INDIANAPOLIS - East Central, Lawrenceburg and South Dearborn all drew opening game assignments - the latter two against each other - in Sunday night's IHSAA Boys Basketball state tournament draw.
East Central's Trojans, currently 12-9, face the thankless task of taking on Class 4A Sectional 14 host and pre-tourney favorite Bloomington South (18-4) in what's likely to be a 6 p.m. tipoff next Tuesday night, March 2. EC fell to the perennial-tough Panthers 74-48 in last year's title game.
Statewide sectional pairings were posted Sunday night on the ihsaa.org website, with exact game times to follow with the posting of brackets over the next couple of days.
Also next Tuesday night, in the Class 3A Sectional 29 single-game opener at Greensburg, South Dearborn's Knights (9-11) get a chance for revenge against EIAC and county rival Lawrenceburg (11-10) for last Friday's 58-55 overtime win by the Tigers.
Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference champion Connersville (14-7, 7-0), coached by Kerry Brown, is a split decision as the 3A pre-tourney favorite, with host Greensburg (15-3), primed to defend its 2020 championship.
That's where the season ended a year ago, with the IHSAA canceling the entire state tournament just before the regional round due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 399 teams were drawn Sunday and placed into brackets for the 111th annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament, presented by the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever.
Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 2, and run through Saturday, March 6. The 4-team regional round is slated for Saturday, March 13, with all 3 games played that day
Single-game semistates championship are to follow on Saturday, March 20.
Due to a conflict with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, all of which will be played in the Hoosier State this year, the four class division state championship games that make up the state finals will be played, two weeks later, on Saturday, April 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
IHSAA BOYS
BASKETBALL
SECTIONALS
March 2-6
(Times TBA)
CLASS 4A Sectional 14
At Bloomington South
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
G1: Bloomington South vs. EAST CENTRAL
G2: Bloomington North vs. Columbus North
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
G3: Martinsville vs. Winner Game 1
G4: Columbus East vs. Winner Game 2
SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Championship
CLASS 3A Sectional 29
At Greensburg
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
G1: SOUTH DEARBORN vs. LAWRENCEBURG
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
G2: Franklin County vs. Batesville
G3: Greensburg vs. Rushville
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
G4: Connersville vs. Winner Game 1
G5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Championship
CLASS 2A Sectional 44
At Milan
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
G1: South Ripley vs. North Decatur
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
G2: Milan vs. Triton Central
G3: South Decatur vs. Winner Game 1
SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Championship
CLASS 2A Sectional 45
At Southwestern (Hanover)
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
G1: Southwestern (Hanover) vs. Switzerland Co.
G2: Austin vs. Providence
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
G3: Henryville vs. Winner Game 1
G4: Clarksville vs. Winner Game 2
SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Championship
CLASS A Sectional 60
At Southwestern (Shelby)
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
G1: Oldenburg Academy vs. Morristown
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
G2: Waldron vs. RISING SUN
G3: Hauser vs. Southwestern (Shelby)
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
G4: Jac-Cen-Del vs. Winner Game 1
G5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3
SATURDAY, MARCH 6
Championship
