Andy Amey: Decisions, decisions; Amey Team complex this time

May 2—Having a unicorn to account for doesn't make selections for the Andy Amey Teams for boys high school basketball any easier.

Although the boys basketball season was a treat to look back on.

To begin with, 2023-24 was a FOMO postseason for Wabash Valley media, with five Indiana teams winning sectional championships.

Parke Heritage got to the Class 2A Final Four, losing a competitive game to the team that won the state championship in a rout two weeks later.

And one of those five teams wasn't the one that might have been the best in the Valley, with Terre Haute North losing a sectional championship game to end a 19-game winning streak.

North, as many of you already know, had that unicorn, Linton transfer Braden Walters. And in a season that had a couple of more twists than coach Todd Woelfle and the Patriots expected, it was a good thing it did.

But if a guy capable of playing any of the five positions offensively and/or guarding any of the five defensively is your MVP — and he was — how do you narrow him down to just one team? Suffice it to say that he'd be in strong consideration for being the captain for all but one of the upcomiing teams. I can't find a way to make him lefthanded, although I'd like to.

The suspense must be killing you, but it won't last long.

The Clutch Team, however, helps to show why Parke Heritage got as far as it did. A team having one captain of this team has a pretty good foundation, and the Wolves have two: Renn Harper and Treigh Schelsky.

Other captains for this team are two Vigo County stars who have spoiled their fans and dominated a lot of fourth quarters for several years, Zay Baker of Terre Haute South and Zeke Tanoos of West Vigo, and my pick as the most gifted scorer around, Blake Neill of Bloomfield (or?).

Teammates for these guys are Kam Baker and Kavish Reddy of North; Noah Betz of Cloverdale; Luke Bush, Dom Garzolini and Aden Wallace of South Vermillion; Conner Daily and Jamison Fields of Linton; Teegan Dowers of North Vermillion; Cody Evans of Greencastle; Cole Gilbert and Ryan Richards of Casey; Noah Gilmore of Robinson; Payton Lankster of Paris; J.T. May of Shakamak; Aidan McCammon of Sullivan; Payton McGuire of Marshall; Pierson Robins and Collett Sanders of Riverton Parke; and Bryce Wiram of Clay City.

The Competitors Team is where Braden Walters lines up, because his multi-tasking is all about winning (and he was 96-16 in his high school career).

If there's a team award for this category, it goes to Sullivan. You'll see a bunch of Golden Arrows listed, and I'm taking Seth Pirtle as the Arrows' designated captain largely because of his mouthpiece game. Then there are three youngsters who are already favorites: Brayden Goff of Northview, Jaden Johnson of Shakamak and Paul Oliver of Linton.

Their teammates include Anthony Adams and Sam Gooch of Greencastle; Chayse Aldrich and Judson Pinkston of Robinson; Charlie Belcher and Wyatt Robertson of Riverton Parke; Dylan Blair and Jackson Rigdon of Paris; the rest of the Arrows: Cooper Bock, Carson Granby and Javyn Woodard; Dallas Coleman and Parker Weir of South Vermillion; Brody Cramer, Rylan Thomas, Cody Tryon, Jerome White and Hudson Young of North Vermillion; Carter Crum and Max Dowd of Parke Heritage; Ethan Edwards, Wyatt Johnson, Zain Keller, Logan Stoelting and Michael Tucker of Clay City; Chris Herrin and Brady Wilson of South; Jayden Hooper, Brennan Robertson, Gaven Simmons and Ethan Willis of North Central; Luke Karras, Hayden Parcel and Connor Sullivan of Casey; Tayt Jackson, Houston Jobe and Levi Johnson of Cloverdale; Linden Jenkins and Case Terrell of Shakamak; Tucker Lent and Tyler Patterson of Bloomfield; Jackson Miller and Cooper Smith of Linton; Garrett Pugh of West Vigo; Trey Scott and Rielly Wallace of Marshall; and Gavin Woelfle of North.

Two of the many really good teams in the Valley this year got boosts during the winter from players who lead the Most Improved Team: Parke Heritage's B.T. Luce, who diversified his game to make his team better, and North's Bryce Renn, who was one of the twists of a pleasant kind for the Patriots.

Other players who got better were Hunter Abner and Kellen Luse of Bloomfield; Mason Barton and Will Miller of Shakamak; Talan Boehler and Landon Fields of West Vigo; Nathan Boyce, Josh Morgan and Jaylen Wells of South; Christian Bryan and Trayven Buis of Northview; Trashaun Cockrell and D.J. Suggs of North Central; Elijah Dalbey, Zane Matherly and Jack Moulton of South Vermillion; Matthew Dawson and Owen Edwards of North Vermillion; Bentley Delp, Luis Lopez and R.J. Mattas of Marshall; Sam Fathauer of Sullivan; Cam Fennell of North; Dalton Hill of Clay City; Taygan McRoberts of Greencastle; Drew Rogers of Paris; Daniel Sparks and Duke Thompson of Robinson; Zach Thomas of Cloverdale; Blake Todd of Riverton Parke; and Collin Webster of Linton.

There were several candidates — which isn't always the case — for captain of the Unsung Team, but I quickly found a trio of players this year who seemed to be unrecognized for their considerable work: Treva Branch of South, Dylan Conder of South Vermillion and Carson Cox of Riverton Parke.

Others who might be fans of Rodney Dangerfield (if only they were a little bit older) are Camdyn Agee, Tyson Hardin, Jace Hooper and Mason Young of North Central; Jordan Amis, Treyton Clark, Jacob Simmerman, Connor Sullivan and Nathan Sutherlin of Greencastle; Caelen Bell, Zac Buell, Karson Fosdick and Josh Fowler of Northview; Bryler Bruns and Ryder Mikel of North Vermillion; Trentin Chambers and Ryan Smith of West Vigo; Nolan Clement and Grant Cochonour of Casey; Trey Dayhoff and Luke Laswell of Clay City; Carter Eastham, Ty King and Jacob Staley of Paris; Hayden Feltner and Avery Keen of Linton; Ian Gilmore, Owen Schmidt, Cole Weber and Luke Wernz of Robinson; Eli Kelley and Liam Ramsay of Cloverdale; Kaden Matzke and Avery Sheets of Marshall; Owen Medina and Lance Workman of Bloomfield; Marcus Roshel of Sullivan; Ian Samm of Shakamak; Brayson Shoults of South Vermillion; Brady Stepp of North; Ben Todd of Riverton Parke; and Peyton Turner of South.

There could be several captains of the Promising Team, but I'll settle for the one who might take his team even farther next winter (and they got pretty far in March too), Dailon Keller of Clay City.

Others with bright futures are Griffin Beasley of Greencastle; Andre Buchhaas and Lane Thomann of North Vermillion; Rylan Cox and Hayden Stultz of North Central; Carter Crippes and Madox Hutchings of Paris; Gavin Deighton of West Vigo; Cruz Dunlap, Evan Gilmore and Isaac Hardiman of Robinson; Brenden Goins, Logan Mathis and Leyton McMullen of Parke Heritage; Artrevion Henderson and Trey Schabel of Cloverdale; Levi Hollifield and Carter Mischler of Sullivan; Madden Husband and Jalen Johnson of Shakamak; Brady Klopfenstein, Mason Loyd, Nate Millington and Tyler Renn of North; Mayson Lewis of South; Peyton McCollum and Gibson Schimmel of Northview; Tucker Osborn of Marshall; and Sean Vester of Riverton Parke.

I was struggling to find a captain for the Unselfish Team until I thought of the contributions made, mostly off the bench, the last three seasons by Jack Halls of North.

Other team-first guys were Trevor Anderson and Lorenzo Basilisco of South Vermillion; Caden Bettenbrock and Cayden Sawyer of Clay City; Dayton Brown, Kyle Harpold and Carson McCalister of Parke Heritage; Bryce Easton of West Vigo; Jackson Goble of Robinson; Brody Irish of Linton; Nick MacDonald of Riverton Parke; Scottie McGuire of Cloverdale; Cam Singer and Seb Ortiz of Sullivan; and Landon Wesch of North Vermillion.

Ethan Tidwell of Parke Heritage was a guy I wish hadn't wound up on the injured team this year, while my lefthanders are a group that includes Anthony Adams of Greencastle; Dylan Blair of Paris; Braylan Chesshir of North; Camden Clarke of Northview; Trashaun Cockrell, Jace Hooper and Gaven Simmons of North Central; Ian Gilmore and Duke Thompson of Robinson; Linden Jenkins of Shakamak; and Kaden Souder and Bryce Wiram of Clay City.

Andy Amey can be reached by email at andy.amey@tribstar.com or by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808. Follow TribStarAndy on the X.