Six Takeaways From the First Round of Sectionals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Half of the teams in the state of Indiana have officially seen their season come to an end. The opening round of Sectional play took place on Tuesday and Wednesday night for the beginning of the annual IHSAA State Tournament. Let's take a look back at 10 of the top takeaways from round one of Sectional action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Down goes Carmel. For the second straight season the Greyhounds fell to Westfield in Sectional 8. Despite leading at 10 points at the half, Carmel let it slip away 43-40. Unsigned senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1410467' first='Alex' last='Romack'] scored a game-high 20 points for Westfield including 13 during the second half comeback. The 16-7 Shamrocks will now play 17-6 Noblesville in the semifinals on Friday night.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>All four #1 ranked teams advance. With the blind draw of the Indiana High School Basketball state tournament it isn't always easy for the #1 team in the state to advance. However, each classes top ranked team survived to the semifinal round of sectional play. Class 4A Ben Davis remained undefeated moving to 27-0 with a 62-46 win over Southport. In Class 3A, Northwood made quick work of Wawasee winning 52-23. At the Class 2A level, Linton-Stockton was matched up with a good Paoli team but won 72-48. Finally, in Class 1A, Bloomfield took down Clay City 65-52.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='1297052' first='Jalen' last='Haralson'] is a STAR. For those that follow Indiana High School Basketball this isn't exactly breaking news. However, seeing a sophomore pour in 33 points in the first round of the stat tournament is extremely impressive. That is especially true when you consider it was a rematch of the Mudsock rivalry with Fishers defeating Hamilton Southeastern 68-49. Haralson, Indiana's top prospect in the Class of 2025, is back in action on Friday night against Zionsville in Sectional 8 at Carmel.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Upsets occur. One of the best things about the month of March is tournament basketball and the upsets that come along with it. Some of the top opening round upsets included John Glenn over Tippecanoe Valley, North Posey over South Spencer, and Lawrenceburg over Connersville. Those were all #10 teams in their respective classes that fell in round one.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Favorites survive. A couple of top teams survived major scares in round one. Jennings County took their first lead of the game in the final seconds to escape with a 72-71 win in overtime against Bedford North Lawrence. Similarly, Norwell needed overtime to survive and defeat Northwestern 49-45. Both teams turn around and have tough tests on Saturday as well playing Jeffersonville and Maconaquah respectively.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lawrence North made a statement to Sectional 10. The Wildcats turned some heads with a 91-75 opening round win against rival North Central on Wednesday night. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1158213' first='Kobi' last='Bowles'] poured in 30 points while sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1296979' first='Azavier' last='Robinson'] finished with an impressive 24 points and 19 rebounds. They will take on 17-7 Crispus Attucks on Friday evening at Warren Central.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list -->