Last week’s draw for the East Central girls basketball sectional turned out good for one Columbus school and not so good for the other.
While Columbus East was placed in the top half of the bracket with a pair of 16-4 teams, Columbus North landed in the bottom half with two teams it’s beaten by a combined 38 points. Five of the six teams in the sectional have at least 11 wins.
“I think there’s five quality teams for sure with good records,” North coach Pat McKee said. “Clearly, the upper half of the bracket has three quality teams.”
McKee’s Class 4A co-No. 15 Bull Dogs (11-5) might have a target on their backs. They’ve beaten four of the other five sectional opponents and did not play the Olympians (14-5) during the regular season because North was on quarantine when the teams were scheduled to meet in December, and the schools couldn’t find a suitable makeup date.
East and North would not meet until the final, and both teams have ground to cover before they get there.
The Olympians face 4A No. 6 and host East Central (16-4) in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. opener. The Trojans, who beat East in last year’s sectional final, won 51-45 at East on Nov. 19.
“They’re always tough,” East coach Danny Brown said. “This is one of the better teams they’ve had. They’ve been ranked in the top 10 most of the year, and they present some challenges, maybe a different style than a lot of the teams that we’ve been playing. But in the sectional, it comes down to possession by possession, and who takes a disciplined approach, and that goes a long way to who can win it.”
If the Olympians win, they would face 4A co-No. 12 Martinsville (16-4) in Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinals. The Artesians won 73-65 at East on Dec. 8.
Besides the two losses to the teams they could face the first two rounds of the tourney, East’s other three losses came against 4A No. 7 Fishers, 4A co-No. 12 Hamilton Southeastern and 4A No. 1 North Central. The Olympians own the biggest win of any team in the sectional, a 67-66 victory against 4A then-No. 2 and now co-No. 3 Bedford North Lawrence.
“I think competition has readied us for this situation and the sectional,” Brown said. “That’s why we play these teams — to get ready for this situation and the sectional. It’s going to be tough. It always is.”
North will take on Bloomington South (11-7) Tuesday at around 8 p.m. The Bull Dogs beat the Panthers 57-40 seven days ago.
If Columbus North wins, it would play Bloomington North (6-16) at around 8 p.m. Friday. The Bull Dogs beat the Cougars 60-39 on Jan. 22.
“Bloomington South is a nice team,” McKee said. “Bloomington North doesn’t have as good of a record, but if they hit shots, you never know.”
The Bull Dogs have played a tough schedule, as well. Two of their losses have come at 4A No. 5 Franklin and at defending 4A state champion Lawrence North.
Columbus North has played fewer games because of its quarantine situation. The Bull Dogs went 38 days from Dec. 5 to Jan. 12 without playing a game.
“We’ve been limited in our number of games, but have had some nice ones and hopefully can continue,” McKee said.
In Class A meanwhile, Hauser received a favorable draw, at least for the first round. The Jets (8-14) will face Rising Sun (4-16) in the opening round of the Waldron Sectional at around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Hauser won 59-54 at Rising Sun on Nov. 28.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Hauser coach Chad Evans said. Rising Sun is improved, and we’re improved. We’re hoping to do our best, and hopefully, we can get the win.”
If the Jets win, they would play Class A co-No. 13 Southwestern (Shelby) (14-7) or Class A No. 7 Waldron (18-3) in the semifinals at around 7:45 p.m. Friday. Both of those teams won at Hauser this season.
The Jets are coming off an 82-30 loss at Shelbyville in Thursday’s regular-season finale, but Evans rested his starters in the second half.
“We’ve had some really good practices,” Evans said. “The Shelbyville game, I played the JV the last two quarters. With what happened last year with Mel Hasler getting a concussion in that last game, I didn’t want to risk one of our top seven or eight kids getting hurt. We’re all healthy and good to go, and our girls are looking forward to playing.”
Also on Tuesday, Jennings County (14-6) plays Seymour (10-6) at 5:30 p.m. in the 4A New Albany Sectional, Brown County (7-6) meets West Vigo (7-10) at 7 p.m. in the 3A Edinburgh Sectional, and Edinburgh (7-11) faces West Washington (6-14) at 7 p.m. in the Class A Edinburgh Sectional.
Class A No. 3 Trinity Lutheran (18-4) received a bye and will play Shawe Memorial (2-7) at 6 p.m. Friday at Edinburgh. In 2A, South Decatur (6-15) will meet the winner between South Ripley (14-5) and North Decatur (5-11) at around 7:30 p.m. Friday at South Ripley.
All finals are scheduled for Saturday evening.
“If we’ve all learned anything from this season, it’s that you just have to go day by day,” Brown said. “You can’t look ahead. We’ve made it to the sectional, and I think that’s huge for everybody that we’ve got to this point without any stoppages or pauses.”
