The opening week’s pairings have been announced for the 47th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament
presented by the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers.
Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 1, and run through Saturday, Feb. 5, with the regional round
slated for Feb. 12 and semi-states on Feb. 19. The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be
played at the newly-renovated and renamed Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Top-ranked Homestead will meet the winner of the
New Haven-Columbia City game in the semifinals of
Sectional 6 at Huntington North. The Spartans are
the No. 1 team in both the 4A poll of the Indiana
Coaches of Girls Sports Association (ICGSA) and the
single class poll from the Indiana Basketball Coaches
Association (IBCA).
In Class 3A, the No. 1-ranked South Bend Washington
Panthers will host Jimtown for its first-round game in
Sectional 19.
The Class 2A poll shows the South Central Satellites
of Union Mills leading the field and scheduled to face
North Judson-San Pierre in the eight-team Sectional 34 at Rensselaer Central.
And in Class A, the Waldron Mohawks top the latest poll and are scheduled to host the Rising Sun-Oldenburg winner in
the Sectional 60 semifinal round.
The Crown Point Bulldogs, the defending state champions in Class 4A and ranked No. 3 in this week’s ICGSA poll, will
host Portage in the Sectional 2 opening game.
Last year’s Class 3A state champion and this week’s No. 4 team, the Silver Creek Dragons will face Scottsburg in the first
round of Sectional 30 at North Harrison.
The Linton-Stockton Miners, last year’s 2A state champion and now playing in 3A, drew home-standing Washington in
Game 2 of Sectional 31.
And last year’s Class A state champion, the Pioneer Panthers are now playing in 2A and ranked No. 12 this week. They
will play Rochester Community in the Sectional 37 opening game at Lewis Cass.
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Notables
About the Draw
To conduct the random drawing for the girls basketball state tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing
each school in each sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows
the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order.
For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball
representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the
home team in game two. That same method is followed through all 64 sectionals and 16 regionals.
No. of Schools Entered: 389 teams.
By Class: 101 4A teams; 96 3A teams; 99 2A teams; 93 1A teams.
Total No. of Games: 385 games in 26 days.
Defending State Champions
4A: Crown Point (host Portage in Sectional 2).
3A: Silver Creek (vs. Scottsburg in Sectional 30 at North Harrison).
2A: Linton-Stockton (vs. host Washington in Class 3A, Sectional
31).
A: Pioneer (vs. Rochester Community in Class 2A, Sectional 37 at
Lewis Cass).
Schools Entered for First Time
4A: Hammond Central (vs. Lake Central in Class 4A, Sectional 1).
A: Trinity at Greenlawn (vs. Argos in Class A, Sectional 50).
Schools Playing Up One Class due to Tournament Success Factor
Northwestern (vs. McCutcheon in Class 4A, Sectional 7 at
Marion).
Linton-Stockton (vs. host Washington in Class 3A, Sectional 31).
Pioneer (vs. Rochester Community in Class 2A, Sectional 37 at
Lewis Cass).
Loogootee (vs. South Knox-Eastern Greene winner in Class 2A,
Sectional 47 at North Knox).
Most State Championships
7: Heritage Christian.
6: Fort Wayne Bishop Luers.
5: Fort Wayne Canterbury.
4: Bedford North Lawrence, Ben Davis.
3: Crown Point, Kokomo, Lafayette Central Catholic, North Central (Indianapolis), Tri-Central.
All-Time Consecutive State Tournament Victories
31: Heritage Christian, 2006-10.
26: Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, 1999-2002.
25: Fort Wayne Canterbury, 2008-11; Heritage Christian, 2014-17.
24: Kokomo, 1992-94.
23: Tri-Central, 2003-06.
20: Crown Point, 1984-86; Evansville Mater Dei, 2012-14; Fort Wayne Canterbury, 2012-14.
19: Northwestern, 2018-20.
17: Ben Davis, 2009-11.
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Active Consecutive State Tournament Win Streaks
7: Crown Point, Linton-Stockton, Pioneer, Silver Creek.
2021 Sectional Champions
4A: Bedford North Lawrence, Brownsburg, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Castle, Crown Point, East Central, Franklin Community,
Homestead, LaPorte, McCutcheon, Merrillville, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), Noblesville, North Central (Indianapolis), Penn,
Roncalli.
3A: Angola, Benton Central, Brownstown Central, Evansville Memorial, Griffith, Hamilton Heights, Indian Creek,
Indianapolis Bishop Chatard, Kankakee Valley, Lakeland, Norwell, Rushville Consolidated, Silver Creek, South Bend
Washington, Tri-West Hendricks, Washington.
2A: Andrean, Bluffton, Clinton Prairie, Eastern (Pekin), Fairfield, Forest Park, Frankton, Linton-Stockton, North JudsonSan Pierre, Rochester Community, Shenandoah, South Putnam, South Ripley, Tipton, Triton Central, University.
A: Bethesda Christian, Bloomfield, Blue River Valley, Clinton Central, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Greenwood
Christian, Kouts, Lanesville, Loogootee, Northfield, Pioneer, Southwestern (Shelbyville), Tecumseh, Tri-Central, Trinity
Lutheran, Triton.
Schools that Won First Sectional Championship Last Year
4A: None.
3A: None.
2A: None.
A: None.
Active Sectional Championship Streaks (Three or more years)
10: Bedford North Lawrence.
5: Carroll (Fort Wayne).
4: Benton Central, Penn, Triton Central.
3: Blue River Valley, Crown Point, Eastern (Pekin), Greenwood Christian, Homestead, Lanesville, Northfield, Pioneer,
Tecumseh.
Most Consecutive Sectional Championships
18 by Rushville, 1980-97.
Top 10 All-Time Sectional Championships
32: Rushville.
30: Bedford North Lawrence.
26: Ben Davis.
25: Jac-Cen-Del, NorthWood.
23: Benton Central
21: Center Grove, Penn.
20: Castle, Crown Point, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Gary West Side, Jasper, Kokomo, Mooresville, Sullivan, Valparaiso.
Schools Seeking First Sectional Championship
4A: Elkhart, Hammond Central.
3A: Guerin Catholic, Mount Vernon.
2A: Churubusco, Cloverdale, Herron, Indianapolis Metropolitan, Lake Station Edison, Milan, River Forest, Whitko.
A: 21st Century-Gary, Anderson Preparatory Academy, Cannelton, Central Christian Academy, Christel House Academy,
Christian Academy of Indiana, Covenant Christian (DeMotte), Elkhart Christian Academy, Faith Christian, Fall Creek
Academy, Indiana Math & Science Academy, Indiana School for the Deaf, International, Irvington Preparatory
Academy, LaCrosse, Lakeland Christian Academy, Lighthouse Christian Academy, Medora, Parke Heritage, Providence
Cristo Rey, Rock Creek Academy, Seton Catholic, Shawe Memorial, Shoals, South Bend Career Academy, Traders Point
Christian, Trinity at Greenlawn, Victory College Preparatory, Westville.
As for our local teams, Greensburg plays Batesville Wednesday night February 2nd in first round at Greensburg.
South Decatur and North are in action at Southwestern Hanover. Both play Tuesday February 1st. South Decatur verses Switzerland County and North Decatur verses South Ripley.