What to watch at New Castle Semistate, especially Bloomington North boys, on Saturday

A new semistate configuration and a new location will greet the Bloomington North boys' basketball team on Saturday.

So will the state's best team. Here's a look at what to watch for from the Cougars at the New Castle Semistate:

More:Bloomington North's Luke Lindeman quickly making a name for himself

Who, where and when

The New Castle Class 4A semistate will open at 10 a.m. with No. 8 Brownsburg (21-4) vs. No. 9 Jennings County, then Bloomington North and No. 1 Ben Davis (30-0) at noon.

The game will be broadcast on WGCL 1370 AM/98.7 FM and WVNI 95.1 FM. It will also be video live streamed at IHSAAtv.org with a fee of $12 for one game or $20 for access to all 24 semistate contests.

Any remaining tickets will be single game only and sold at the door for $12. Expect a huge crowd from Jennings County for Game 1.

How good are the Giants?

Ben Davis' starting five all earned some sort of All-Marion County honors with Zane Doughty (13.3 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.8 bpg) named player of the year and Don Carlisle voted coach of the year.

State-bound 6-3 guard Sheridan Sharp (9.8 ppg, 2.3 spg, 6.3/2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio) was also named first team with 6-5 Shaun Arnold (7.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) named third team. All three are seniors. 6-3 K.J. Windham (8.4 ppg) and 6-1 Mark Zackery (5.7 ppg) were given honorable mention.

Ben Davis is the only undefeated team left in the state and did so against a deep field of good 4A teams in the Indianapolis area.

"They've got all the pieces to make a great basketball team," North coach Jason Speer said. "They have a lot of experience. They have a lot of speed. They have a lot of strength. Very well coached. So it's one of those things where we'll have to play our game and take Ben Davis out of a few things that they want to do."

Can North be Giant killers?

More than a few folks are writing off the Cougars, but remember that was a likely situation last year when North took on No. 5 Cathedral at semistate. North stumbled out of the gate to fall behind by 19, but rallied and even shockingly took the lead on a 3-pointer by Nick Klaiber with 1:40 left. The Irish recovered to win 61-55 and romped in the state final by 34.

North showed similar moxie this year in knocking off Center Grove and Columbus North with last-second scores, meaning the Giants are well aware they'll have to put North away, not just hang on, to win.

"You're gonna have to catch them in a scenario where they're looking ahead," Speer said. "And then again for us to be able to play the way we have, which for us is down to the last second. But at the same time, we've made those plays down to the last second. We'll keep it close to the end and see if we can make another play."

Pace of play

When Speer says that, he doesn't necessarily mean trying to win another game in the low 40s. Ben Davis averages 66 ppg, North 61.5.

If the Giants want to speed things up, North is comfortable with that. If it turns into a grinder, North is also comfortable with that. Either way, North has to avoid turnovers, keep playing the solid defense is has so far and hit shots.

"Just what I've found, you've got to be able to play different ways," Speer said. "Obviously, Ben Davis will get out and press a little bit more. It's not necessarily one of those things we've seen a lot, but I do think it's something we'll be able to handle and handle well.

"Some teams maybe on their schedule don't handle getting pressed very well. But that's a point of emphasis for us from Day 1 to be able to handle a press and get the ball in positions where we can actually score it."

Hang tough

What kind of punch is Ben Davis going to throw in Round 1? Then, how does North respond? Whether that's with more toughness or a better approach to breaking down the opposing defense.

And then can an undefeated team keep playing to win and not to keep from losing? Keep the game close and the pressure rises on the Giants.

"You just have to be able to counter punch," Speer said. "We've done it that to teams as well. It's resilience, for us to withstand a quick start from another team. To be honest, the way we've been able to adjust and be resilient all the way the very last second has been a true testament to our heart and really how bad that we want to win."

What about JC and Brownsburg?

Brownsburg, which lost to Ben Davis 57-33 on Dec. 17, finished the regular season 3-3 with a series of close games. The losses came to Carmel (53-42), Hamilton Southeastern (60-54) and Center Grove (61-60). The Bulldogs, who whipped Kokomo by 22 in a tournament in late December, have won their three playoff games by an average of 21 points.

Brownsburg is led by 6-6 junior Kanon Catchings (18 ppg, 5 rpg), a Purdue commit whose mom, Tauja, was an All-Big Ten player at Illinois, senior Elhadj Diallo (15 ppg, 7 rpg) and junior guard Grant Porath (10.7 ppg).

Jennings County has ginned up excitement in North Vernon with the school's best team in years. The Panthers' only losses were to Center Grove (68-66) and Jeffersonville (65-59).

After a tense start to their sectional, needing double-overtime to beat Bedford North Lawrence and getting a 48-46 win over Jeff, JC rolled in the regional by 24.

JC also has three double-figure scorers in sophomore guard Carter Kent (14.6 ppg, 3 apg), senior guard Keegan Manowitz (14.4 ppg, 6 apg) and senior guard Owen Law (11.3). They've combined to hit 178 3-pointers with the team making 240 out of 649 attempts. Six players average between three and five rebounds per game and four are shooting 85% or better at the free throw line.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What to watch at New Castle Semistate, especially Bloomington North