The rematches are set.
The girls basketball sectional tournament pairings were announced by the Indiana High School Athletic Association on Monday night with an interesting affair on the first evening of competition.
In the Class 2A Sectional at Union County, the host Patriots drew defending champ Hagerstown in the opener on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
“We are thrilled to be hosting this year,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said. Hopefully, it’s an advantage for us and we can make a tournament run.”
The Patriots had the home-court advantage earlier this season as they beat Hagerstown 45-33 in Liberty on Dec. 9.
“We are looking forward to a rematch of last year’s finals,” Hagerstown Head Coach Chris Oliger said of his team’s 32-24 win over Union County in the 2015 title contest. “It should be an awesome sectional to watch.”
The Hagerstown-Union County game is at 6 p.m. Tuesday’s second contest features Northeastern (2-18) and Centerville (4-13) at 7:30 p.m. Centerville won the previous contest against the Knights 39-25 on Dec. 9.
The semifinals are on Friday. The Union County-Hagerstown winner meets Lincoln (10-10) at 6 p.m., while Winchester (11-11) faces the Centerville-Northeastern winner at 7:30 p.m.
The championship is slated for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Class 1A Sectional
Union City owns the top record in the six-team field that will gather at Randolph Southern for a Class 1A Sectional.
The Indians (16-4) play Blue River (10-12) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“We are prepared to do what we need to do in order to win a sectional,” Union City Head Coach Sarah Hines said. “Regardless of who we are playing, we have to play our best basketball every night.”
Union City defeated the Vikings 55-37 on Dec. 29.
The second game has Tri (14-6) and the host Rebels (10-9) meeting at 7:30 p.m. Randolph Southern beat Tri 40-30 on Dec. 9.
The Union City-Blue River winner takes on Seton (8-14) in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. Defending champion Union (15-5) gets the Tri-Randolph Southern winner in the second game at 7:30 p.m.
The winners meet on Saturday for the title at 7:30 p.m.
Tri-Eastern Conference
Girls Basketball Sectional Championships
Winchester (14) – 1977, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.
Hagerstown (5) – 1993, 1994, 1995, 2009, 2015.
Tri (5) – 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014.
Northeastern (5) – 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011.
Union City (5) – 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.
Lincoln (3) – 1983, 2004, 2005.
Centerville (1) – 2012.
Union County (1) – 2006.