IHSAA announces pairings for girls’ basketball sectional, regional
By Brandon Miniard, Sports Writer, [email protected]
On Sunday evening, the Indiana High School Athletic Association announced sectional pairings, along with regional matchups, for girls’ basketball as part of the 48th annual state tournament pairings show, presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance.
With the new format of the girls’ and boys’ basketball state tournament moving forward, the regional will be a single game, yet four sectional champions will still feed into a regional site. Unlike in softball, there will be a draw for regional matchups, as opposed to one sectional champion being guaranteed to face another (i.e. Sectional 1 winner facing Sectional 2 winner).
The remaining 32 teams will advance to the following weekend’s semistate, which will operate similarly to the previous regional format of two semi-final games followed by a championship game.
In Class 1A, South Central will kick off Sectional 61 by facing sectional newcomer West Washington with the winner moving on to face 1A No. 12 and host Borden in the semifinals. No. 2 Lanesville drew the other bye, where the Lady Eagles will await the winner of Rock Creek Community Academy and Christian Academy of Indiana.
Class 2A will see Crawford County open Sectional 48 at Forest Park by facing South Spencer, which the Lady Pack defeated 53-50 back on Dec. 20. The winner of that matchup will confront Perry Central in the first of two semifinals.
Class 3A Sectional 30 at Corydon Central will see the Lady Panthers as one of the favorites, but they will open post-season play by facing Charlestown with the winner getting North Harrison in the second semifinal. The championship game will likely include Scottsburg, which beat the Lady Panthers 57-43 on Dec. 1.
Lastly, Floyd Central gets sectional newcomer and two-time Class 3A state qualifier Silver Creek in Class 4A Sectional 15 at Bedford North Lawrence. The winner will face the winner of New Albany and Seymour in the second semifinal.
Local regional matchups are as follows:
1A Regional at West Washington — Winner of 62 vs. Winner of 63, Winner of 61 vs. Winner of 64.
2A Regional at Crawford County — Winner of 45 vs. Winner of 47, Winner of 46 vs. Winner of 48.
3A Regional at Charlestown — Winner of 30 vs. Winner of 29, Winner of 32 vs. Winner of 31.
4A Regional at Bedford North Lawrence — Winner of 13 vs. Winner of 14, Winner of 15 vs. Winner of 16.
