Danny Brown doesn’t remember drawing a first-round bye many times in his 20 years of coaching girls basketball, but he’s happy to get one this season.
Brown’s Columbus East squad will host a Class 4A sectional next week, but the defending champion Olympians won’t be playing when the tournament opens on Jan. 29.
"We’re not used to getting the bye," Brown said. "We will have played five games in eight days. I’m one of those coaches that would rather play on the first night, but with that many games leading up to it, we could use the rest and the time to prepare."
East (8-11) plays three games in four days this week, beginning tonight at New Albany. The Olympians will visit Southport on Tuesday and wrap up the regular season at home against Martinsville on Thursday.
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"My main concern right now is just these next three games this week," Brown said. "We need to improve heading into the sectional."
The Olympians will play in the semifinals at around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 against the winner of the first-round game between Columbus North (16-4) and Shelbyville (3-18). The Bull Dogs and Golden Bears will play the late game on Jan. 29.
A North win would set up a rematch with East. The Bull Dogs beat the Olympians 56-46 Dec. 13 at East.
"East is a quality team," North coach Pat McKee said. "They played well for a good chunk of the season, and we’ll be ready to play a good game against them. They have some weapons."
East Central (16-6) and Bloomington North (4-16) will meet in the sectional opener at 6 p.m. Jan. 29. The winner will play Bloomington South (17-3) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Feb. 1.
Columbus North also has three games in four days this week. The Bull Dogs are in Chicago today to play Chicago St. Ignatius, then will travel to Bloomington South on Tuesday in a game that will decide the Conference Indiana title. Columbus North will finish the regular season Thursday at Roncalli.
McKee thinks Bloomington South is the team to beat in the sectional.
"I think right now, based on records and ratings, Bloomington South is probably the favorite," McKee said. "East Central is probably second, and us and East are probably No. 3. Our keys don’t change very much. We need to play well. We’ve played pretty well for awhile. We need to keep doing that, and maybe be a little better than in some of our recent games."
Meanwhile, in Class A, Hauser (5-15) will play Southwestern (Shelby) (12-8) in the first round of the Waldron Sectional at around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30. If the Jets win, they would play the winner between defending champion Jac-Cen-Del and Rising Sun at around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1.
Hauser lost to Southwestern 49-42 on Nov. 19.
"I felt pretty good about (the draw)," Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. "About the only thing better about it would have been to get the bye. We felt like we played them well the first time, and we didn’t have our point guard (Bree Hadley). We see this as an opportunity. We just have to be ready to play and hope we have everybody healthy."
Trinity Lutheran (15-7) will play Crothersville (12-10), and Edinburgh (8-12) will face West Washington (13-9) Jan. 29 in the first round of the Class A Edinburgh Sectional. If Trinity wins, it would face Medora in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Feb. 1. If Edinburgh wins, it would meet Madison Shawe at around 7:30 p.m. that night.
Jennings County (12-8) will play Floyd Central (7-12) at 6 p.m. Jan. 30 in the first round of the Class 4A New Albany Sectional. If the Panthers win, they would play Seymour or New Albany at around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1.
In Class 3A, Brown County (7-12) will play Owen Valley (16-6) at 6 p.m. Jan. 29 in the opener of the Northview Sectional. If the Eagles win, they would play Edgewood in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Feb. 1.
South Decatur will host a sectional after moving up to Class 2A this season. The Cougars (5-16) will play South Ripley (14-6) in the first round at around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29. If South Decatur wins, it would play Southwestern (Hanover) at around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1.
All sectional finals are scheduled for Feb. 2.
