIndiana Challenge, then at Knightstown’s Hoosier Gymnasium, the home floor of the Hickory Huskers in the movie “Hoosiers.”

(20 ppg) faced a disciplinary issue and is no longer with the team. Still, the Eagles have won five of eight in Epley’s absence. ... Day School’s regular-season schedule featured seven 3A or 4A teams. Keep an eye on: Everyone. Though the Eagles no longer have Epley, they’ve averaged better than 62 ppg without him and have compensated with offensive balance. Moment to remember: Even though it wasn’t a win, Day School pushed sectional frontrunner Wood Memorial to the wire before falling 61-55 in overtime on Feb. 16 as Willis netted 19 points and Cinelli added 18. The result also served as a signal that Day School could challenge for the sectional crown even without Epley.

Blackhawks play just two other sectional squads in the regular season; they lost 49-41 to Northeast Dubois and beat Cannelton by 18. ... The Blackhawks ended the regular season with a bang with their two highest-scoring games of the year — 77-39 over South Central (Elizabeth) and 74-59 over Eastern (Pekin). Whitaker averaged 13 points in those victories. Keep an eye on: Valley has a big weapon off the bench in O’Brien Selby (Jr., G), who totaled 35 points in the final two regularseason games and lit up Loogootee for 33. Moment to remember: Valley’s best win was a 71-56 takedown of Loogootee before New Year’s as the Hawks closed that game with a 30-19 run in the final quarter.

Jeeps (Concluded from Page 18) There’s respectability and grit with the two. Like the bow tie Jacob sports as he carries bags working at Holiday Foods and the hardiness Quinn needed from Day 1 working at a chicken house. His first day on the job, he had to remove all dead birds from the heap, “and the first chicken I come to had probably been in the cage for two to three days,” Quinn recalled. “I almost vomited right there. It was the grossest thing. But a couple weeks in, you just pull them out and you don’t even smell it. You just get used to it.” Similarly, the two learned to shrug off the skeptics entering this season, after the Jeeps lost roughly 60 percent of their scoring from last year. And even as the Jeeps dropped eight of nine games midway through this year’s campaign, they responded by finishing .500 in their last six contests. “Coming into the year, people were saying that we wouldn’t have a chance, we’re too young and wouldn’t go far, and I think this year’s shown that we’ve come together as a group. And even though we have a pretty young team, I think they’ve done a good

job of stepping up and filling the varsity role,” Jacob said, as this bunch replicated last year’s record heading into the tourney. “And that’s good for them to get that experience this year so they can bring it for next year and the year after that.” As they sit on the precipice of their final sectional, “It’s been a long ride, it’s been a great ride,” Jacob said. When sophomore teammate Keigan Meyer chucked one of Friedman’s dryerase markers while coaching an intramural game last week, it rehashed memories for Quinn and Jacob of when Cody Ziegler did the same thing as the pair’s eighth-grade coach. Quinn was sitting on the bench, “and all of a sudden, all I see is an Expo marker go flying past,” he remembered with a laugh. From that team, only Jacob and Quinn are still playing, “and it just shows the commitment we’ve both put into the game, how much we love the game,” Jacob said. “It’s been great playing with him the past couple years and I’m really going to miss it.” “Perfectly said,” Quinn added. Now there’s something Jacob (6-foot-1) and Quinn (6-foot-1) can agree on.