Who will win IHSAA state championships? Our writers make their picks.

Gordon Engelhardt Kyle Sokeland Chad Lindskog Pat Hickey Ryan Reynolds

Evansville

EVANSVILLE — Here's the thing about the Indiana state basketball tournament: Everyone qualifies, so more than 300 teams end their seasons with a loss. Only four can walk out as winners.

This weekend, the top two teams in each of Indiana's four classes meet at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to settle this year's debate about who's the best.

Our predictions for each game are below.

Kyle Sokeland is currently in first place for the postseason at 11-4 while Pat Hickey is one behind and Chad Lindskog is two back. Gordon Engelhardt and Ryan Reynolds are four back at 7-8.

Class 4A

No. 1 Warren Central (31-0) vs. No. 10 Carmel (21-7), 7:15 p.m.

Gordon Engelhardt: In the storybooks, Romeo Langford would have returned to state and won his final high school game. But this is reality. Warren Central ended his and New Albany’s dreams and will win state with an undefeated record. ‘Nuff said.

Kyle Sokeland: Warren Central. The Warriors are undefeated and just ended the high school career of Romeo Langford. Why not finish it off with a state title? This team is deep and balanced on offense. They also play good defense. I also don't want Warren Central star David Bell to call me out for not picking them to win.

Chad Lindskog: Warren Central. I watched the Warriors' entire semistate game against New Albany and can see why no one has beaten them yet. It's only right the state's best team wins it all and cements its place as one of the best ever.

Pat Hickey: Warren Central. Only three teams have strung together a perfect season in 4A. The Warriors will be the fourth and will dance with what brought them there. While David Bell, the state's top football prospect, is making the most headlines, no player is averaging more than 12 points per game. They're team-first and have proven to be ultra-resilient.

Ryan Reynolds: These two school combine for a total enrollment of about 8,700 students, bigger than the entire population of Boonville, Princeton or Mount Vernon. So don't go looking for some sort of "Hoosiers" magic quality to this game. It's essentially going to be two small state college basketball teams going at each other on the biggest stage. Warren Central will win, because no one's figured out a way to beat them yet.

Class 3A

No. 3 Bosse (25-4) vs. No. 4 Culver Academy (22-6), 5 p.m.

GE: For two years, Mekhi Lairy and Jaylin Chinn have yearned to return to state and win that elusive title, which would be Bosse’s first since 1962. Consider it done. Culver Academies, which flew a private jet to play at Bosse back in December, lost that game to the Bulldogs, 74-64. If Bosse plays at a fast tempo, it will put up its fourth state championship banner.

Bosse's Mekhi Lairy (2) talks to a referee as his teammates Bosse's Javen Layne (10) and Jaylen Minor (23) stand beside him during the IHSAA Class 3A semistates against the Danville Warriors at the Hatchet House in Washington, Ind., Saturday, March 17, 2018. The Bulldogs will advance to next Saturday's state championship after defeating the Warriors 64-61.

KS: Bosse. This is the moment the Bulldogs have been building towards. Mekhi Lairy and his crew could finish their careers as state champions. Bosse just needs to play like it has the last three weeks. I wonder if Culver will take a private jet to this game too.

CL: Bosse. When these teams met in the Bosse Winter Classic, Culver arrived in Evansville on a private jet — and the Bulldogs won anyway. They've been chasing blue rings for over two years now and I think they'll redeem themselves from 2016's heartbreak.

PH: Bosse. Mekhi Lairy pumped in 36 points when these two teams met in the regular season. Granted, it was a home game for the Bulldogs. But it just feels like this is their time. They've had some great teams the past three seasons. This one is the best and it's only fitting.

RR: Bosse. You want to pick against Mekhi Lairy and the rest of the crew in this game? Be my guest, but I'm not going to. I'm not sure Mekhi has even put the car in fifth gear yet in this state tournament. If he does it on Saturday, look out.

Class 2A

Forest Park (25-4) vs. No. 6 Oak Hill (25-5), 11:45 a.m.

GE: Forest Park fans should be careful what they wish for. The Rangers barely scraped out of the sectional and I thought they would be toast and their fans had no problems grilling me. They elevated their game and used a great combination of height and all-around grittiness to advance to state. OK, I will pick ‘em to win it all. But when I picked them to lose, they won.

KS: Forest Park. The semistate was my second time seeing the Rangers and I came away impressed. They play good defense. Sam Englert can be a force on offense as long as he avoids foul trouble. Oak Hill might be favored via Sagarin but Forest Park fans might turn Bankers Life Fieldhouse green and give the team a push.

The Forest Park Rangers watch their teammates play in the final minute of the IHSAA Class 2A semistate game against the Indianapolis Scecina Crusaders at the Hatchet House in Washington, Ind., Saturday, March 17, 2018. The Rangers will advance to the state championship after defeating the Crusaders 58-47.

CL: Forest Park. The Rangers are a good story. Buzzer beaters and blowouts. Seniors and a standout freshman. A small town rallying around its team. They just need to use magic one more time.

PH: Forest Park. Whether it's college or high school, I pick teams in the postseason that get after the offensive rebounds. The Rangers are one of the best at doing that and pack a lot of experience. This is a big stage, though.

RR: Forest Park. Team of destiny.

Class A

No. 4 Morristown (27-2) vs. No. 3 Southwood (25-3), 9:30 a.m.

GE: Small-school sensation Hayden Langkabel will lift Morristown to the state title. He met his season average (26.7), scoring 27 points in a 77-70 semistate victory over Barr-Reeve.

KS: Morristown. The Yellow Jackets have the best player in Hayden Langkabel, who willed his team past Barr-Reeve in the second half. If anything, this should be a fun, high-scoring game. Both of these teams average north of 70 points and rank in the top 11 in the state.

Morristown Yellow Jackets head coach Scott McClelland celebrates with his team following their win in their IHSAA Boys Semi-State basketball game in Seymour IN., on Saturday, March 16, 2018. The Morristown Yellow Jackets defeated the Barr-Reeve Vikings 77-70.

CL: Southwood. These two are essentially dead-even in the Sagarin ratings despite Southwood being the fourth-best offensive team across all classes. Since dropping the first two games of the season, Southwood hasn't lost in regulation.

PH: Southwood. The Knights carry three seniors with 1,000 career points and a junior who will get there eventually. I like that balance and what I've read about how they can beat teams in a variety of ways -- like holding a high-scoring Fort Wayne Blackhawk team to 53 points at semi-state.

RR: Southwood. Started out 0-2, went 25-1 since, with their only loss coming at Oak Hill, which is playing for the Class 2A state title. Also, they beat Fort Wayne Blackhawk last Saturday, which is enough to tell me they're legit.