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A look at the first few months of the high school basketball season

daniel suddeath, the evening news and the tribune, jeffersonville, ind.
·4 min read

Jan. 3—SOUTHERN INDIANA — Holiday tournaments have concluded and high school basketball is now in the two-month stretch leading to the postseason. Here's a review of what's transpired so far in Southern Indiana with a look at what's to come for the remainder of the season.

Defending champions heating up

The defending Class 2A state champion Providence Pioneers started the season with bad news after returning leading scorer Casey Kaelin was sidelined with a wrist injury in their first game against title contender Brownstown Central.

Kaelin has yet to return to action, but the Pioneers ended 2022 with a nice run at the Silver Creek Holiday Tournament. Providence(6-3) defeated Charlestown and Silver Creek on back-to-back nights to claim the tourney title. In the championship game, Noah Lovan scored 26 points to lead the way.

Lovan, a transfer from Louisville Trinity, has been a great addition to the Pioneers this season, especially with Kaelin out over the first two months. Providence has also been bolstered by solid guard play from Jaden Johnson, marksmanship shooting from Grant Seebold and solid play off the bench from players like Elijah Fuller Tucker.

Providence won't have to wait long for another test, as the Pioneers will host Southwestern(10-0) at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Other games of note for Providence this month include Jeffersonville (Jan. 14), Rock Creek (Jan. 21) and Christian Academy of Indiana (Jan. 27).

New coaches

Multiple Southern Indiana schools have coaches in their initial seasons with their teams for 2022-23.

On the boys' side, Jeffersonville's Sherron Wilkerson has the Red Devils off to a 5-4 start. Jeffersonville dropped its final two games of 2022, but will have a chance to right the ship against rival New Albany (7-3) on Friday.

Greg Walters is in his first season for the Floyd Central. The Highlanders are off to a 2-5 start, and will travel to Corydon Central (8-2) on Friday.

The two first-year coaches will meet on Jan. 13 when Floyd Central will travel to Jeffersonville.

In girls' hoops, Jeffersonville's new coach, Cory Norman, has the Red Devils at 11-6 with wins over Jennings County, Charlestown and Silver Creek. On Dec. 28, the Red Devils hung with Class 4A title contender Fishers before eventually falling 66-59.

The Red Devils have some tests coming up including Evansville North (10-4) on Saturday and Evansville Reitz (10-4) on Jan. 14.

Mid-Southern mix

Several teams are in the mix in the girls' Mid-Southern Conference.

Silver Creek (7-6, 3-1) moved up to 4A this season after reaching the 3A championship game last season and winning the title in 2021. The Dragons lost all of their starters from last season's squad, but still have notched some impressive wins including a 50-49 win over Scottsburg on Dec. 13.

Scottsburg (12-3, 4-2) is the only Mid-Southern school to have beaten Corydon Central (14-2, 4-1) in conference play this season. Corydon Central has an impressive win over Jeffersonville (70-60) and is ranked No. 9 in the state by MaxPreps and No. 3 in Class 3A.

Charlestown (8-6, 2-3) enters the new year with back-to-back wins ahead of the Pirates game against Madison on Thursday. Charlestown defeated Silver Creek 48-41 on Nov. 16.

Borden, Rock Creek girls off to solid starts

The Borden Braves are on pace for their third consecutive winning season after beginning the 2022-23 campaign with a 10-4 record.

The Class 1A Braves have notched several blowout wins but have also pulled out a few narrow victories including a 38-37 road win over New Washington(8-8) on Nov. 29.

The Braves losses have come to good competition including Scottsburg and Madison(8-4). Borden will next be in action Saturday when the Braves host Paoli (9-7).

In Sellersburg, Rock Creek is 12-2 to start the season. The Lions won the Rock Creek Holiday Classic last Friday, beating Christian Academy for the second time this season in the championship game.

The Lions have a talented, young team that includes Ahleeyah Brown, Rylan Byars, Ryleigh Newton and Kelis Dansby.

Rock Creek will have some tough tests this month including Lanesville(15-2) on Jan. 12 and Providence(9-5) on Jan. 18.

Hoosier Hills rundown

With wins before the new year over Seymour (2-7, 0-3) and Floyd Central (2-5, 0-1), the New Albany Bulldogs are atop the boys' Hoosier Hills standings. But there's plenty to be decided over the next two months.

Class 4A Jennings County (10-0, 1-0) has been the most impressive team in the conference and will have a big matchup with Class 2A power Brownstown Central (9-2) on Friday.

New Albany begins the new year with a rivalry conference meeting with Jeffersonville on Friday, the first of a tough slate of games that includes Southwestern(10-0) on Jan. 10, Scottsburg (9-1) on Jan. 14 and Silver Creek (4-4) on Jan. 20.