INDIANAPOLIS — The mystery is over.
On Sunday, the Indiana High School Athletic Association announced this year’s sectional pairings for the 45th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament.
Three of Hancock County’s four teams will compete in Sectional 7 at Richmond’s Tiernan Center with two of those three Class 4A programs set to open the state tournament against each other.
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On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 4A No. 8 Mt. Vernon will face Hoosier Heritage Conference foe New Palestine in the Sectional 7 quarterfinal round with both teams receiving first-round byes.
Anderson (12-9) and host Richmond (12-10) will compete in the opening round of the seven-team sectional site on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Greenfield-Central (10-10) will play Pendleton Heights (11-10) in the other quarterfinal round game on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Muncie Central (6-14) received the tournament’s lone direct bye into the tournament’s semifinal round on Friday, Feb. 7, when they will play the winner between Anderson and Richmond.
Wednesday’s advancing teams will compete in the other semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 7, with the championship set for Saturday, Feb. 8.
The sectional game featuring Mt. Vernon and New Palestine is a matchup between two of the HHC’s best this season.
The Marauders are 5-0 against sectional foes this season to date and 13-1 against other 4A teams.
Mt. Vernon defeated Pendleton Heights 60-42 on Dec. 7. They toppled Anderson 55-25 on Dec. 10, beat New Palestine 44-25 on Dec. 19, rolled past Richmond 58-22 on Jan. 21 and pushed past Greenfield-Central 53-31 on Jan. 24.
As of Monday, Mt. Vernon owned a 19-game winning streak, while building a 5-0 record in the HHC. New Palestine finished its HHC schedule at 6-1 and is second in the standings.
A loss in either of the Marauders’ final two regular-season games will result in both teams sharing the 2019-20 league title. If Mt. Vernon loses out, then the New Palestine Dragons will win the conference outright. A Marauders’ sweep in the final week will secure an outright title.
Eastern Hancock hosts its own Sectional 42 tournament, but the Royals received no favors in the blind draw. The Royals were picked to open their postseason in the first round against Irvington (4-14) on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
The 2A Royals (12-7) will advance into the semifinal round with a win and will face Indianapolis Howe (9-7) on Friday, Feb. 7. Top-ranked Triton Central (20-0) plays Indianapolis Scecina (2-18) in the other semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 7.
Triton Central is 2-0 against sectional opponents and 7-0 against teams in their classification. The Tigers defeated Scecina 104-40 on Jan. 3 and Eastern Hancock 83-52 on Nov. 16.
The Sectional 42 championship is set for Saturday, Feb. 8.
