North Vermillion looks to bring regional title home

At 5-7, it would have been easy to doubt that North Vermillion would capture a boy's basketball sectional this year.

After falling to Parke Heritage, 75-39, on January 23, the Falcons put together quite a run, winning seven of their next eight games to not only turn around the season, but help propel North Vermillion to a playoff run, according to first year head coach Phil Leonard. 

"You think back to our workouts in the spring and the summer, and we talked a lot about goals and going deep in the tournament. We talked about it a lot. We had a rough start, but it seemed to slowly progress. We felt midway through January we would turn it around, and at that point, the guys started to pick it up, the energy went up and they played hard. We had a stretch where we had six games in 13 days, and that helped us a lot. That gave us a glimpse that the guys had figured out what it would take to win a sectional. The very last regular season game, you could see us fight and be focused leading into the sectional," Leonard said. 

The hot streak continued last week, as North Vermillion cut down the nets at the Fountain Central Sectional. The sectional title was the first since 2024 for the Falcons (15-11). 

"It was a great experience for our boys this past week. Our kids are coming together at the right time at the end of the season, and we had several guys step up for us. It was a great joy we had this past week," Leonard said. 

To win the sectional, North Vermillion had to knock off Wabash River Conference foes Fountain Central and Riverton Parke before turning back Lafayette Central Catholic in the final.

"It is the toughest time, getting three games in one week. The teams know you so well. We had just played Fountain Central two weeks before and we drew them right out of the gate. They are a nice team. We knew Riverton Parke so well, as well and had played them a few weeks ago. It was great to see our guys come together at the right time," Leonard said. 

Leading the way is sophomore point guard Teagan Leonard, who averages 18 points per game for the Falcons. 

"He has been our leader and gets us in our offense. It changes from night to night, depending on what we need. We have had different guys step up for us all season. We have had times throughout the season where different guys have led us," Leonard said. 

North Vermillion will look to continue its hot play Saturday when it travels to Frankfort for a regional challenge against Rossville (20-5). It is the first time the two teams have played since the 2024 sectional, which the Falcons won, 52-35.

The game will be broadcast on GIANT fm WAXI, beginning with the pregame show at 12:30 p.m. and tipoff at 1 p.m. 

"Obviously, it is going to be a big game Saturday. We have had their vision on us for a little bit. We knew if we could be successful and win a sectional, Rossville would probably come through. I did not get a chance to go see them myself, but two of my assistants did. We've kept them on the back burner and looked at them a little," Leonard said. 

In order for North Vermillion to cut the nets down at Frankfort, Leonard said the defense has to travel.

"I was really happy with our defense in the sectional. Lafayette Central Catholic scored a little more than we wanted to, but we were able to outpace them. I thought our defense was spot on against Fountain Central and Riverton Parke. Our offense has come around, and the kids have bought into our defense. I don't see anything different happening in the regional," Leonard said.