The team standing in the way for Switzerland County in this Saturday’s Southridge Regional is the Perry Central Commodores, located in Leopold, Indiana.
Larry Goffinet of the Perry County News said that the team is led by 6’2″ senior forward Tanner Cassidy, who is averaging about 16 points per game; while senior Derrick Thomas is a 5’9″ guard and handles several different responsibilities while on the floor.
Junior Andrew Huber is the team’s other starting guard at 5’10”; and all three of those players made the All Sectional team at the Southridge Sectional.
Colten Hedinger is the team’s center, standing 6’4″ and is also a senior. He also plays receiver on the football team, and is a physical presence in the paint.
Other players contributing to the Commodore season include 5’11” Austin LeClere, junior who starts at the other forward spot; and senior Abe Schwarz, who has been a starting guard at 5’9″ who leads the team in steals. A player who is known to really get after people defensively, he’s been slowed by an ankle injury that kept him out of the last game of the regular season and the first game of the Sectional. He played in the rest of the Sectional, but came off of the bench for limited minutes.
Two other players for Perry Central who come off of the bench include Dacota Schaad, who’s a 6’2″ forward; and Dillon Hubert, who’s a 6’3″ sophomore wide body (he’s a defensive lineman in football) and is the team’s backup center.
The Commodores are a quick team, as several of their players were on the track team that won the Jasper Sectional last year; and some were on the cross country team that won the Sectional this fall for the seventh straight year and also won the Regional.
There is also a similarity on the benches, as Perry Central coach Matt Carter is in his sixth year; and the last time that the Commodores won the basketball Sectional in 1997, Matt Carter was their star player before moving on to play collegiately at the University of Southern Indiana.
Switzerland County coach B.J. McAlister also played for the 1998 Sectional championship Pacer team before playing for Hanover College.