Local HS girls hoop teams eagerly await postseason
INDIANAPOLIS - The high school girls basketball sectionals are scheduled to begin next Tuesday, Jan. 31, and will run through Saturday, Feb. 4.
Here is a preview of what our local teams will encounter as the postseason looms. Plymouth, Culver Girls Academy and Argos were all 2022 sectional champions.
CLASS 4A
The favorite in Sectional 3 is not only the sectional fave, but likely a state finalist for the third straight year. Top-ranked South Bend Washington has steamrolled everyone in its path, going 22-0 while averaging nearly 80 ppg and allowing just 36.5. The Lady Panthers were not in this sectional last year, but were moved up to 4A due to the success factor and are in line to face the only other teams with double-digit wins (Mishawaka, SB Adams) to reach the sectional final. Washington has not played Mishawaka this season and defeated Adams by 55. So who will be the lucky team to face the Panthers in the championship game? It could be last year’s champ - Plymouth. The host Lady Pilgrims open against South Bend Riley (3-19), then would face either Michigan City or Laporte, teams Plymouth had solid wins against during the regular season. The Lady Pilgrims will have a tough test tonight against Northridge, but has five
wins in its last six games.
CLASS 3A
Sectional 18 begins with two intriguing games on opening night. Local teams Glenn and Culver Girls Academy get things started, with the hosts from Bremen taking on Rochester in Game 2. Both games could come down to the final possession to determine the winner. Knox awaits the Glenn-cga winner. The Lady Redskins lost to the Lady Falcons by 12 way back in early November. The Bremen-rochester winner will face the sectional favorite, Tippecanoe Valley, in the second semifinal. The Lady Vikings are 18-3 with the three losses coming to 4A No. 7 FW Northrop, 4A No. 14 Warsaw and 3A No. 11 Northwestern. TV defeated Bremen soundly in the season opener and held conference foe Rochester to just 15 points on Jan. 14. It also has wins over Glenn (48-31) and CGA (42-33) during the regular season. Will anyone knock off the sectional favorite?
CLASS 2A
South Central has the best record in the Sectional 34 field at 19-3, but two of those losses were to the other teams with double-digit wins: Laville and North Judson. Due to a favorable draw, SC will likely be one of the sectional finalists. The Lady Lancers and Lady Blue Jays will square off in the second game opening night at North Judson - with that winner the probable opponent for the Lady Satellites in the championship game. Conference foes LV and NJ are very familiar with each other. The Lady Blue Jays won the regular season meeting in a low-scoring affair that the Lady Lancers led through three quarters. LV, coming off its amazing week at the Bi-county Tournament, has two great games to end this week (tonight at Argos, Saturday at Culver) that will help prepare the Lady Lancers for the postseason.
CLASS 1A
Sectional 50 could be the most competitive one around. Three teams have double-digit wins and ninewin Culver just knocked off No. 13 Demotte Christian Monday. The third meeting between Argos and Culver highlights the early games. The Lady Dragons won the first two, by three and five points, respectively. The winner will be the heavy favorite in the second semifinal Friday night. Triton drew the bye and its season record (14-7) includes a 4-0 mark against teams in the field, but has not played probable semifinal opponent Marquette Catholic (12-8). If Triton reaches the championship game, the Lady Trojans will take what it learned from narrow wins over both Argos (40-36) and Culver (30-23) during the regular season into that Saturday night contest.
Regional twist
Regionals are Saturday, Feb. 11, but with a little twist. This year’s state tournament has a different format than previous years as the regional round and semi-state round have essentially switched. The regional is now a single-game championship, and the semistate becomes a threegame affair where a team needs to win two games on the same day - like it used to be in regionals in order to advance to the state championship game. The previous format of a two-round regional and a single semi-state game had been in place since 2002. Under the new format, two regional championship games will be played back
to-back at the same site with the winners finding out their next opponent and host site the following day. The semi-state games – scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 - will be randomly drawn and announced in a second pairings show via Ihsaatv.org.
“We really like the potential of a high-energy atmosphere at the semistate level with a chance to advance to the state championship games the following week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse,” IHSAA
Commissioner Paul Neidig said. “This new format will double the number of teams who play a week longer in the tournament and should create a lot of excitement in those communities and will be financially beneficial for those communities that serve as host sites.”
The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 25.