Tuesday/Wednesday boys' and girls' basketball previews

Today

BOYS

Terre Haute South (0-0) at Cloverdale (0-0)

The coaches: Maynard Lewis is in his third year at THS. Patrick Rady is in his fourth year at Cloverdale.

On the air: WREB-FM 94.3 will broadcast the game.

History: South won 80-53 in the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic in December and has won all three games the teams have played in the past 30 years.

Key players: The Braves lost several players from last year’s Class 4A sectional championship team (including Indiana All-Star De’Avion Washington to Indiana State and Craig Porter to Vincennes University).

Cloverdale lost the state’s leading scorer in Jalen Moore (Olney Central), but returns Jake Wilkes (10.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg), Parker Watts (5.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg), Jake Kelley (4.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and Nolan Kelley (4.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg).

South Putnam (0-0) at Clay City (0-0)

The coaches: Greg Dean is in his fifth year at South Putnam. Chris Ames is in his first year at Clay City.

History: South Putnam won 53-40 last year. Clay City has a 12-8 record in the series over the past 30 years.

Key players: The Eels lost their two tallest players (6-3 Drew Steward and 6-2 Tyler Yocom) to graduation.

South Putnam returns its entire starting five, led by senior Allen Plunkett (18.5 ppg). Other returners include seniors Thomas Fanning (7.2 ppg, 2.0 apg), Dalton Scott (7.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Austin Arnold (3.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Lane Watson (2.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg).

Greencastle (0-0) at Crawfordsville (0-0)

The coaches: Bryce Rector is in his third year at Greencastle. David Pierce is in his ninth year at Crawfordsville.

On the air: WIMC-FM 103.9 will broadcast the game.

History: Greencastle won 54-36 in the sectional tourney last year. Crawfordsville holds a 16-11 lead in the series over the past 30 years.

Key players: Crawfordsville lost its top scorer and rebounder from last year (Cam Harris, now at Franklin College). Top returning scorer is junior Tray Scorza (7.3 ppg).

Greencastle lost Colin York (third-leading scorer in school history, also at Franklin). Leading returning scorer and rebounder is senior Gavin Bollman (11.0 ppg, 11.8 rpg). The other four starters in Saturday’s scrimmage against Michigan City Marquette were sophomores Brody Whitaker (9.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Benton Parmley (5.7 ppg), Nick Sutherlin (1.0 ppg) and Cade Plew (0.0 ppg).

GIRLS

Terre Haute South (3-2) at Cloverdale (6-1)

The coaches: Richie Adderly is in his third year at Terre Haute South. Matthew Langdon is in his eighth year at Cloverdale.

So far: THS beat Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 85-11 and West Vigo 67-47, lost 74-55 to Castle and 67-31 to Avon and beat Evansville Harrison 62-58.

Cloverdale beat South Putnam 65-44, Riverton Parke 81-28, Clay City 72-42 and Shakamak 77-37, lost at Class 3A No. 7 Danville 55-32 and beat South Putnam 59-54 and Greencastle 60-41 to win the Putnam County title.

Per-game averages: Offense — THS 60.0, Cloverdale 63.7 (23rd best in state). Defense — THS 51.4, Cloverdale 43.0.

History: The teams have not played in the past 15 years.

Key players: Senior guard Amani Brown of Terre Haute South had 43 points in the team’s win over Crispus Attucks and was the IBCA/Subway Player of the week for District 3 in the first week of the season.

Junior guard Sammie Shrum leads Cloverdale in scoring with 17.0 points per game. Senior Tori Combs is right behind at 16.8 points per game, and also averages 11.8 rebounds. Junior Lakkain Price adds 5.8 point and 7.0 rebounds per game.

John Harrell prediction: Cloverdale 61, Terre Haute South 48.

Crawfordsville (2-4) at Greencastle (5-2)

The coaches: Tony Bean is in his third year at Crawfordsville. Tod Windlan is in his first year at Greencastle.

So far: Greencastle beat Cascade 73-45, Edgewood 55-42 and Owen Valley 60-50 in overtime to open the season before losing 55-46 to Benton Central. The Cubs then beat Southmont 68-24 and North Putnam 56-24 before losing 60-41 to Cloverdale in the championship game of the county tournament.

Per-game averages: Offense — Crawfordsville 39.3, Greencastle 57.0. Defense — Crawfordsville 49.5, Greencastle 42.9.

History: Greencastle won 47-23 last year and holds an 8-7 lead in the series over the past 15 years.

John Harrell prediction: Greencastle 65, Crawfordsville 30.

Wednesday

Boys

Southmont (0-0) at North Putnam (0-0)

The coaches: Jake Turner is in his second season at Southmont after taking over early last year. Collin McCartt is in his fifth year at North Putnam.

On the air: WIMC-FM 103.9 will broadcast the game.

History: Southmont won 62-55 last year at New Market, and has an 18-7 lead in the series over the past 30 years.

Key players: The Mounties lost leading scorer Cam Chadd from last year (16.6 ppg, now playing at Bethel College)). Senior Justin Howard (13.9 ppg), last year’s second-leading scorer, is the top returner.

North Putnam lost leading scorer Elliot Gross (18.8 ppg), but returns second-leading scorer Andrew Pickel (12.7 ppg).