Tonight begins girls basketball sectional play across the state of Indiana. In this section, I will discuss 3A sectional 20. ANEC schools Fairfield, l Lakeland, and West Noble are mentioned in this preview.
3A 20 @ West Noble
Sectional Titles
NorthWood 25 (2020)
Wawasee 13 (2011)
Fairfield 6 (2023)
Lakeland 4 (2021)
West Noble 3 (2022)
Sectional Analysis
With a record of 57-56, this 5-team sectional is pretty top-heavy when considering who’s in this field. On paper, we project a 3-horse race between Fairfield, Wawasee, and NorthWood.
This sectional has the defending 3A State Champions Fairfield (21-3) who won the NECC regular season title despite graduation and a new head coach in Kyle Hartman. Fairfield’s identity however remains the same. They want to be one of the best defensive teams in the state, and their zone defense causes a lot of issues especially when teams can’t make their shots.
Fairfield has a solid variety of guards led by the talented sophomore forward who averages nearly 12 points per game and senior point guard Kaylee Dillon who is averaging just under 10 points per game with both guards having state championship experience. The one player to really watch is freshman center Madison Jones, and she might be the x-factor in Fairfield’s playoff chances because in her last 2 games she is averaging 19.5 points per game including a 25-piece against Bethany Christian.
However, they’ll be challenged to see whether this team can sustain some of their offensive success from the regular season, thanks to other teams have success on defense. Fairfield will await the winner of tonight’s matchup between West Noble (2-20) and Wawasee (13-9). While Alexia Mast is having a great senior season, the Chargers on paper have a tough matchup with the hard-working and athletic Wawasee Warriors.
Wawasee is a team full of scrappy and tough athletes that can make plays and doing so by being tough defensively. They’re not particularly the biggest team in this sectional nor are they the most explosive team, but they have their own recipe of success. Junior Mackenzie Hackleman is the engine on this Wawasee offense and defense averaging 11.2 points, 4.4 boards, 2.2 assists, 4 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 26% from 3 as their leader in 3-point field goals.
Other players such as Olivia Horn, Kaydence Shepherd, and Ava Couture will all play a role in their success, and that includes finding a way to take down the defending state champs.
Some might argue that the “Black Swish” aka NorthWood (17-6) might honestly be the biggest threat in this entire sectional, which they have come a long way from that 2-year rebuilding phase from 2020-2022. NorthWood’s identity is simple: They want to dominate the paint and doing so with their physicality. That helped them take down Fairfield in the regular season 36-21.
As a team, the Black Swish averages over 30 boards per game led by their athletic big in junior Claire Payne who is averaging 10.1 points, 10.8 boards, and 1.5 blocks per game on 43% shooting. But that’s not all they have. This team shoots 28% from 3 with 4 girls: Senior Joselyn Edwards, freshman Kinzie Hartman, junior Haylee Heflin, and freshman Addie Davis all shooting 30% or better from 3. If the Panthers can dominate the paint and open up shots for their shooters, we could have a new state champion in 2024 (and I’m not saying that just for NorthWood).
Final Thoughts
Despite NorthWood’s best attempts and having success against Fairfield in the regular season, it’s going to be a lot harder to beat the defending champs in the sectional tournament. Wawasee should cruise to the semifinal game against Fairfield, which makes this interesting knowing the history of that rivalry.
NorthWood is too much for the scrappy West Noble Chargers, so expect the Black Swish in the title game. I project an all-Elkhart County sectional final where the Lady Falcons hang on and avenge their regular season loss. But I think NorthWood’s size gives Fairfield all kinds of trouble.
Around the NorthEast Corner 