Indiana

IHSAA girls basketball Fab 15 rankings: Sectional outlooks for Central Indiana’s top teams

Published

2 years ago

January 16, 2024

IHSAA girls basketball Fab 15 rankings: Sectional outlooks for Central Indiana’s top teams

On this week’s The Scorers Table podcast, Courtney weighs in on if middle schoolers should be allowed to play high school and the gang discusses the state tournament format (seeding, sectionals, etc.).

It’s hard to believe but we’re only a few days away from the IHSAA girls basketball sectional draw. So with this week’s Fab 15, we’re previewing the sectional field for each of Central Indiana’s top teams (with a quick recap of their previous week). The Scorers Table will be live on YouTube following Sunday’s sectional draw show. Stay tuned for details.

1. Center Grove (19-1)

Previous ranking: 1

The Trojans cruised to a 53-38 win at Seymour on Friday. They’ll host Heritage Christian on Thursday before traveling to Hamilton Southeastern for a Saturday night clash.

Sectional 18 (at Mooresville) outlook: The Trojans are the favorite here, but Mooresville and Bloomington North (senior Mia Robbennolt is a talented player) will be difficult outs. Best case scenario, CG only has to play one (or neither) of them.

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2. Lawrence Central (20-1)

PR: 2

The Bears picked up a huge win Thursday, grinding out a back-and-forth roller coaster against rival Lawrence North. This is the first time they’ve beaten LN twice in the same season since at least 2000-01 and just the second time they’ve won consecutive games in the series.

Sectional 10 (at Cathedral) outlook: The Bears have not won a sectional game since 2001. The drought should end this year, but I think they would benefit from being placed in the same side of the bracket as Warren Central, North Central and/or Cathedral. Stack it up and give LC — which plays WC and NC this week — a chance to get its players acclimated with state tournament play and build their confidence against quality opponents.

3. Hamilton Southeastern (17-1)

PR: 3

The Royals ran their win streak to 10 games with a 64-37 win over Westfield. They’re entering the most difficult stretch of their season: at Lawrence North (Tuesday), Zionsville (Friday) and Center Grove (Saturday).

Sectional 8 (at HSE) outlook: The Royals are the favorites here, but it’s unclear by how much. If scripting their dream scenario for the first week of February, it likely ends with a win over rival Fishers in the sectional championship game — the team that’s ended three of HSE’s past four seasons (twice in the sectional final).

4. Fishers (13-5)

PR: 5

The Tigers escaped with a 40-38 win over Brownsburg on Friday. The Bulldogs out-scored Fishers 16-9 in the third quarter to draw within five, then tied it at 37 with 30 seconds left. The Tigers play their final home game Tuesday vs. Carmel, then close out with Avon (Friday), Lawrence North and Franklin Central.

Sectional 8 (at HSE) outlook: A Mudsock rematch would be fun, but there are a few intriguing possibilities for Fishers. Westfield upset the Tigers back in November, then Zionsville hung tough with them a few days later; Fishers-Noblesville has determined the Class 4A North representative in back-to-back seasons.

5. Franklin (17-2)

PR: 7

This had the potential of being a tricky stretch for the Grizzly Cubs with Mooresville, Plainfield and at Roncalli lined up, but they cleared all three teams with ease — notably a 61-39 win over the Quakers last Wednesday.

Sectional 14 (at Whiteland) outlook: The Grizzly Cubs are the heavy favorite here. It will be fascinating, though, to see who their sectional is matched up with in the next round with S13 (Center Grove/Mooresville), S15 (Bedford North Lawrence/Jennings County) and S16 (Castle) all in play.

6. Lawrence North (14-4)

PR: 4

The Wildcats have a couple opportunities left for statement wins: vs. Hamilton Southeastern on Tuesday then vs. Fishers a week later.

Sectional 10 (Cathedral) outlook: I purposefully left someone out when discussing teams for LC’s side of the bracket and that’s because the Bears and Wildcats belong on opposite sides of the bracket. Give us the possibility of a battle for Lawrence Township in a Saturday night elimination game, IHSAA lottery balls (or bingo balls, or whatever they are).

7. Noblesville (11-8)

PR: 6

The Millers took a tough loss Friday night, falling to Zionsville, 71-66 in overtime. They’ll look to bounce back this week with games against Harrison (West Lafayette) and Franklin Central.

Sectional 8 (at HSE) outlook: The Millers would likely love an opportunity to avenge that late-November loss to Carmel (8-9). Something to keep in mind: A first-round bye isn’t exactly a good thing in this sectional, because teams typically have to survive a heavyweight bout in the opening round in order to move on. They have momentum going into the second round, facing a team that’s playing for the first time in at least a week.

8. Zionsville (16-4)

PR: 9

The Eagles let an 18-point lead slip away in the second half against North Central, but bounced back quite nicely against Noblesville.

Sectional 8 (at HSE) outlook: The Eagles are 1-4 since rejoining this sectional in 2020, but have the pieces to even that record and advance to regional for the first time since 2019. They’ve beaten Carmel, lost to Fishers, knocked off Westfield in OT and, most recently, won in overtime vs. Noblesville. Zionsville travels to HSE on Friday.

9. Indian Creek (15-4)

PR: 8

The Braves fought through for their sixth 4A win of the season Saturday, outlasting Westfield, 60-55, in overtime. They were in Illinois for an MLK Day event on Monday and will host 17-3 Northview on Friday.

Sectional 26 (at Edgewood) outlook: Northview has a nice record, but the Braves remain the odds-on favorite here. The regional draw could create some intrigue with Danville and Bishop Chatard among the possible opponents (if they were to win their sectionals, obviously).

10. Hamilton Heights (18-2)

PR: 10

Hamilton Heights dismantled Western and Tipton ahead of Friday’s Hoosier Conference championship game vs. Class 3A No. 1 Rensselaer Central (18-0). That should be a heck of a tussle.

Sectional 24 (at Yorktown) outlook: Securing a fourth consecutive sectional championship will likely require the Huskies to beat Jay County and if history is any indication, they’ll play early on — which has happened in back-to-back seasons. Avoiding host Yorktown’s side of the bracket may not be the worst thing, either. The Tigers took Hamilton Heights to overtime in last year’s sectional final and are 11-8 this season.

11. Plainfield (14-5)

PR: 11

Bouncing back from that loss to the Grizzly Cubs won’t be easy for the Quakers, who have road games this week against Franklin Central and Mooresville.

Sectional 12 (at Avon) outlook: Standing by my pick of Plainfield as the favorite in this sectional, but man, this field is tough. Brownsburg and Avon seem to be contractually obligated to play at some point during sectionals (I swear, it happens in every sport I cover), so assuming the Quakers avoid intersecting with their pre-destined collision course, they’ll only have to worry about the winner — which is obviously a good thing. Plainfield is 2-0 vs. Brownsburg this year, but it’s tough to beat a team thrice in the same season; Avon handed the Quakers their first loss at the end of November and has sectional Cinderella potential.

12. Danville (17-3)

PR: 12

The Warriors scored a 4A win over Decatur Central on Wednesday, then rolled by conference foe North Montgomery on Friday. They’ll host Lillie Graves and McCutcheon on Tuesday.

Sectional 25 (at Cascade) outlook: This one will probably come down to Danville vs. Tri-West, be it in the championship game or the first round. The Warriors will likely be the favorite, but, again, it’s tough to beat a team (much less a rival) three times in the same season and the Bruins played them tough during the regular season.

13. Bishop Chatard (13-6)

PR: NR

The Trojans won the City championship in thrilling fashion, beating Cathedral in Friday’s final on an overtime buzzer-beater by sophomore Olivia Berzai.

Sectional 27 (at Chatard) outlook: The three-time defending sectional champion Trojans are the favorite and have beaten fellow frontrunner Heritage Christian twice this season. Both games were close, however, and there are potential challengers beyond those two (Brebeuf Jesuit and Guerin Catholic). Chatard closes out the regular season at Brebeuf.

14. Franklin Central (10-7)

PR: 15

Beware Franklin Central, folks. The youthful Flashes (lineup features a senior, two juniors and three freshmen) ran their win streak to seven games this week, adding Avon and Greenfield-Central to a list that already included Class A No. 3 Borden and rival Roncalli.

Sectional 11 (at Pike) outlook: This sectional — FC, Pike, Roncalli, Ben Davis, Southport and Perry Meridian — is wide-open and ripe for drama. That said, if the Flashes can go 2-2 over its final four games (Plainfield, at Noblesville, at Southport and Fishers), they’ll have some serious momentum heading in.

t-15. Lapel (16-3)

PR: 13

The Bulldogs trailed by eight after a quarter and by five at half vs. Blackford last Tuesday. They out-scored the Bruins, 11-5, in the third quarter to avert disaster and grind out a win despite shooting 33% from the field and 39% at the line. Ugly win, but the only reason Lapel (and Eastern Hancock) moved this week is because of Chatard and Franklin Central.

Sectional 40 (at Lapel) outlook: The road back to Gainbridge begins at home for the 2A runner-up Bulldogs and it’s pretty obvious whose side of the bracket they’d like to avoid: Alexandria-Monroe. The Tigers lost to Lapel twice during the regular season, but boast a high-scoring standout in junior Jacklynn Hosier. Fun fact: The past two winners of this sectional ultimately lost to Forest Park in the state finals (2022 Frankton, 2023 Lapel).

t-15. Eastern Hancock (18-1)

PR: 14

Two more sweat free wins for the Royals, who have held six of their past eight opponents under 40 points. The two exceptions? 4A foes Elkhart and Lawrence North.

Sectional 42 (at Scecina) outlook: This sectional will more than likely be decided between Eastern Hancock and Triton Central, it’s just a matter of when they play. Random draw willing, it’ll be in the championship game, though that hasn’t happened in three years (boo-hiss).

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

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What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

Published

3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Tucker DeVries met with reporters after the Hoosiers’ 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Here’s what the DeVries duo said during their near-seven-minute press conference.

Q: I guess, Darian, it’s sort of another night where it feels like it just kind of gets difficult to really break down an opponent off the dribble, kind of get that inside-out sort of paint touch to three looks you want, just like what, I guess, are you guys, what’s not happening there, what’s just kind of sort of failing at the source offensively when that’s not working?

DD: Yeah, I thought the first half, you know, we got some pretty good action, pretty good movement, I thought the second half, Kentucky certainly turned up the pressure and was able to get into us and we didn’t respond well enough and we turned the ball over too much and live ball turnovers against them are really hard because now they’re out in transition playing in space, so the turnovers and the offensive rebounding, I mean, that flipped the game around that second half.

Q: On Kentucky’s long run, what was the problem there?

Yeah, I thought the turnovers, it was a combination of things, I thought, you know, we left our feet a few times, I thought we just, you know, got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed to, you know, as that, you know, the crowd got cranked up and things, that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds, you know, they just went and got them and, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job of creating space and getting bodies and going and securing the ball.

Q: What do you think you need to improve on, the team needs to improve on against ball pressure at the point of attack?

DD: Yeah, the number one thing when you get at ball pressure is everything from an execution standpoint and a movement standpoint, it’s just got to be done with more force, you can’t continue just to get pushed out and everybody stands, so you have to find ways to give yourself up with a back hook, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, you know, and get some movement to, you know, even as, you know, they had gotten ahead and we started to break it off a little bit, once we got movement again, we were able to get those clean looks or better looks, so it’s something we got to get better at, there’s no question.

Q: Tucker, your individual line tonight was really great, I mean, your effort was fantastic, 15 points, 7 rebounds, a lot of the three point shots tonight didn’t go down like they normally do for the Hoosiers, what do you think that is, was it just not seeing the basket as well, was it the defense, was it not in the offense where you were getting clean looks?

TUCKER DEVRIES: To be honest, making and missing shots, I thought tonight, honestly, wasn’t a problem, I know, certainly, I did not shoot it great, as a team we didn’t shoot that great either from three, but, you know, even with that being said, I think there were certainly areas that we needed to be a lot better at, as a group, and if we were able to, you know, especially in the second half, execute in those areas, I think that would have made up for some of those, you know, shooting habits and miscues, but, you know, making them missing shots sometimes is basketball, but I thought in the other areas, if we could just, you know, execute there a little bit.

Q: On that, if shots maybe weren’t the problem, what kind of was, do you think?

TUCKER: I mean, he hit on it pretty good, the turnovers and obviously the offensive rebounds they had, especially in the second half. I mean, I take full responsibility for both of those areas. Obviously, four turnovers is far too many. As a group, I think when they pick up the pressure, I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession. But good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.

Q: When Lamar picked up his fourth foul and missed nearly nine minutes, what went wrong offensively?

DD: Yeah, I don’t remember the exact sequences there, but, you know, not having Lamar out there is certainly a big part of our offense, and, you know, his foul trouble tonight certainly limited him with only the 21 minutes because he was, again, he’s, you know, a big focal piece of what we try to run our offense through, so, you know, I believe during that little stretch that he wasn’t out there, that’s when the turnovers started to happen and

we weren’t able to get into, you know, maybe some of our actions the way we needed to.

Q: Darian, you mentioned Kentucky’s offensive rebound and kind of flipping that game. Was that just their physicality, their effort out beating you guys or something else that you saw going on?

DD: Yeah, I thought their effort, their physicality in the second half was, you know, really good. I mean, they certainly cranked it up a notch in that second half and we needed to respond to it, but, you know, I thought their aggressiveness defensively, their aggressiveness in the offensive glass, you know, was ultimately the factor.

Q: Darian, you mentioned Lamar, but how much did the foul trouble for not just him, but other guys, affect you tonight?

DD: I mean, foul trouble is foul trouble. You have it every night, so you’ve got to figure out a way to deal with it and, you know, we just didn’t do a good enough job with that.

Q: Just to follow up on that, with this team, and you’ve talked about sort of where you are with the two bigs and things like that, like does foul trouble become sort of a compounding problem when it disrupts rotations? It felt tonight like maybe guys were just not either on the floor long enough to find the rhythm or maybe had to be on the floor too long because other guys were in foul trouble.

DD: Again, our guys, you know, their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. You know, certainly, you know, a guy like Lamar, you want him out there, but when he’s not out there, I feel very confident that the guys that are coming in are going to do their part and do their job and, you know, we certainly have a lot of faith in them, so, you know, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to tonight.

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Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Published

15 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Basketball icons Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley headline the broadcasting crew for Indiana vs. Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Vitale, a longtime ESPN analyst, and Barkley, a Basketball Hall of Famer-turned analyst, are teaming up to call two games this season, with the first coming between a pair of blue bloods in a nonconference matchup. Dave O’Brien will handle play-by-play duties.

Vitale and Barkley will broadcast together for the second time this season during TNT and CBS Sports’ First Four coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament in March.

Watch Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley call Indiana vs. Kentucky live with Fubo (free trial)

The humorous duo will be appointment viewing for many college basketball fans, as both are known for their larger-their-life personalities. The team-up became possible after TNT lost its broadcasting rights for NBA games, moving TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to ESPN.

Vitale is returning to regular broadcasting in 2025 after battling multiple forms of cancer since 2021. He has called over 1,000 games for ESPN since joining the network in 1979.

Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star, averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds across his 16-year career. He was drafted No. 5 overall out of Auburn in the 1984 NBA Draft.

How to watch Indiana vs Kentucky today with Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley

Indiana-Kentucky will air live on ESPN, with streaming options available on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Indiana vs Kentucky time today

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Location: Rupp Arena (Lexington, Kentucky)

Indiana vs. Kentucky is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 13, from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wins Coach of the Year Award for 2nd Straight Season

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wins Coach of the Year Award for 2nd Straight Season

For the second consecutive season, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has been named college football’s Coach of the Year following a magical 2025 campaign.

Cignetti, who joined Indiana last November, won the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award on Friday night, making him the first coach to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He is also just the second coach to win the honor twice, joining Brian Kelly, who won it in 2009, 2012 and 2018.

Cignetti’s Hoosiers delivered an encore worthy of recognition following his successful first year in Bloomington where they fell in the first round of the College Football Playoff after going 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten. Unlike 2024, however, the 2025 season will go down as the best in program history with Cignetti and California transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza leading the way.

Indiana went undefeated (13-0) for the first time since 1945 and won its first outright Big Ten championship since 1967 with a win over Ohio State en route to clinching the No. 1 seed in the CFP for the first time. The Hoosiers enter the CFP as the favorites to win their first-ever national title.

While Indiana was one of CFB’s most well-rounded teams, Mendoza proved to be a major catalyst behind the success. In his first season with Cignetti, the redshirt junior earned the right to call himself a Heisman Trophy favorite after leading the nation with 33 touchdown passes to just six interceptions, and completing 71.5% of his passes (226-of-316).

Mendoza has won multiple awards, including the Davey O’Brien (top QB) and Maxwell (Player of the Year) Awards, entering Saturday’s Heisman Trophy ceremony. Should he win the coveted honor, Mendoza would be the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman, giving Cignetti another feather in his cap as top-seeded Indiana looks to make CFP history, starting with its first-round game on Jan. 1.

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