Andy Amey: If you liked this Classic, you'll love next two

Jan. 4—Hunter Abner and Blake Neill of Bloomfield, both on the all-tournament team; Nolan Clement and Luke Karras of Casey; Cody Evans, Sam Gooch (also all-tourney) and Nathan Sutherlin of Greencastle; Conner Daily, Jackson Miller, Paul Oliver (all-tourney) and Cooper Smith of Linton; Payton McGuire of Marshall; Christian Bryan and Brayden Goff of Northview; Treigh Schelsky and Ethan Tidwell of Parke Heritage; Jaden Johnson, Ian Samm and Case Terrell of Shakamak; Cooper Bock of Sullivan; Cam Fennell, Brady Klopfenstein, Nate Millington and Gavin Woelfle of Terre Haute North; Trentin Chambers, Landon Fields and Garrett Pugh of West Vigo.

An impressive list of high school basketball players who appeared last week in the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic.

Who are all sophomores.

That's why you should get to your favorite school among the 16 participating teams and offer to buy tickets for the 2024 and 2025 Classics right away, because as much fun as last week's tournament was — to clarify, a lot — the next two might be even better. As impressive as this sophomore list is, there were plenty of juniors and quite a few freshmen who are worth watching again too.

For a couple of reasons, I saw more of the Classic this time than in most of the first 23, and it never got old. There was one blowout on the first night (which was one of the few games I didn't watch) and one on the third day, but otherwise it was competitive all the way. And honestly, all 16 teams were fun to watch. I also found a lot of new favorite players to follow.

Here are a few notes:

—Keep your alarm clocks handy — Actually, alarm clocks are a thing of the past (even I use my phone for that chore), but the kids from Robinson needed something to get them up. It wasn't bad enough that they lost three competitive games, but their tournament draw put them in the 10 a.m. game the first day (that 9 a.m. in Robinson, which is approximately an hour away from the Terre Haute South gym) and the three losses kept them in that time slot.

—What would have made it easier — Not only did Noah Gilmore, Robinson's 6-foot-6 four-year starter and leading scorer, have to get up early all three days, but he only got to play a couple of minutes before suffering an injury that kept him from playing the rest of the tournament.

He still had to come, because his two younger brothers are also on the team — although Ian Gilmore, a junior, also got hurt later in the week leaving 6-6 freshman Evan as the only remaining Gilmore. Tough breaks for coach Mack Thompson, who has probably coached his last Classic games; he'll become the athletic director at Effingham next year.

—Another quick exit — Almost as quick to be retired from Classic participation was Cloverdale's Noah Betz, another senior and leading scorer, who also went down early in the first quarter on the first night.

Cloverdale, without a deep roster to begin with, also dealt with the travails of Houston Jobe, who was carried off the floor on the first night just before halftime, returned to play in the second half (but was helped off again once, then carried off again), and finished the tournament despite being left for dead a few times.

—Better injury news — The Classic marked the first games of the season for Marshall's Rielly Wallace and Casey's Connor Sullivan.

Wallace, who also received the Character Award from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, came back after a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the first football game back in August and not only played (perseverance and determination are character assets too) but ignited the Lions' big comeback against South Vermillion.

Sullivan, whose injury was not football-related — judging by what I saw in Casey statistics in the fall, people playing against him might not have been so lucky — was a welcome addition to the Warrior lineup.

—A dissenting opinion — One person who may have felt that Sullivan could have stayed out a week or so longer was Shakamak's Jaden Johnson.

Johnson, as you can see above, is a sophomore and already one of my favorite athletes — I even have a matchmaking proposition for him if Adler Ingalsbe and Luke Morey cooperate — and is listed at 5-8, which might be generous.

He likes to pick up the opposing team's ball handler full-court — or at least he used to. Against Casey, Sullivan — a big, solid football player, as indicated — set a pick at midcourt that was, shall we say, extremely effective.

Shaking his head (cobwebs?) but none the worse for wear as he came back to the bench, Johnson told coach Brodie Crowe, "I'm not going back there anymore."

—Speaking of the Lakers — Shakamak is one of the smallest schools in the Classic, but you'd never know it by its cheerleading squad.

I tried to count them a couple of times but never got the same number twice. Let's just say that cheerleaders are approximately 10% of Shakamak's enrollment.

—Excellent scouting — Seated courtside for most of the tournament's 28 games, I was impressed by how many teams know each other's plays. No sooner does one coach holler out a play than the opposing coach tells his defense what to expect.

I know one play myself now: Sullivan's "Purple," which is similar to the "Walker" play that Pete Pritchett's Bedford North Lawrence team used to run.

—Speaking of Sullivan — A lot of teams are saying now that they start four or even five guards, but usually a couple of those "guards" are forwards in disguise.

The Golden Arrows start four real guards, none of them taller than 6-1. Your challenge is to think of another four-guard lineup that's more physical than Sullivan's is.

I'll wait.

The leader of that effort might be Seth Pirtle and his omnipresent mouthpiece. You get the impression that he'd carry a lunchbox out there if he could.

—Other player observations — Terre Haute North's Braden Walters is the unicorn of the Wabash Valley for all of the roles he plays for the Patriots, but Bryce Renn (whose two third-quarter baskets in the championship game were a big reason his team held off Terre Haute South) is also unique in his own way.

Marshall's Bentley Delp might be the least-shy shooter in the Wabash Valley.

And Abner and Jobe, bless their hearts, were the players in the Classic built most like the guy writing about them.

Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. at 812-231-4276 or 812-231-4277; by email at andy.amey@tribstar.com; or by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808. Follow TribStarAndy on Twitter/X.