All-South Bend boys basketball sectional final set in Riley vs. Saint Joseph
· Yahoo Sports
MISHAWAKA – Glue guys were the story of Friday night’s all-Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) IHSAA Class 4A boys basketball sectional semifinal slate at The Cave.
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In South Bend Saint Joseph’s 87-63 win vs. South Bend Adams in game one, a senior averaging just five points per night led the Huskies in scoring.
In South Bend Riley’s 58-47 win vs. Penn in game two, a senior’s tendency to hit clutch shots as well as take charges when need be exemplified the Wildcats’ heart. The two teams with plenty of stars who are sure to take center stage when the inner-city rivals meet for a sectional championship Saturday night may not be in the position to do so without role players like these.
Ryder Place led the Huskies with 21 points, 15 of which came from 3-pointers. Listed as Saint Joseph’s shortest starter at 5-feet, 11 inches, Place has acted as the glue for a team with standouts such as senior Notre Dame commit Nick Shrewsberry and junior leading scorer Elijah King.
Those two dropped 15 and 14, respectively, against the Eagles, but Place took his moment to shine and ran with it.
“We’ve got a lot of great players, and I’m not the most athletic – big or tall – dude, but I do everything I can to make this team better,” Place said. “I work my butt off every game to make sure they see who I am.”
Place said his confidence continues to grow with each passing day, seeing the fruits of his extra time before and after every practice pay off in games. For the 2025 3A state champion Huskies, Place scored just 41 total points in 25 games.
Now heading into a 4A sectional title game against the defending sectional and regional champion Wildcats, Place is integral to Saint Joseph’s success. Head coach Eric Gaff said the Huskies’ depth is perhaps their greatest strength, especially with senior Ethan Roseman’s late season return after missing significant time with a groin injury.
“I think our top eight guys start at most schools,” Gaff said. “I think one special thing about us is that guys are willing to come off the bench and be impact players.”
Isaiah Packer’s performance vs. the Kingsmen wasn’t exactly unlikely, as the senior is the Wildcats’ third leading scorer, but his attitude set the tone early for Riley. When he hit a 3-pointer to give his squad a 9-0 lead with 4:09 left in the first quarter, Packer exploded with emotion and his teammates followed suit.
Penn head coach Barak Coolman called a timeout, but this sequence was emblematic of what was to come. Packer took the first charge of the game, and he hit two and-one layups in the second half. Packer shouted in celebration after all three moments.
His 12 points were not a team high, that honor belonged to senior Tyrese Jones’ 23. The Wildcats’ star is the complete opposite of Packer in that he isn’t one to show much emotion, but he admitted that he feeds off of energy from Packer and sophomore Dontreyelle “Tree” Johnson.
“When my teammates get to going, I get to going,” Jones said. “The more they get to going and hype me up just gets me going even more. Confidence is everything.”
Riley led the Kingsmen 17-4 after the first quarter and allowed just two field goals in the first half overall. Although Penn outscored the Wildcats 34-32 in the second half, head coach Alex Daniel said he was happy with his squad’s performance given the quality of opponent and what was at stake.
“It was all about being able to play one more day together and be in that sectional championship tomorrow night against Saint Joe, and that’s what was motivating them,” Daniel said. “We just want to win a sectional championship.”
Jones said Riley came into Friday not just motivated by the possibility of having another chance to play a Huskies squad that beat the Wildcats 70-58 in the regular season but driven by the fact that a target is on Riley’s backs as the defending sectional champions.
Saint Joseph’s first year in 4A has gone about as well as it could have, too. The Huskies won the NIC with a perfect 7-0 record and standing at 20-4 heading into the sectional title game having won 13 straight contests.
“I think they’re hungry, and I think one of the things that comes with winning is the more you win, the more you want to win,” Gaff said. “That’s all the guys talk about … Player-led teams win.”
As for the 21-4 Wildcats – winners of nine straight – they have a chance to win back-to-back sectional crowns for the first time since 2015 and 2016.
“We want another crack at it, and it’ll be a great environment. It’s been one people have been anticipating for a while, so it should be a lot of fun,” Daniel said. “Regardless of who it was, a sectional championship has been the goal from the get-go.”
Outlook for Penn and South Bend Adams
After going down 22-4, Penn played about as well as it could have, outscoring Riley 43-36 from that point on. However, Barak Coolman admitted that the Kingsmen dug too big of a hole to climb out of against a squad the caliber of the Wildcats.
Sophomore Caleb Coolman led Penn with 16 points, half of which came from the free-throw line. The Kingsmen, who also lost to Riley in the regular season, finish the 2025-26 campaign 18-7.
They’ll lose three senior starters and one more key 12th grader off the bench, but the Kingsmen also have a lot to build off with young pieces like Coolman, junior Makale Price, freshman Mi’Kell Burton and others. Barak Coolman said winning a sectional game and playing in two will be invaluable to their development.
“Our guys haven’t been there, and there’s another level of this state tournament. There’s no substitute for experience,” Coolman said. “You can coach and you can talk about it until you’ve actually been in the fire and gotten your teeth knocked in a little bit. They’re going to be extremely hungry and extremely motivated to step up to the next level.”
Adams is in a similar spot, although Friday marked the end of senior Jarvis Tolbert’s standout high school career. The Eagles leading scorer dropped 20 in his final game, and he was emotional when he was subbed out for the last time.
Adams also loses two other senior starters with one more off the bench, but the 16-8 Eagles return junior Drew Dixon, who scored 18 points vs. Saint Joseph. Fellow junior starter Carter Johnston also returns – among others – and his father, head coach Chad Johnston, is already itching for next season.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back in the gym,” Johnston said. “It’s really important that they continue to carry on what these guys did. Sixteen wins is a good number. The young guys are hungry.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA boys basketball sectional semifinal results from Mishawaka