CROWN POINT: Crown Point can return three regulars from the 2016 sectional title team in 6-foot-4 Sasha Stefanovic (15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 52 of 135, .385 in 3s), 6-foot-7 Andrew Kenneally (11.7 points, 60% FG (122 of 202) and 6-foot guard Dominic Tomich (5.1 points, 3.3 assists, 46 of 53 (88%) free throws) and they have more than that. 6-foot-4 forward Kenny Decker only played 163 minutes this past season, but he could be a double figure scorer they need to replace soon to be Indiana University freshman Grant Gelon. The Bulldogs need guards to help Tomich. They graduate a three-year starter in Blake Bonin and more than one backcourt spot on the varsity is open. I don't know what kind of schedule CP will play moving forward but I hope they can stay on the schedule of teams like Pike, Warren Central and Lawrence North. The boys believed those games helped them when they faced NWI foes. Crown Point will be less of a 3-point shooting team without Gelon (276 of 658 (41.8%) on career 3s, but they may want to be as Kenneally returns. CP has never won three sectional titles in a row and that will be next year’s goal.

EAST CHICAGO: I’d like to tell you what happened to East Chicago at the Michigan City Regional last March, but I don't know. Crown Point defeated them by 15 and it shouldn't have been that easy. When your school has one guy starting in the National Football League and another guy starting (when Derrick Rise doesn’t feel like playing) for the Chicago Bulls, you cant get jacked up 67-52 by Crown Point.  Back to try to do better will be 6-foot-3 Jermaine Cousinard (17 points, 6.2 rebounds) with help from 6-foot Alyion Stubbs (7.0 points) plus veteran guards Jamar Adams and Devontae Jones. EC will be small, but they will also be able to pressure full court like they traditionally want to. EC only had three seniors, so they should benefit from a second year of new/old coach Pete Trgovich. The Cards don’t gain with Damien Jefferson (26.1 ppg.) graduating, but it could be a chance for more to play and share the ball. Down the line. East Chicago still needs to.

LOWELL: Lowell has a lot of scoring coming back, including 6-foot-3 Nick Mantis (18.6 points, 7 rebounds) and 5-foot-10 guard John Cory (15.2 points, 3.2 steals) and 6-foot-2 Brett Skorka. 6-foot-2 Grant Monix (3.8 points) and 6-foot 3 Noah Durr (3.2) can have two years left to play. The Devils will need to develop more depth to continue to play at the pace that was so successful this past season, but that’s just attracting athletes who are willing to commit. To compete in Class 4A in basketball, you need a core of one sport athletes. Not all. East Chicago’s quarterback and middle linebacker were contributors on the basketball team. But their top two players were one sport boys. It's easy to be a fall-spring athlete, but it's very difficult to play football and basketball and be the best basketball player you can be. The seasons overlap. Football-basketball players tend to be role players in basketball at larger schools. But you need those boys, especially if you want to play an up-tempo style.

Lowell didn't play the caliber of teams that Crown Point did, but upgrading their schedule aided their success as well. I’m intrigued by the future of Class 4A Sectional 1 because Gary West Side (1,267 students) isn’t going to be a 4A school much longer. In numbers they submitted to the IHSAA for classification, West Side reported 368 students in this year’s senior class and less than 300 in the sophomore and junior classes. Charter schools like Lighthouse and Bowman seem to be taking their students. In truth, Lowell has never geographically belonged in the same sectional with West Side and East Chicago. Kankakee Valley (1,094 teens), which is going to be larger than West Side soon, just went 4A in girls basketball but they went to 4A Sectional 2.

There’s more than one reason that Lowell hasn’t won a sectional in a generation. Under the present sectional groupings, it's very difficult for Lowell to have post-season success in boys basketball. Class basketball playoffs have hurt Lowell more than any other school I can think of. But Lowell is better and the situation is about to change in several respects.

MERRILLVILLE: Merrillville graduates six seniors from a team that lost only twice, but they still should have a tall front line including 6-foot-6 Mileek McMillan, 6-foot-4 Kameron Jackson, 6-foot-2 Jonah Jackson and 6-foot-4 Cameron Wilbon (10 points, 5.5 rebounds). There’s a chance for 6-foot Westville transfer Johnny Bernard and Pirate football wide receiver James Kirklen to play more next season. Maybe even 5-foot-9 Cameron Wright, a freshman football QB and basketball point guard. Since Merrillville’s two-year record is 40-11, the Pirates certainly must feel they could have and should have won sectional titles the last two years. There’s no rebuilding here. I believe that every school in the eight-team Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) graduated their leading scorer except for CP, which graduated their second leading scorer. The league won't be as strong in 2017 which makes it winnable for a half dozen teams. It's not obvious where the scoring will come from on the 2017 Pirates, but you can see where the defense, rebounding and athleticism will come from.

MERRILLVILLE: Here’s the story of 2017. It's been a tough couple of years at Andrean in basketball, but that may be over. The 59ers graduated some older regulars, but they didn’t have many of them. 6-foot-4 Merrillville transfer Amari Sherrod (7.9 points, 5.5 rebounds) averaged 23 minutes a game as a freshman. 6-foot-2 Curtis Jones (10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds) averaged 24 minutes a game over 20 games as a sophomore. Four juniors averaged 14 minutes or more per game including 5-foot-7 guard Winston Carey (5.3 points, 2.9 assists) and 5-foot-10 Jerron Tatum (5.2 points, 2.0 steals). What I don’t know is if 6-foot-2 Merrillville transfer Zion Young will be playing for the 59ers next season. The experienced (he played some varsity as a Merrillville freshman) wing player spent all season on the junior varsity because Merrillville reportedly didn’t sign off on his transfer to their neighbor and rival. If Young, a quality shooter and scorer and Sherrod, a strong inside player, both start for Andrean in the 2017 state tournament, the 59ers will be 3A Sectional 17 favorites. But Andrean has an interim coach and its often a mistake these days to assume that players who end the season in one place will automatically be at that same place the following season.