It’s that time of year again as the IHSAA boys basketball state tournament has begun. That means it is time for the defending state champion Ben Davis Giants to begin defense of its state crown.
After last season’s 33-0 run, the Giants enter tonights sectional opener with a 17-5 record and a No. 9 state ranking. The Giants face Pike in tonights 6 p.m. opener followed by Perry Meridian taking on Southport (all games at Southport). Roncalli ousted Franklin Central in last nights opener and the Royals will open Friday’s semifinal evening against Decatur Central.

Ben Davis started February with a 56-46 win over Pike.
Senior KJ Windham feels the team “handled them pretty well the first time” and that while Pike may be preparing for the team he adds that they “have had some more great games played since then that I think have helped us learn in order to win again during sectionals.”
Windham joined the 1,000 point BD career scoring list this month.
Windham feels that being defending champs gives the team confidence and that for them “knowing that we were here last year and got the job done, and people don’t think we can do it again, we can use that factor as motivation.”
Another returning player from last year’s championship team, senior Mark White says that the team “are the defending champs until proven otherwise” and that regardless of how difficult it might be “we will get the job done” and we can expect them to bring home another state championship.
While this year may have been a little tougher for the team, White says that while he feels that the team has struggled with “knowing what we are good at and sticking with it” he thinks that they “are a dominant team” and that they just need to “realize it while we’re playing and understand our strengths.”
Windham adds to this by mentioning he feels that they have “been working on it together by staying together and being able to have open conversations as a team in order to grow and overcome what we have been battling”.
Preparing for a game like this, knowing one loss could mean the season is over, is crucial for any team. For the Giants specifically, Windham states they “are definitely more focused considering the fact that we have our season on the line” but that “the way we prepare for sectionals, I am confident we will treat every game like state.”
He also adds that to make it back to the state spot this season the team will need to “play together, trust each other, and play five times harder than we have the entire year for seven more games” so they can hold the title of champions once again.
While this road may not prove to be easy for the team, there’s no doubt that they are determined and ready to fight to defend their championship.