New Palestine head coach Sarah Gizzi talks with her team during halftime against Roncalli at the Plainfield Holiday Basketball Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.
HANCOCK COUNTY — The opening week’s pairings have been announced for the 47th Annual IHSAA girls basketball state tournament presented by the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers.
Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 1, and run through Saturday, Feb. 5, with the regional round slated for Saturday, Feb. 12 and semistates on Saturday, Feb. 19. The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Three Hancock County teams will open the IHSAA state tournament at the Class 4A Mt. Vernon Sectional, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 2, while 2A Eastern Hancock will compete in the Heritage Christian Sectional.
At Mt. Vernon High School, Anderson (8-12) and Muncie Central (11-6) will open Sectional 9 in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals Greenfield-Central (7-12) and New Palestine (11-9) will meet in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, Feb. 2, followed by Richmond (8-12) versus Pendleton Heights (15-4) later that evening.
Host and defending champion Mt. Vernon (13-8) received the sectional bye and will play its first postseason game in the semifinal round on Friday, Feb. 4 against the winner between Anderson and Muncie Central.
The second semifinal game later that evening will be between the winner of Greenfield-Central-New Palestine and Richmond-Pendleton Heights.
The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5.
Pendleton Heights enters the postseason as the favorite, owning a 3-0 record against sectional foes in 2021-22 with wins against Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and New Palestine. The Arabians are 6-3 when facing 4A programs. Muncie Central is 2-0 against fellow sectional teams with victories over Richmond and Anderson.
Class 2A No. 11 Eastern Hancock (14-5) will begin its postseason path in the semifinal round against No. 8 Triton Central (17-4) at Heritage Christian’s Sectional 42 on Friday, Feb. 4.
The Heritage Christian Sectional opens with Scecina Memorial (8-11) facing the host Eagles (12-10) on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
The second semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 4 will be between Irvington (1-10), which received the tournament bye, and the winner between Heritage Christian-Scecina Memorial.
The championship game is set for Saturday, Feb. 5.
Triton Central defeated Eastern Hancock, 50-41, on Nov. 13 during the regular season and have won four consecutive sectional titles with 13 overall.
Eastern Hancock’s last sectional title run was in 2017. The Royals have been eliminated by Triton Central in sectional play the past three years.
2022 H.S. Girls Basketball Sectional Pairings
Class 4A
Mt. Vernon Sectional 9
QUARTERFINALS
Tuesday, Feb. 1
Gm 1: Anderson vs. Muncie Central
Wednesday, Feb. 2
Gm 2: Greenfield-Central vs. New Palestine
Gm 3: Richmond vs. Pendleton Heights
SEMIFINALS
Friday, Feb. 4
Gm 4: Mt. Vernon vs. Gm 1 winner
Gm 5: Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner
CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, Feb. 5
Gm 6: Gm 4 winner vs. Gm 5 winner
Class 2A
Heritage Christian Sectional 42
QUARTERFINALS
Tuesday, Feb. 1
Gm 1: Scecina Memorial vs. Heritage Christian
SEMIFINALS
Friday, Feb. 4
Gm 2: Eastern Hancock vs. Triton Central
Gm 3: Irvington vs. Gm 1 winner
CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, Feb. 5
Gm 4: Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner
