105th IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament Pairings Set

Press release from Indiana High School Athletic Association (Indianapolis, Ind.) - Three hundred ninety‐seven (397) teams were drawn today and placed into brackets for the 105th Annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament presented by the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. This is the second year that both of the state’s professional basketball franchises have been presenting sponsors of the boys and girls high school state tournaments. Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 3, and run through Saturday, March 7, with the regional round slated for March 14 and semi‐ states on March 21. The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday, March 28. Evansville Reitz is the top‐ranked team in both the Associated Press Class 4A poll and the single class poll from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Panthers will begin their quest for their first sectional championship since 2008 against host Evansville North in the Sectional 16 opener. Class 3A’s No. 1 team Mishawaka Marian drew a bye into the semifinals and will face the Glenn‐Rochester winner in Sectional 19 at South Bend St. Joseph. Covington, the top‐ranked Class A squad, drew Lafayette Central Catholic in the opening game of Sectional 53 at North Vermillion. In Class 2A, defending state champion and No. 1 Park Tudor will meet Indianapolis Shortridge, the host of Sectional 42. Among the other defending state champions, two‐time defending Class 3A winner Greensburg will host Lawrenceburg in Sectional 29. Marquette Catholic, the defending state champion in Class A, drew Westville in Sectional 49 at Kouts. Indianapolis Arsenal Technical, which won its first state basketball championship last year in Class 4A, drew a bye into the semifinals and will take on the Indianapolis Cathedral‐Warren Central winner in Sectional 10 at Lawrence Central. Lafayette Central Catholic (Class A) leads the state with 13 consecutive sectional championships. Andrean (Class 3A) and Pioneer (Class A) are next having won five in a row.   About the Draw To conduct the random drawing for the boys basketball state tournament, the IHSAA places ping‐pong balls representing each school in a given 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.   Sectional 14 at Bloomington South (6 teams) G1: Bloomington North vs. Shelbyville. Tues, 6 pm G2: Columbus North vs. Bloomington South. Tues, 7:30 pm G3: East Central vs. Winner of G1. Fri, 6 pm G4: Columbus East vs. Winner of G2. Fri, 7:30 pm Championship: Winner of G3 vs. Winner of G4. Sat, 7:30 pm   Sectional 29 at Greensburg (6 teams) G1: Batesville vs. South Dearborn. Tues, 6 pm G2: Greensburg vs. Lawrenceburg. Tues, 7:30 pm G3: Franklin County vs. Winner of G1. Fri, 6 pm G4: Rushville vs. Winner of G2. Fri, 7:30 pm Championship: Winner of G3 vs. Winner of G4. Sat, 7:30 pm   Sectional 45 at South Ripley (6 teams) G1: Southwestern (Hanover) vs. Switzerland County. Tues, 6 pm G2: Milan vs. North Decatur. Tues, 7:30 pm G3: Austin vs. Winner of G1. Fri, 6 pm G4: South Ripley vs. Winner of G2. Fri, 7:30 pm Championship: Winner of G3 vs. Winner of G4. Sat, 7 pm   Sectional 60 at South Decatur (6 teams) G1: Rising Sun vs. South Decatur. Tues, 6 pm G2: Hauser vs. Jac‐Cen‐Del. Tues, 7:30 pm G3: Shawe Memorial vs. Winner of G1. Fri, 6 pm G4: Oldenburg Academy vs. Winner of G2. Fri, 7:30 pm Championship: Winner of G3 vs. Winner of G4. Sat, 7:30 pm