By Andy Amey
TERRE HAUTE — A team from the western half of Class 4A Sectional 13 will be playing for the girls basketball championship at Terre Haute South on Feb. 13.
Pairings for next week’s girls sectionals were drawn Monday night by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, and Terre Haute North will meet the host Braves in the tournament’s opening game at 6 p.m. Feb. 9. The winner of that game will face Northview in the 6 p.m. semifinal game Feb. 12.
“I had a feeling we were going to play North again, and that’s how it came out,” said coach Dave Cassell of the Braves, who have beaten the Patriots twice — but not by much. South won 33-30 in early November during the HI-99 Terre Haute Savings Bank Classic and nipped North 37-34 on Friday in Hulman Center.“It’s funny how the local teams are all in one bracket and the teams that have to travel [Martinsville, Mooresville and Plainfield] are in the other bracket,”
Cassell added.
“We definitely don’t have to scout,” laughed coach Mike Allen of North when asked about the draw from the Patriots’ perspective. “Staying away from Plainfield, Mooresville and Martinsville is always a good thing.
“This gives us a legitimate chance to make it to the finals … but obviously South has beaten us twice and is probably coming in with a little more confidence than we are.”
Both the Patriots and Braves have beaten Northview, North 50-36 in the Classic and 62-29 during the regular season and South by a 55-46 score during the regular season.
No one in the field has beaten Mooresville, however, and the fourth-ranked Pioneers are the favorites. North beat Plainfield recently, but the Quakers — a top-10 team a year ago who have been plagued by injuries — can’t be overlooked either after knocking off top-10 foe Decatur Central last week.
The Patriots alternated Monday between watching the pairings on the Internet and going to the North gym to see senior guard Lindy Jones crowned homecoming queen. “They’re excited,” Allen said. “They feel they didn’t play their best Friday, and now they’ve got another opportunity [against the Braves].”
“We’re just real excited about playing at home. We haven’t played in our gym since Jan. 9,” Cassell said. “Mooresville stands out, record-wise, so being opposite them is not a bad thing.”
Class 3A’s Sectional 29 is at Sullivan this year, and the host Arrows drew the bye. They won’t play until the semifinals against an opening game featuring West Vigo and four-time defending champion Owen Valley — probably not the ideal draw for the Vikings, although West Vigo played a very competitive game against the Patriots back in November.
Edgewood, with a two-point nonconference win over Owen Valley earlier this year, might be the best bet to come out of the opposite bracket; the Mustangs play Greencastle, and South Vermillion plays the Brown County team the Wildcats handled two days ago.
Linton has the longest way to go in the five-team Class 2A Sectional 45 tournament at South Knox; the Miners would have to beat the host team and North Knox to reach a championship game against either Bloomfield or Eastern Greene.
In Class A Sectional 57, co-favorites North Central and Clay City meet in a semifinal game at Clay City, with Shakamak perhaps a slight favorite over both Union (Dugger) and White River Valley in the other bracket.
And Class A Sectional 56 could be the most exciting of all the Wabash Valley tournaments in semifinal and championship play. Fourth-ranked Turkey Run and 10th-ranked North Vermillion could meet in the championship game, but both Riverton Parke and Rockville have winning records and are likely to have something to say about that.
North Vermillion is heavily favored over Attica, winner of that game to face Riverton Parke, and Rockville is equally favored over the host Trojans, with Turkey Run waiting for that winner.
Wabash Valley girls high school basketball sectionals
Class 4A
Sectional 13 at Terre Haute South
Feb. 9 — Terre Haute North vs. Terre Haute South, 6 p.m., followed by Mooresville vs. Martinsville
Feb. 12 — North-South winner vs. Northview, 6 p.m., followed by Mooresville-Martinsville winner vs. Plainfield
Feb. 13 — Championship, 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Sectional 29 at Sullivan
Feb. 9 — West Vigo vs. Owen Valley, 7 p.m.
Feb. 10 — Greencastle vs. Edgewood, 6 p.m., followed by South Vermillion vs. Brown County
Feb. 12 — West Vigo-Owen Valley winner vs. Sullivan, 6 p.m., followed by Greencastle-Edgewood winner vs. South Vermillion-Brown County winner
Feb. 13 — Championship, 7 p.m.
Class 2A
Sectional 45 at South Knox
Feb. 9 — Linton vs. South Knox, 7 p.m.
Feb. 12 — Eastern Greene vs. Bloomfield, 6 p.m., followed by Linton-South Knox winner vs. North Knox
Feb. 13 — Championship, 7 p.m.
Class A
Sectional 56 at Covington
Feb. 9 — North Vermillion vs. Attica, 6 p.m., followed by Covington vs. Rockville
Feb. 12 — North Vermillion-Attica winner vs. Riverton Parke, 6 p.m., followed by Covington-Rockville winner vs. Turkey Run
Feb. 13 — Championship, 7 p.m.
Sectional 57 at Clay City
Feb. 9 — Shakamak vs. Union (Dugger), 7 p.m.
Feb. 12 — North Central vs. Clay City, 6 p.m., followed by Shakamak-Union winner vs. White River Valley
Feb. 13 — Championship, 7 p.m.
