Boys basketball: IHSAA sectional, MHSAA district storylines to follow this week

If you’re a basketball fan in the South Bend area, chances are this is one of your favorite weeks.

Both the IHSAA and MHSAA postseasons begin this week, with Indiana hosting sectionals and Michigan hosting districts. Area sectional sites in Indiana are Mishawka, North Side Gym in Elkhart, Tippecanoe Valley, South Bend Washington, Lakeland, North Judson, Triton and Bethany Christian.

More: South Bend area IHSAA boys basketball sectional scores, pairings, tipoff times

More: MHSAA boys basketball district pairings released

Only two Michigan districts feature South Bend area teams, with those tournaments being held at Edwardsburg and White Pigeon.

Both sides of the state line feature fascinating storylines going into this week. Here are six of them.

More: Final South Bend area boys basketball power rankings

Sectional 4 is the proverbial group of death

In World Cup soccer, there’s always one group that is so loaded that they call it the “group of death.” Since there’s so many good teams, it makes it borderline impossible to predict who will advance out of it.

That’s Sectional 4 at North Side Gym for our area this year. Northridge (18-5), Concord (17-4), Warsaw (17-5) and defending sectional champ Penn (16-6) have all had great regular seasons, while Goshen (10-12) and even host Elkhart (3-19) have started playing better down the stretch.

Those top four teams are all exceptional, with no team going unbeaten against the others this season. The draw works out to where Northridge and Penn face off in the late game Tuesday night. If Concord beats Goshen earlier that night, it’ll face Warsaw in the semifinals. Any combination of the four in the championship game would make for a fantastic sectional final Saturday night.

Sectional 19 is also pretty deadly

The Class 3A equivalent to Sectional 4 is the one hosted by defending champion Washington.

The two heavyweight teams are Mishawaka Marian (16-8) and Saint Joseph (15-9). Marian will have to beat the host Panthers first, though, to get Saint Joe in the semifinals.

Feb. 9: Jackson Horvath seals win for Marian over Saint Joseph

Washington is 10-12, but have two of the most dynamic players in the area in sophomore Steven Reynolds III and freshman Da’Kori Parker. Last year saw the Panthers pull off an upset over Marian in the sectional semifinal. Will history repeat itself Tuesday night?

The bottom half of the draw features two sleeper teams in Jimtown and South Bend Clay. Both are 12-10, with the Jimmies and Colonials both winning four of its last five games.

Mishawaka has found comfort in "The Cave"

On paper, South Bend Riley is the favorite heading into Sectional 3. The Wildcats are 20-4 and have one of the more talented rosters in the area.

The hosts from Mishawaka, though, have defended home court well this season, going 9-1 in “The Cave.” That includes wins over teams like Concord, Warsaw and Saint Joseph.

More: Mishawaka planning 100-year anniversary game for 'The Cave' in early 2025

At 16-7, the Cavemen join Riley as the only teams with winning records in the field. They’re on opposite sides of the draw, which could set up for an entertaining championship game should both teams make it there.

Which team will make the surprise run?

This is always hard to predict because, inherently, a surprise isn’t something you expect. John Glenn was that team last year, making it to the 3A semistate semifinals. There are a few teams playing well down the stretch right now that could potentially make some noise this week.

Jimtown and Clay are two of them, as explained above. Another team to keep an eye on is Bremen. The Lions looked lost in the middle of the season, dropping eight out of nine games. They’ve rattled off three wins to end the regular season, though, including over potential sectional foe Glenn.

The Bremen girls basketball team wasn’t supposed to make it to semistate, but did. It might be hard to see the Lions’ boys do that, but they at least have a puncher’s chance in the sectional due to the scoring ability of freshman Chase Devine.

Opinion: Bitter ending doesn't take away from Bremen girls basketball's postseason run

Is this Brandywine’s year to win it all?

Shifting to Michigan, where a lot of attention will be on Brandywine in Division 3. The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 19-3 record and ranked No. 1 in the Michigan Power Ratings for D3.

It’s a veteran group for coach Nathan Knapp, with guys like Jaremiah and Jamier Palmer, Byron Linley and Nylen Goins being in key roles for the team’s state semifinal run last year. Brandywine played a difficult schedule this year, picking up some impressive wins against other D3 teams they might see in the tournament.

Getting through districts is the first step. It plays in the semifinal Wednesday against either Buchanan or Bridgman. The other semifinal Wednesday pits Cassopolis against host White Pigeon, with the final scheduled for Friday night. If Brandywine is the last team standing in Division 3, it'd be the program's first state title.

Can Niles make it two-straight district titles?

This has already been a historic season for Niles, winning its first conference championship since 2010.

From January: 'Winner's work.' How postgame stretching is part of Niles' boys basketball resurgence

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they are in a loaded district, as a 17-5 record earned them the third seed in the six-team field. That means they’ll have to win three games to repeat as district champions, starting with Dowagiac (9-13). Should Niles advance, it would face Berrien Springs (15-5) in the semifinals.

The top half of the bracket features Benton Harbor (21-1), which finished first in MPR in Division 2. Niles played the Tigers close last week, losing, 47-45, on a last-second shot. The Vikings rallied to upset the Tigers, 65-61, in last year’s district final.

Myles Busby has done a tremendous job turning around his alma mater, and a second-straight district title would be the icing on the cake.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Boys basketball: 6 storylines for IHSAA sectionals, MHSAA districts