2024-25 Season Preview: Class 2A, Sectionals 41 & 42

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='881701' first='Addilee' last='Jenkins'] (2025) of Parke Heritage High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we wrap up Thanksgiving week, I wanted to take the time to continue previewing the season Sectional by Sectional. In the past, I have typically started in Class 1A and moved up, but this season I started with Class 4A instead. Additionally, during the Spring, the IHSAA moved to a traditional enrollment-based format, realigning all classes with hard enrollment cutoff lines per class instead of taking nearly 400 schools and simply dividing them into four equal classes. With that said, each class should be more competitive, but the bigger classes will have fewer teams than the smaller classes. This article serves as the 21st of 32, previewing each Sectional in the state. In this specific article, I will take a look at Class 2A, Sectional #41 and Sectional #42. Below is a look at the teams in each of those Sectionals, along with some general comments and analysis.<br><small>(<em>SAG = Final 2023-2024 Multiclass Sagarin Rating (394 teams); SOS = Final 2023-2024 Strength of Schedule</em>)</small></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="#FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+2">Sectional #41 at Greencastle</font></strong><br>Parke Heritage (23-4), SAG 106, SOS 339<br>Southmont (14-9), SAG 193, SOS 296<br>South Putnam (12-11), SAG 248, SOS 308<br>Greencastle (12-14), SAG 277, SOS 332<br>North Putnam (9-14), SAG 292, SOS 325<br>South Vermillion (0-24), SAG 387, SOS 353</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Teams:</strong> Parke Heritage is the team to beat in Sectional #41. They have a strong nucleus of Seniors, plus a handful of talented underclassmen joining the show this year. 5-8 Senior point guard <strong>Ella Simpson</strong> (<em>19.8p, 10.7r, 4.9a, 4.4s</em>) is a stat sheet stuffer. The Marian University commit can handle, create offense, and defend, plus she's a fantastic rebounder for her position. 5-8 Senior forward <strong>Raegan Ramsay</strong> (<em>9.8p, 4.7r, 3.0s in 13 games</em>) will look forward to getting in a full season this year. She has always been a nice athlete who hustles around, collects rebounds, and defends. 5-9 wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='881701' first='Addilee' last='Jenkins']</strong> (<em>8.0p, 4.0r, 2.4a, 2.3s</em>), twin 5-7 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='889466' first='Addison' last='Jenkins']</strong> (<em>5.9p, 3.6r</em>), 5-8 forward <strong>Catherine O'Brien</strong> (<em>6.6p, 2.7r, 2.0s</em>), and 5-8 guard <strong>Andrea Perkins</strong> (<em>4.6p, 2.3a</em>), also all Seniors, have plenty of experience and round out the Senior-based core for the Wolves. <strong>Anesa Veseli</strong> (<em>1.8p in 17 games</em>) and <strong>Addie Ramsay</strong> (<em>1.3p in 17 games</em>) are a pair of Sophomores who look to expand upon their limited action from a year ago, while Freshmen guards <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='989989' first='Lila' last='Busenbark']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='990958' first='Birkley' last='Schelsky']</strong> both look to step into roles early in their careers. The Wolves are obviously deep, they have length and athleticism at just about every position, they only look to be missing a traditional post. However, that shouldn't keep them from being one of the better teams in all of Class 2A in 2024-2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Greencastle: 5-5 Senior guard <strong>Alexandra Dobbs</strong> (<em>8.3p, 3.2r, 3.4s</em>), Junior forward <strong>Bailey Brown</strong> (<em>7.8p, 8.0r</em>); North Putnam: 5-8 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='773837' first='Jasmine' last='Duvall']</strong> (<em>7.2p, 2.5r</em>), 5-9 Junior forward <strong>Melanie Davies</strong> (<em>6.6p, 3.3r</em>); Southmont: 5-11 Sophomore forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137319' first='Layla' last='Gomez']</strong> (<em>8.1p, 7.3r, 2.0s</em>), Freshman guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1144620' first='Ella' last='Barry']</strong>; South Putnam: 5-3 Senior guard <strong>Chlara Pistelli</strong> (<em>11.6p, 4.1r, 2.1a, 2.9s</em>), 5-8 Sophomore wing <strong>Drew Gardner</strong> (<em>8.4p, 4.0r</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span><font color="FFFFFF">.</font></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+2">Sectional #42 at Monrovia</font></strong><br>University (10-13), SAG 190, SOS 132<br>Monrovia (13-10), SAG 216, SOS 297<br>Covenant Christian (8-17), SAG 239, SOS 196<br>Park Tudor (10-10), SAG 289, SOS 356<br>Cardinal Ritter (7-16), SAG 348, SOS 342<br>Riverside (3-13), SAG 392, SOS 388</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Teams:</strong> The Trailblazers of University High School have had quite a decade of success on the court. After changing coaches last season, the roster has also gone through its share of changes, but they remain competitive and play a strong schedule for a Class 2A team. No matter their overall record at the end of the season, look for them to compete for Sectional #42. 5-3 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='331768' first='Anyah' last='Jordan-Turley']</strong> (<em>10.5p, 4.3r, 2.1a, 2.3s</em>) is back to lead this year's team. She is a strong, physical guard, and she does a great job of playing downhill off the bounce. 5-7 Junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486499' first='Leah' last='Norvell']</strong> (<em>7.6p, 4.9r</em>) is another experienced member of a solid backcourt, while 5-11 Junior post <strong>Mackenzie Feeney</strong> (<em>3.1p, 7.9r, 3.3a, 2.4s, 3.3b</em>) is one of the most unique, versatile frontline players in this Sectional. 5-2 Junior guard <strong>Meg Rohloff</strong> (<em>2.1p</em>) can help add depth. 5-8 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='331806' first='Taylor' last='Seay']</strong> (<em>7.6p, 3.3r in 2022-2023</em>) returns after missing all of last season. She is a talented athlete who plays with a lot of versatility. Additionally, the Trailblazers have added 5-8 Junior twins <strong>Gabby Culp</strong> and <strong>Sydney Culp</strong>, transfers from Cathedral High School. Once again, University will play more than a dozen 3A/4A schools to prepare for postseason play, and I'd expect them to be ready come February. Following a successful run, Covenant Christian has endured four consecutive losing seasons. However, they have an experienced team returning in 2024-2025 and could be a 15-win team or better. 5-8 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='915438' first='Vivian' last='Haffner']</strong> (<em>11.4p, 2.1r</em>) is their leading scorer from last year. She is a very good perimeter shooter and has a nice basketball IQ. 5-3 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='914504' first='Avery' last='Reichart']</strong> (<em>7.5p, 2.0r, 2.8a, 2.5s</em>) is another steady veteran who takes on a lot of the ball-handling responsibilities. 5-8 Sophomore wing <strong>Moriah Armstrong</strong> (<em>5.0p, 2.6r</em>) went through the ups and downs of a rookie, but she had several nice flashes and could be in line to step into a more prominent role moving forward. 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Julia Hoffman</strong> (<em>3.5p</em>), 5-7 Junior forward <strong>Emiline Flatt</strong> (<em>3.2p, 4.4r</em>), 5-8 Junior wing <strong>Jenna Rademacher</strong> (<em>3.0p, 2.0r</em>), and 5-9 Senior forward <strong>Milan Loy-Dawson</strong> (<em>1.6p, 2.5r in 13 games</em>) return from the core rotation of 2023-2024. A newcomer who could give the lineup a boost is 5-5 Freshman guard <strong>Abbey Jankowski</strong>. She is a capable shooter who can find points at all three levels. The Warriors will be competitive most nights, and they'll do so with a sum of their parts instead of leaning on a couple of stars.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Cardinal Ritter: Freshman wing <strong>Lilly Butler</strong>; Monrovia: 5-5 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='692239' first='Emery' last='Newlin']</strong> (<em>10.7p, 4.2r, 2.8a, 3.5s</em>), 5-5 Sophomore point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751036' first='Allie' last='Tallent']</strong> (<em>9.0p, 2.4r, 2.0a, 2.0s</em>), 5-6 Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751061' first='Grace' last='Deaton']</strong> (<em>5.8p</em>); Park Tudor: 6-2 Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='567135' first='D'Aaliyah' last='Kemp']</strong> (<em>16.8p, 8.3r, 3.5s</em>), 5-4 Sophomore point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751123' first='Sydney' last='Squires']</strong> (<em>7.0p, 3.9r, 2.7a</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->