GIRLS BASKETBALL // SCOUTING SATURDAY’S REGIONALS
Class 4A at Bedford North Lawrence
Center Grove (25-1) vs. Bedford North Lawrence (20-4)
Time: 1 p.m.
Players to watch: Center Grove — Audrey Annee, Lilly Bischoff, Aubrie Booker, Ava Grant, Rachel Wirts; BNL — Madisyn Bailey, Trinidy Bailey, Miley Sherrill, Chloe Spreen
Sagarin ratings: Center Grove 99.21 (first in Indiana and in Class 4A), BNL 93.35 (13th overall, 11th in 4A)
Outlook: The Trojans were widely expected to be facing a rematch with Jennings County, but the defending state champion Stars, who always seem to find a way to get to this point, pulled off a 43-39 upset of the Panthers in the sectional final after losing the regular-season meeting by double digits. BNL didn’t have a whole lot of scoring balance in that win — Madisyn Bailey poured in 24 points and likely Indiana All-Star Spreen had 16 — which could make the Stars a little bit easier to defend than a Center Grove team on which any of the five starters can go for double digits. The crowd in Bedford will be partisan, large and loud, and the Trojans are 0-4 against BNL in the postseason (including a 50-43 semistate loss last year), but if any CG team was built to end that drought, it’s this one.
Franklin (23-3) vs. Evansville North (16-10)
Time: 4 p.m.
Players to watch: Franklin — Erica Buening, Scarlett Kimbrell, Lauren Klem, Emma Sappenfield, Brooklyn York; Evansville North — Libby Blythe, Maddie Knies, Vanessa Nankwenya, Brooke Silva
Sagarin ratings: Franklin 94.87 (11th in Indiana, 10th in Class 4A), Evansville North 79.95 (57th overall, 36th in 4A)
Outlook: The Huskies weren’t expected to get this far, especially after closing the regular season with seven losses in a row, but they avenged regular-season defeats on consecutive nights to pull out a surprise sectional title. They will be a massive underdog against a senior-dominated Grizzly Cub team that has reached the regional four straight times and played for a state title two years ago, but for all of Franklin’s considerable talent and firepower — it’s the only team to beat Center Grove this season — it’s also been playing with fire so far this postseason, getting taken to the wire by Shelbyville and Whiteland teams that it had previously blown out. When the Grizzly Cubs are dialed in, they’re capable of beating anybody in Indiana … but will that be the version that shows up on Saturday?
Class 3A at Greencastle
Indian Creek (21-4) vs. Bishop Chatard (18-8)
Time: 4 p.m.
Players to watch: Indian Creek — Jasmine Day, Lauren Foster, Ayla Lollar, Lexi Sichting, Faith Wiseman; Chatard — Olivia Berzai, Anna Caskey, Addison Duncan, Betsy Tragesser
Sagarin ratings: Indian Creek 83.61 (43rd in Indiana and 10th in Class 3A), Chatard 78.23 (69th overall, 16th in 3A)
Outlook: These two teams are no strangers to one another, with the Trojans knocking the Braves out in a regional final two years ago and Creek returning the favor with a 76-47 smackdown in last year’s semistate semifinal. Chatard has proven its mettle in tight games, taking a pair of overtime victories and going 4-1 overall in one-possession contests, but can it keep this one close? Six-footers Caskey (11.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and Alyx Kendall will be tasked with slowing the IU-bound Wiseman inside. The Braves should get a lift from the return of Lollar, who has missed the last seven games with a fracture in her shooting arm; if the junior can be her usual effective self at both ends alongside Wiseman and Foster — currently the No. 6 girls scorer in county history with 1,765 career points — then this team will be hard to stop.
