Sectionals Resume Friday Night for Galloway, Leal and Lander

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Sectional semifinal doubleheaders should draw huge crowds all around the state on Friday night as the IHSAA high school basketball tournament gets cranked up again at 16 sites for Class 4A teams.

Indiana signees Anthony Leal (Bloomington South) and Trey Galloway (Culver Academy) are both looking to advance to sectional finals. They same is true for Evansville Reitz junior point guard Khristian Lander, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2021 who committed to Indiana last week.

Here's a look at the matchups for all three of these future Hoosiers:

Class 4A-14: Anthony Leal and Bloomington South

Columbus North (18-5) will face Indiana signee Anthony Leal and No. 1-ranked Bloomington South (24-0) on its home court in the second game of Friday's sectional semifinals. Bloomington South won the first meeting 63-48 on Feb. 14.

“(Columbus North is) good,” Bloomington South coach J.R. Holmes said. “They didn’t play very well (three weeks ago). I’m sure they’re going to play better. We’re going to have to be locked in. I’m expecting a very hard game. Our kids will have to be locked in defensively as well as they run their offense.”

The 6-foot-5 Leal is South's go-to player, and the school's all-time leading scorer. But he has plenty of other weapons as well, including senior point guard Noah Jager (Army) and , junior guard Connor Hickman, a Division I recruit in the 2021 class.

“There’s a reason they’re the No. 1 team in the state, and they’re playing at a high level right now,” Columbus North coach Paul Ferguson said. “What sticks out to me when I watch them is how well they move the ball and how willing they are to make the extra pass.”

The Bull Dogs are led by junior guard Blake Barker, who went over the 1,000-point mark for his career last month, and senior forward Nick Schiavello, who committed last week to play at Wheaton (Illinois).

Bloomington South has won five sectional championships in a row, and are a favorite to get a sixth this weekend. But it won't come without a fight

“We’re excited to play them,” Ferguson said. “We just feel like it’s a great opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the state in our gym. My guys are excited, and they’re ready to play hard and we’re looking forward to the game.”

Bloomington North (19-5) and East Central (16-8) will meet in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. ET Friday. The sectional championship is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Class 4A-3: Trey Galloway and Culver Academy

Culver already has a tournament game under its belt, beating South Bend Riley 62-41 on Tuesday night at LaPorte High School. They get Plymouth in the semifinal, the early game in the doubleheader.

This one shouldn't be any problem for Culver, because Plymouth, which had a bye in the first round, is just 6-16 on the season. That's the fewest amount of wins for any of the 64 teams still alive in the Class 4A tourney.

Galloway scored 20 points in the opener, despite being in foul trouble for much of the second half. His teammates picked him up, making 11 straight free throws at one point in the second half.

"This time of year, you have to be ready for anything,'' Culver coach Mark Galloway said about dealing with his son Trey's minutes in the second half. "But I love our bench and a lot of guys stepped up. You really need that this time of year, because you just never know how a game is going to play out.

Records don't matter this of year either, and Galloway knows that, especially in their first Class 4A sectional, having moved up from 3A because of the state's success factor. Culver won the Class 3A state title in 2018 and finished second a year ago.

"They have a lot of tradition (at Plymouth) and I'm sure Coach (Ryan) Bales will have a game plan ready for us,'' Galloway said. "This time of year, you have to try to prepare for everything.

Michigan City and South Bend Adams play in the nightcap. Those teams have combined for 38 wins, which is the fourth-largest combined win total in Friday night's 32 matchups. The winners meet Saturday night for the sectional title.

Class 4A-16: Khristian Lander and Evansville Reitz

Now that all-everything point guard Khristian Lander has committed to Indiana, we're going to add him to our high school watch list this spring. Reitz is the favorite in the 4A-16 sectional, but the city-wide battle will be tough, as it always is.

Reitz has deal with a lot of injuries and illness all year, plus all the hoopla around Lander's recruiting. The 6-foot-2 point guard in the No. 1-ranked player in Indiana in the 2021 class, and a top-20 player nationally in just about every recruiting ranking.

“I hope he is ready for sectionals,” said Reitz coach Michael Adams, who said he has never had a season with so many injuries and illness all year long.

“We are doing better as far as health is concerned, but we did lose Isaac Higgs,” Adams said. “He was hurt in the JV game against Bosse and is out for two to three weeks (injured ribs). Other than that, we should have everyone.”

Reitz is 6-2 in its last eight games, and is looking to get its first sectional title since 2016.

“I really feel if we can just get healthy, we can beat anybody,” Adams said. “If we can do the small things we can beat anybody as well.”

Reitz is 15-7, and no one else remaining in the sectional has more than 11 wins.

Class 4A pairings around the state

Class 4A-1 at East Chicago Central

Munster (21-1) vs. Merrillville (10-12), 7 p.m. ET
Lake Central (13-11) vs. East Chicago Central (12-11), 8:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-2 at Valparaiso

Portage (9-15) vs. Valparaiso (15-8), 6:30 p.m. ET
Crown Point (12-11) vs. Chesterton (22-2), 8 p.m. ET

Class 4A-3 at LaPorte

Plymouth (6-16) vs. Culver Academy (17-4), 6 p.m. ET
Michigan City (17-6) vs. South Bend Adams (21-3), 8 p.m. ET

Class 4A-4 at Elkhart

Elkhart Memorial (13-9) vs. Northridge (19-5), 6 p.m. ET
Penn (10-13) vs. Warsaw (12-9), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-5 at Fort Wayne Carroll

Fort Wayne Northrup (12-12) vs. Fort Wayne Carroll (17-5), 6 p.m. ET
Fort Wayne Snider (17-6) vs. East Noble (12-11), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-6 at Huntington North

New Haven (16-6) vs. Huntington North (9-14), 6 p.m. ET
Fort Wayne South (7-14) vs. Homestead (15-8), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-7 at Lafayette Jeff

Logansport (9-13) vs. Marion (12-11), 6 p.m. ET
Harrison (18-6) vs. Lafayette Jeff (21-4), 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A-8 at Noblesville

Westfield (16-6) vs. Zionsville (16-9), 6 p.m. ET
Carmel (16-7) vs. Noblesville (11-12), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-9 at Muncie Central

New Palestine (12-12) vs. Mount Vernon-Fortville (11-11), 6 p.m. ET
Richmond (17-7) vs. Muncie Central (10-13), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-10 at Lawrence Central

North Central (12-9) vs. Warren Central (17-5), 6 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Attucks (19-5) vs. Lawrence North (23-2), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-11 at Southport

Perry Meridian (7-14) vs. Pike (15-9), 6 p.m. ET
Southport (9-14) vs. Decatur Central (14-8), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-12 at Mooresville

Terre Haute South (8-16) vs. Brownsburg (19-4), 6 p.m. ET
Plainfield (19-4) vs. Mooresville (14-9), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-13 at Shelbyville

Greenwood (17-6) vs. Shelbyville (8-14), 6 p.m. ET
Franklin (10-10) vs. Center Grove (8-14), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-14 at Columbus North

Bloomington North (19-5) vs. East Central (16-8), 6 p.m. ET
Bloomington South (24-0) vs. Columbus North (18-5), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-15 at Seymour

Floyd Central (16-6) vs. Jeffersonville, (18-5) 6 p.m. ET
Bedford North Lawrence (15-9) vs. Jennings County (13-11), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-16 at Evansville North

Evansville Reitz (15-7) vs. Evansville Harrison (10-14), 6:30 p.m. ET
Castle (11-10) vs. Evansville North (11-11), 8 p.m. ETRELATED ITEMS ON INDIANA BASKETBALL

Related Items on Indiana Basketball

- NEXT GENERATION: Meet Culver's Trey Galloway, the first commit in Indiana's Class of 2020. CLICK HERE
- NEXT GENERATION: Meet Bloomington South's Anthony Leal, leader of the No. 1-ranked team in the state and an Indiana commit . CLICK HERE
- HUGE COMMITMENT: Evansville's Khristian Lander, the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2021, commits to Indiana. CLICK HERE