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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Indiana

At least 4 tornadoes suspected of leaving trail of damage in Illinois, Indiana, NWS says

Published

2 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

At least 4 tornadoes suspected of leaving trail of damage in Illinois, Indiana, NWS says

CHICAGO (WLS) — Suspected tornadoes have left extensive damage in Kankakee County in Illinois and into neighboring Indiana Tuesday.

The storms also produced hail ranging in size from two to four inches, the National Weather Service said. The NWS said the largest hailstone produced was six inches in diameter, which fell in Kankakee. The NWS said the hailstone may be a state record for Illinois.

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The NWS said a supercell that went from Pontiac, Illinois to Pontiac, Indiana spawned at least four tornadoes in Pontiac and south of Kankakee in Illinois and Lake Village an Wheatfield in Indiana.

The NWS is sending survey teams to the area Wednesday to investigate the damage.

Search crews worked late into the night looking for people who may have been left trapped by the storm damage as severe weather hit the Kankakee area.

Apparent tornado in Kankakee, Illinois – March 10, 2026

The area in Aroma Park along Sandbar Road was one of the places hardest hit.

Dangerous weather ripped through the area leaving a path of destruction.

The powerful storms driving rain and gusting winds downed at least a half dozen power lines that were snapped in half by gusting winds.

One homeowner says the storm blew out windows and leveled a two-story barn.

A concrete silo was also destroyed.

The fire lieutenant says a man did have to be rescued from the basement of a home with heavy damage. But otherwise, I have not heard of any serious injuries from the storm.

The American Red Cross has set up a shelter at Kankakee Community College for those impacted by the storms.

The tornado damage stretches into Indiana.

There has also been major damage across the state line in Indiana. Most of the damage is in the town of Lake Village.

Video shows a number of homes and buildings destroyed.

The local fire department says a tornado had a wide path of destruction and continued for several miles.

So far, officials said there have been only a few minor injuries.

They said the tornado sirens went off with plenty of time to alert people in the area.

People impacted by the storm can go to North Newton High School for support.

People living in Kankakee described the hail as almost as large as their hands, pounding the pavement and causing extensive damage.

“As if I have a bulletproof car and somebody was, like, shooting a machine gun or something like that. That’s how hard it was hitting,” Jon Robicheaux said.

Some car windows were left shattered.

“It just kept tearing into my front windshield,” Robicheaux said. “The back went out first, and it kept hitting the front. And it constantly got damaged.”

He had to pull over to find shelter.

“And I was kind of scared a tornado would’ve came over me while I was parked because I couldn’t see anything,” Robicheaux said.

Some cars in the west suburbs were damaged, as well, after golf ball- to baseball-sized hail fell.

One large chunk of hail came down on Gabrielle Zinkel’s car as she was driving home to Homer Glen from work in Downers Grove, shattering her back windshield.

“It sounded exactly like bullets hitting your car. Like, I was like, did my windshield just get shot through? Like what just happened? Because I did not think. I was like, OK, I’m going to come through this with some dents. But I didn’t think that this thing would hit my windshield and crack it right open,” Zinkel said.

There was also heavy rain and hail in parts of the city.

The hail sent people scrambling around dusk.

ComEd said as of 5 a.m., about 27,000 customers were impacted by the storm, with power restored to all but about 4,000 customers. Those without power were mainly in Kankakee County.

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Indiana

Severe storm risk into tonight through early Wednesday morning

Published

14 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Severe storm risk into tonight through early Wednesday morning

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — We are monitoring the potential for severe weather into early Wednesday morning.

Tornado Watch in effect until EDT midnight March 10, 2026, for Benton, Newton, and Jasper counties.

Tuesday night: Please make sure you have your safety plan on standby into tonight through pre-dawn Wednesday morning. There is now a level 4/5 severe risk in northwest Indiana. Much of central Indiana remains in a level 2/5 risk.

The risk for significant tornadoes (EF2+) and very large hail (2″+) is greatest north of I-70 with any discrete cell(s) that maintain their-selves into mainly northern Indiana. There is also potential for a max expected intensity of an EF-3+ tornado within much (if not all) of the level 3 & 4 risk zone.

This does not mean that every storm will produce a tornado of that magnitude. It is simply highlighting area of highest concern for the possibility of such occurrence.

Now, given a modestly unstable environment into the pre-dawn hours Wednesday with stronger wind flow aloft, all hazards will remain possible into central Indiana. The significant severe threat here is much lower.

Overall, you need to have multiple ways of being able to get alerts tonight. Do not be scared, be prepared and you will be ok.

Wednesday: Beyond sunrise Wednesday, we will continue to track more in the way of showers and storms. The main area of the strong-severe storm risk looks to shift mainly southeast of Indy with damaging winds the primary concern through the morning into afternoon hours.

Rainfall amounts through Wednesday may amount to 1-2″ with locally higher amounts.

Highs to occur earlier in the day with numbers in the mid to upper 60s. Non-thunderstorm winds will also be quite breezy with gusts up to 30-35 MPH.

Thursday: Be prepared for quite a temperature shift into Thursday. We will start the day off with temperatures in the low 30 with 20s wind chills. Yeah, that will not feel great considering our recent stretch of more mild days. Highs will only get into the upper 40s.

7-Day Forecast: We look to warm back up into this weekend, but it will come with more active weather and breezy winds. Friday will feature highs in the mid to upper 50s with wind gusts up to 25-30 MPH. Highs look to tick back into the low 60s Sunday with more chances for rain. Then, temperatures really take a tumble into next Monday with highs only in the 30s and a chance for a rain/snow mix.

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Indiana

Future of Chicago’s Soldier Field Uncertain as Bears Eye Move to Indiana

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Future of Chicago’s Soldier Field Uncertain as Bears Eye Move to Indiana

Change could be coming to Chicago’s Soldier Field, a historic landmark initially designed as a memorial for American soldiers who died in combat. Opened in 1924, and home to the NFL’s Chicago Bears since 1971, the 102 year old venue’s future is uncertain as the team is exploring a new stadium, possibility across the Illinois state line in Hammond, Indiana.

“The fact that they’re even considering coming to Hammond versus keeping it in their own state says a lot about what we’re going to try to do to tell everyone Indiana is a place move your business,” said Governor Mike Braun (R-Indiana), in a televised news conference Monday, monitored by Military.com. The governor’s remarks addressed a range of issues related to the end of the state’s legislative session.

Governor Mike Braun (R-Indiana) touts Indiana’s effort to lure Chicago Bears to Hammond with new stadium deal. (Indiana.gov)

“We’re proud that we’ve put together a package to attract $2 Billion worth of investment from the Chicago Bears,” said the governor of Senate Bill 27, which he signed last week. “They’re now looking at Indiana as a place to actually bring that franchise.”

With a seating capacity of more than 100,000 spectators. Soldier Field is used not only for Bears games, but as a site for many other sporting events and exhibitions, including numerous Army-Navy games. But without an anchor sports team like the Bears, the stadium will likely be used less and Chicago could see less tax revenue.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson telling reporters Monday, the Bears were offered an opportunity to build a new stadium inside the city limits, as a way to stay in Illinois.

“We had an entire press conference, with a proposal on the lakefront two years ago,” Mayor Johnson said in a news conference. “How do you have an entire proposal with the Bears, with the city of Chicago, with labor, with the notion that somehow the greatest, the most fruitful, economic viable prime real estate anywhere in the state, anywhere in the region is somehow not suited?”

Mayor Brandon Johnson opposes efforts to move Chicago Bears outside city limits (City of Chicago).

There’s another proposed site on the table. Illinois lawmakers in the House have advanced House Bill 910, which would lock in property tax rates at the former Arlington Racetrack, in Arlington Heights about 30 miles from Soldier Field. The Bears already own the land, but the bill is still in its early stages and already has some critics.

“It would shift [tax] liability directly onto homeowners and small businesses,” said Brian Costin, deputy state director of the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, in a statement to Military.com. “It could double or triple the effective property tax rates over the next few decades.”

For now, the Bears have not made a commitment to move to Indiana or stay in Illinois.

The Bears said in a statement, “Indiana has taken important steps over the last few months, and we are grateful for the leadership reflected by Governor Braun signing SB 27 establishing the framework for a stadium development in Northwest Indiana. We continue to work on the necessary due diligence and appreciate the .”ongoing engagement with Indiana state and local leaders.”

The team also addressed Illinois efforts to keep the team from leaving Soldier Field or Illinois altogether.

Future of Chicago’s Soldier Field uncertain as NFL’s Chicago Bears consider moving (ChicagoBears.com).

“We recognize and appreciate the advancement of mega project legislation by the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee,” said the statement from the Bears. “We look forward to continued engagement as the lawmakers determine the legislative path forward.”

In Indiana, Governor Braun hopes the better deal will be for the Bears to abandon Soldier Field for new digs across the Illinois border, in Hammond.

“We’ve identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond and established a broad framework for negotiating a final deal,” Braun said in a statement obtained by Military.com. “We have built a strong relationship with the Bears organization that will serve as the foundation for a public-private partnership, leading to the construction of a world-class stadium and a win for taxpayers.”

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