4A at South Side
Homestead (21-1) vs New Haven (4-17)
The clear favorite in this Sectional is the #3 Homestead Spartans. They have beaten every team placed in front of them in the state of Indiana with their only loss coming to Notre Dame Academy in Ohio. Homestead has one of the best Seniors in the state in Sydney Graber (16ppg, 8.4rpg) to go along with a top 5 player in the Sophomore Ayanna Patterson (13.8ppg, 8.9rpg). Homestead will look to go into the bench early and and often ion the 1st round match up. New Haven is facing a huge uphill battle against Homestead for obvious reasons. The Bulldogs just cant score enough to hang with teams which leads to even more forced shots and turnovers. They have played 4 SAC teams and went 1-3 with the win coming against a 1-20 North Side team.
South Side (14-9) vs Huntington North (15-7)
This is a rematch of the game played 1/28 at South Side where the Archers pulled out the victory in 39-29 defensive battle. Huntington North is pone of the best defensive teams in NE Indiana so the key with them will be scoring the basketball. Can they score enough against South Side to pull the upset? South Side has great talent and played a very tough schedule this season in which should prepare them for the playoffs. With leading scorer Jaci Jones (14.8ppg) and the continued all around play of their point guard Olivia Smith the should be able to create enough scoring chances. The Archers had great success the last time they hosted a sectional and do have the players to make a run to the finals and possibly pull the upset against the Sectional favorite Homestead.
4A at East Noble
Northrop (13-10) vs North Side (1-20)
These two SAC teams have played each other twice with Northrop winning both games in dominant fashion; 68-26 ins SAC Holiday tourney and then 70-18 on 1/17. This game will most likely play out just like the two previous games as Northrop just has too much fire power for the Legends to handle. With the presence of TiAuna White (19ppg, 6rpg) and Destiny Jackson (11.5ppg, 9.5rpg), Northrop is the clear favorite in this game and I’m sure the Bruins are already looking ahead to the rematch against Dekalb in the second round of this sectional on Friday.
Snider (5-17) vs East Noble (9-15)
Snider and East Noble played each other 12/17, in which Snider was defeated at home 45-39. Payton Gorman (10.5ppg) and her squad were just a couple plays away from winning that game but the turnover bug bit them again late to help in the defeat. If Snider wants to avenge the loss; the key will be limiting turnovers against a very strong defensive team in East Noble. For the Knights to win for the second time against Snider, they will once again need gritty perimeter player in Avan Beiswanger (7.6ppg 1.9spg) and ball hawk Karly Kirkpatrick (6.7ppg, 4rbg, 2.5spg) to lead the way. Also watch for the matchup in the post w/ Carly Turner (8.3ppg) for East Noble and Snider’s Marqueisha Weeks (5.1ppg 7.4rpg).
3A at Concordia
Woodlan (17-6) vs Bishop Dwenger (9-10)
Woodlan has won 7 of their last 8 games with that last loss coming from their only SAC opponent of the season in Concordia 46-44 in OT. The leading scorer and re-bounder for the Warriors is Addison Bayman (12.8ppg 6.5rpg) who is a very tough player to handle on the offensive end. Bayman will need help from Dakotah Krohn (9.7ppg) and Gabby Choice (8.2ppg) to get past the swarming pressure defense of Dwenger. The Saints started the season out playing their best basketball of the season and the defensive full court pressure and offensive rebounding where the keys. The Saints have one of the SAC’s best two-way point guards in Molly Ream and a enough size and 3pt shooting to hang with anyone in this Sectional. The question is can the limit their own turnovers and will need to hit some shots from deep.
Concordia (12-9) vs Leo (3-19)
Concordia defeated Leo on 61-22 on December 3rd which should still prove to be the case come the sectional match up. The Cadets come into sectional with a tremendous post presence in Chanteese Craig (10.6ppg, 7.3rpg) that is a tough match up for any squad in 3A. When you add the talent of CC Calloway (7.4ppg) and the continued confidence of freshman Annaka Nelson (6.1ppg), Concordia looks to make a run in their hos Sectional. The Leo Lions rely on a ton of youth this season which is always a tough thing to transition into from middle school. The are facing an uphill battle tonight but will look to build some momentum heading into next year with the return of leading scorers freshman Leah May (6.1ppg 4.1rpg) and sophomore Katharine Scrogham (5.4ppg).
3A at Mississinew
Bishop Luers (15-7) vs Norwell (18-4)
This is probably the most anticipated 1st round match up due to the first time these two schools played each other. That game took place on November 20th at Luers in which Norwell won a thriller 72-70 in OT. Norwell is so balanced that on any given night one of at least 4 players can lead them in scoring. They are at their best when pressuring defensively and causing live ball turnovers that turn into easy layins. For Luers, they fell into foul trouble in that game and only played well in spurts. Can they turn in an all around complete game will be key and helping that will be leading scorer and re-bounder Lydia Reimbold (12.7ppg 7.8rpg),. Both of these teams have complete rosters when healthy so expect another thriller this time on a neutral court for the right to advance their season.
