LAPEL — The Lapel Bulldogs enter the 2009-10 boys basketball season with hopes of competing for a sectional championship and possibly more.
Lapel returns seven letter winners from last season’s 18-5 sectional finalist squad.
Among the returning are three starters from last season. Guard Chandler Guion is back after averaging (14 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds) and frontliners Logan Ingle (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Jeremy Reed (12 points, 7 rebounds).
Reed won’t be available at the start due to a broken ankle suffered mid-football season.
“We’ve got three really nice players back,” said Howell. “Reed has to see the doctor and get released then get his 10 practices. It’ll take him a month to get him where he should be. Until then we’ll have a few people playing out of position.”
“I hope I can get back as soon as possible,” said Reed. “I just want to be a part of this team so badly. It’s a privilege to be a on this team, and I want just want to play so bad.”
Newcomers to the Bulldogs include freshman Tanner Watkins and senior Austin Gardner, who played for Pendleton Heights last year. Watkins is the grandson of former Highland Scots coach Alan Darner.
Dylan Hobbs, Chase Needler, Andrew Gibson, Logan Wyant and Boston Fields round out one of the deepest teams in Howell’s six seasons at Lapel.
Among the losses to graduation were Michael Pritchett and Ryan Scott. And gone with them was some outside shooting and inside toughness, but more importantly was the leadership that they provided.
“We must get better leadership from our players,” said Howell. “They’re better than they were last year. But that’s going to be a key for us; getting leadership out there on the floor.”
“We just need a couple of players to keep everybody in gear,” said Reed. “Just to keep everybody positive. If that happens we’ll have a really good bond.”
“We have a lot of young guys on the team, and we just need someone to step up and help the young guys develop the confidence they need,” said Guion.
Lapel’s new conference provides a boost in its strength of the schedule. Lapel has replaced the teams that it has had some recent one-sided success against with the idea that a step up in competition will help the team come March, when the state tournament rolls around.
“There were always a couple of games where going in we thought we’d win by 25 or 30. We don’t have those this year. We have a schedule where we might not have as good a record, but it should help us come tournament time.”
“I think we’ve got a tough task in front of us. I know we have a tough schedule, but I just want to leave it out on the floor,” said Chandler Guion. “I’m looking at it as one game at a time, but to be honest I want that sectional.”
The Bulldogs will be featured in the Wigwam Classic on Jan. 23 when they play Park Tudor. Another highlight trip will come on Jan. 30, when they play Pendleton Heights at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs will be playing in both the White River Athletic Conference and the Indiana Crossroads Conference.
“We’ll have eight conference games this year,” said Howell. “That may sound like a lot, but not as much as the baseball team will have. They’ll play 16 conference games.”
The goal for the Bulldogs in the long term remains winning the sectional championship.
“I hope we’re going to do well. We’re playing new competition and I think we’re going to do well,” said Reed. “I think we’ll have a good year. The (schedule) gets us ready for sectional and that’s the goal.”
“I think we should be in position to where we can contend for the sectional,” said Howell. “Once you’re there, anything can happen.”
Lapel opens the season Wednesday at Mount Vernon.
High School Sports
Lapel sets sights on championship
- High School Sports
-
-
Arabians still on rise
The Pendleton Heights boys basketball team is riding an 11-game winning streak and rose to No. 4 in the Class 4A state rankings Monday.
But, with the sectional set to begin exactly two weeks from today, coach Brian Hahn isn’t about to let the Arabians (18-2) get too comfortable. -
Wiles’ heart leads her to Hoosiers
Meghan Wiles took some time to explore her options, but she always kind of knew where she would end up.
She’s an IU girl.
Wiles, a Pendleton Heights senior, signed to play soccer at Indiana University on Feb. 1, the NCAA’s National Signing Day. Her parents, Tom and Mandy, both attended IU. -
Quintin Harlan: Wrestlers prep for state finals
Taking part in the Parade of Champions during the opening ceremonies of the IHSAA State Wrestling Finals is a thrill that stays with competitors and coaches for as long as they’ll remember.
For some, taking part in the ceremonial start for the state finals is the best memory. -
Anderson tankers ready for sectional
It has been a long time since the Anderson High School boys’ swim team last dipped its toes into competitive waters. Nearly a month, in fact. That will change when the team travels to Hamilton Southeastern for sectional preliminaries this Thursday.
-
George Bremer: Dunham tied to Arabians
Pendleton Heights senior Kellen Dunham is one of three players widely considered to be the front-runners for this season’s Indiana Mr. Basketball award. The other two — Hamilton Southeastern’s Gary Harris and Park Tudor’s Yogi Ferrell — were named last week as participants in this spring’s McDonald’s All-American Game. Dunham was left out. That doesn’t kill his chances to win the state’s most coveted individual honor, but it does inextricably tie those hopes to the Arabians’ postseason fortunes.
-
Two individuals, one team to bowling state finals
The high school bowling semistate held Saturday at Cooper’s Sport Bowl narrowed down the field of local bowlers, advancing only two individuals and one team to the state finals next weekend.
-
Rick Teverbaugh: Anderson's Carter small but her speed is deadly
There are sometimes very big reasons for a team to win a basketball game.
Sometimes, the reason is very small.
In the case of the Anderson Lady Tribe, they won the Greenfield Sectional championship Saturday night for a very small reason — a 5-foot-4 reason, to be exact. -
Arabians' Todd fulfills promise on mat
Pendleton Heights' Mason Todd improved his season record to 37-0 en route to winning the 120-pound title at the New Castle Fieldhouse. He will be one of four local wrestlers to participate in the Parade of Champions to kick off the 74th IHSAA Individual State Tournament on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
-
Raiders run by Broncos
Daleville surprised almost everyone in Sectional 55 by hanging with Southern Wells (18-6) before bowing out 44-27 in the championship game Saturday at Wes-Del.
-
Lady Tribe captures sectional crown
Photos from the sectional championship between Anderson and Pendleton Heights on Saturday.
- More High School Sports Headlines
-
