Southern Indiana Sports Network
On May 3rd 2022, IHSAA released the realignments for the 2022/2023 season. In this article we’re going to focus on the IHSAA sectional changes for Basketball and Football in Southern Indiana. We’ve been waiting for this update, and now we can all start speculating who we think is going to win each sectional. The upcoming 2022/2023 season is going to be fun, and we like all the changes that were made. We’ll start it off with IHSAA Football for 2022.
IHSAA Football Sectional Realignments
There are 32 schools in the 6A Category, but none of those schools were considered a part of our coverage area. These 6A schools are some large, mostly Indianapolis area schools. Although exciting, we’ll allow the other media agencies to cover the 6A changes. Or you can see for yourself if you click this link to the IHSAA website.
5A Football Changes
There are also 32 schools in the 5A football class. We’ll be covering only Sectional 15. This year Sectional 15 will have 4 schools: Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Columbus East, and Seymour. Previously Castle and Evansville North played in sectional 15, but they will move further south and play in Sectional 16 playing against Floyd Central and New Albany.
Columbus East is moving to play with the Bloomington area schools. We like this change as its really closing the gap teams must travel to play each other. These schools are all in within 45 minutes of our local area, and I’m sure they’re no stranger to one another.
Last year, Bloomington South won this sectional, and we look them to repeat on that championship regardless of the new teams added in.
4A Football Changes
There will be 63 schools in 4A football this upcoming season. We have chosen to cover Sectional 23 and 24.
In sectional 23, Bedford North Lawrence moves down from 5A, to join other newcomers to 23 Edgewood and Shelbyville. Madison Consolidated, Mooresville, and South Dearborn all move on, with Madison moving down to 3A. Edgewood is moving up from 3A. Remaining in Sectional 24 are East Central, Greenwood, Jennings County, Martinsville, and Silver Creek.
East Central won this sectional last year, and we’ll carry on with the trend and say that they continue to go with their success.
In sectional 24, there are only two major changes. Evansville Bosse moves up from 3A while Northview moves on to sectional 21. Remaining in Sectional 34 are Boonville, Evansville Central, Evansville Reitz, Evansville Harrison, Evansville Memorial, and Jasper.
We don’t typically follow these schools from Evansville, but Memorial and Reitz will continue to be the favorites of this sectional.
3A Football Changes
64 schools will play in the 3A IHSAA football class in 2022. We will be covering Sectionals 30, 31 and 32.
Sectional 30 sees the additions of Gibson Southern, Mt. Vernon, West Vigo. Brown County, Edgewood and Sullivan are all moving to different classes. Remaining schools in Sectional 30 are Owen Valley, Pike Central, Princeton Community, Vincennes Lincoln, and Washington.
Edgewood moves up to 4A, while Brown County and Sullivan move down to 2A in different sectionals. Vincennes Lincoln and Owen Valley played in the Sectional Championship last season with Owen Valley pulling out the win. Can they repeat with the new teams?
Sectional 31 has newcomers Centerville, Indian Creek and South Dearborn. Brownstown Central moves down to 2A, while Charlestown and Scottsburg move to Sectional 32 together. South Dearborn drops down from 4A. Remaining teams in Sectional 31 are Batesville, Franklin County, Greensburg, Lawrenceburg, and Rushville.
Lawrenceburg and Brownstown played in the championship last year, and with the Braves out of the picture, Lawrenceburg will continue to be the favorite, regardless of South Dearborn coming down from 4A.
In Sectional 32, Charlestown, Madison Consolidated, and Scottsburg join, while Evansville Bosse, Gibson Southern, and Mount Vernon move on to other sectionals. Remaining teams in Sectional 32 are Corydon Central, Heritage Hills, North Harrison, Salem, and Southridge.
Gibson Southern stomped through the competition last season, which will leave the door open for a new team to win the sectional.
2A Football Changes
63 teams will be playing in 2A next season. We will be covering Sectionals 37, 39, and 40.
There are 4 teams coming into sectional 37, including Greencastle, Linton-Stockton, North Knox, and Sullivan. Monrovia, Speedway, and Western Boone are moving up to 3A, while Seeger moves to sectional 34. Remaining in sectional 37 are Cascade, North Putnam, South Vermillion, Southmont.
This will be a tough sectional will all the new teams entering, but we think Linton will prove to be the powerhouse they always are and shine in their new sectional.
In Sectional 39, Brown County, Brownstown Central, Christal House, and Indianapolis Scecina Memorial, will join Clarksville, Eastern Pekin, Switzerland County, and Triton Central in a very difficult sectional. Mitchell and Paoli will be moving together to sectional 40. While Providence drops to 1A and Union County moves to sectional 38.
Paoli and Triton Central battled it out for the win in this sectional last year, with Triton nearly getting the win. Triton will still be a heavy contender in this sectional, but we think that Brownstown Central is the favorite for 2022.
Sectional 40 will be one we will be following all year, as we have agreed to cover every Paoli game for the 2022 season. Mitchell, Paoli and Perry Central are newcomers to Sectional 40. Linton and North Knox are moving to sectional 37 while South Spencer is dropping down to 1A to Sectional 48. Remaining teams in Sectional 40 are Crawford County, Evansville Mater Dei, Forest Park, North Pose, and Tell City.
Evansville Mater Dei topped Triton Central in the Regional Round and will most likely make the Sectional Championship game as well. We believe they will face the newcomers Paoli Rams for an absolute battle.
1A Football Changes
63 Schools will be playing in the 1A IHSAA football class. We will be covering Sectionals 46, 47 and 48.
Sectional 46 is basically an entirely new Sectional, with only Edinburgh remaining from the old schools. Joining them will be Cambridge City Lincoln, Knightstown, Milan, North Decatur, Oldenburg Academy, South Decatur and Tri.
We’re going to go on a limb here and say that Tri will be the favorites in this football sectional.
Sectional 47 is completely new with no schools returning from the previous year. This year the Sectional will include: Cloverdale, Covenant Christian, Dugger Union, Indianapolis Lutheran, North Central, Parke Heritage, Riverton Park, and South Putnam.
We’re picking Parke Heritage as the favorite in IHSAA Sectional 47.
Sectional 48 is another one we’ll have our eyes on the most. Newcomers next year will be Providence and South Spencer. They will be joining Eastern Greene, North Daviess, Rock Creek Academy, Springs Valley, Tecumseh, and West Washington.
We believe that Springs Valley Blackhawks will be the winner of the championship in Sectional 48 in 2022.
Now onto Basketball
4A Basketball Changes
There are only 4 Classes in IHSAA Indiana high school basketball. In 4A we will cover sectionals 13, 14, 15, and 16. In 3A, Sectionals 29, 30, 31, and 32. In 2A, Sectionals 46, 47, and 48. And lastly, in 1A we will cover Sectionals 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64.
IHSAA 4A Sectional 13
In sectional 13, there are 4 newcomers: Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Martinsville, and Mooresville. Teams moving on are: Franklin Central, Franklin Community, Shelbyville and Whiteland. The teams remaining in Sectional 13 are Center Grove and Greenwood.
This will be an exciting sectional come 2023, and we think Bloomington North will come out as Sectional Champs behind the strong play from IU recruit PF Roberts.
IHSAA 4A Sectional 14
Franklin Community, Shelbyville, and Whiteland will be moving from sectional 13 into 14, joining Columbus East, Columbus North, and East Central. We’re picking one of the Columbus teams to win this sectional.
IHSAA 4A Sectional 15
Sectional 15 remains unchanged this year with the following teams: Bedford North Lawrence, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, Jennings County, New Albany, Seymour. We believe Floyd Central continues to be the favorites in this sectional after winning the championship game last year against Jeffersonville with a score of 77-35.
IHSAA 4A Sectional 16
Sectional 16 also remains unchanged with the following schools still playing: Castle, Evansville Central, Evansville F.J. Reitz, Evansville Harrison, Evansville North, Jasper. Evansville North won this sectional last year with a score of 63-49 over Harrison. Next year it could be anyone’s.
3A Basketball Changes
IHSAA 3A Sectional 29 and 30
Sectionals 29 and 30 also remain unchanged next year with the following teams playing in each.
29. (7): Batesville, Connersville, Franklin County, Greensburg, Lawrenceburg, Rushville Consolidated, South Dearborn
30. (7): Charlestown, Corydon Central, Madison Consolidated, North Harrison, Salem, Scottsburg, Silver Creek
North Harrison and Silver Creek has a lot of chatter from the last season. We also see Lawrenceburg being a favorite in 29.
IHSAA 3A Sectional 31
Sectional 31 features one of the biggest moves of the season, with North Daviess jumping 2 classes from 1A to 3A. They are also joined with fellow newcomers Heritage Hills and Southridge. Southridge moves up from 2A, and is a very good program, while Sullivan moves down to 2A. Schools that remain in this sectional are Pike Central, Princeton Community, Vincennes Lincoln, and Washington.
North Daviess made big news moving up to 3A. Their main hopes with this move was to play in the Hatchet House in Washington, and it looks like they’ll get their chance to fill up those stands come off season. With the new teams arrivals, this just become one of the most exciting sectionals for 2023.
I’m going to ruffle some feathers and say that the two new smaller schools will play in the championship. Those two schools being North Daviess and Southridge, with North Daviess taking the win in a 3A environment. We’ve seen North Daviess play the larger, tougher schools, and they can perform with any of them. Especially with them only losing two seniors. Keep your eyes on this sectional.
IHSAA 3A Sectional 32
Evansville Mater Dei will be the only new face in this sectional, with Mater Dei moving up from 2A. They will face off with Boonville, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Reitz Memorial, Gibson Southern, and Mt. Vernon. Heritage Hills moves to sectional 31. This is another Sectional that will be hard to pick. Last year, Bosse won over Memorial with a score of 66-63. Any of these schools could walk away with the win next year.
2A Basketball Changes
IHSAA 2A Sectional 46
Sectional 46 has probably one of the most exciting teams coming down from 3A. Brownstown Central, featuring future Mr. Indiana Jack Benter, will win this sectional and most likely go on to win State as well. Yes, I’m calling it here that Brownstown Central will be Class 2A Indiana State Champs next year.
Brownstown is also joined by newcomers Austin, Clarksville, Henryville, Providence, and Southwestern (Hanover). All these new teams, besides Brownstown, are coming over from Sectional 45. The only original team from sectional 46 is Eastern (Pekin). As we said, Brownstown runs away with this sectional.
IHSAA 2A Sectional 47
Paoli and Sullivan will be the new faces in Sectional 47, joining Eastern Greene, Linton, Mitchel, North Knox, and South Knox. Sullivan is moving down from 3A, while Paoli comes by way of Sectional 46. This will be another loaded sectional, but Linton is our favorite behind the strong shooting of Joey Hart Jr. and a well coach Linton team.
IHSAA 2A Sectional 48
In Sectional 48 we will see Crawford County, Perry Central and Tell City joining Forest Park, North Pose and South Spencer. Mater Dei is moving on to 3A while Tecumseh drops to 1A. We are picking Forest Park as our favorites in this sectional as they earn a second Regional trip in 2 years.
1A Basketball Changes
IHSAA 1A Sectional 60
Edinburgh and South Decatur will be the new faces in sectional 60. Hauser is moving up to 2A, Rising Sun and Edinburgh switch spots from Sectional 62, and South Decatur drops down from 2A. Remaining teams in sectional 60 are Jac-Cen-Del, Morristown, Oldenburg academy, Southwestern (Shelbyvile) and Waldron.
We predict an great matchup between Edinburgh and Jac-Cen-Del in the final contest of the Sectionals.
IHSAA 1A Sectional 61
West Washington is the sole new comer to Sectional 61, while New Washington moves on to Sectional 62. Remaining teams are Borden, Christian Academy, Lanesville, Rock Creek Academy, and South Central (Elizabeth).
We see Borden remaining the favorite from this Sectional.
IHSAA 1A Sectional 62
In Sectional 62 the new faces are New Washington and Rising Sun with Edinburgh leaving. Remaining are Crothersville, Medora, Shawe Memorial and Trinity Lutheran. Honestly, with Edinburgh leaving this sectionals, I’m not really sure who the favorites will be. Perhaps Rising Sun?
IHSAA 1A Sectional 63
Sectional 63 has been touted as one of the best Sectionals in state for many years now. And rightfully so. There has been a lot of championships to come out of this sectional, including last years 1A champs the North Daviess Cougars, who moved all the way up to 3A.
Next year, we’ll see two new faces to replace the Cougars. We predicted that Springs Valley would move into this sectional, and they did, as well as Vincennes Rivet who also played with the Blackhawks in sectional 64.
Sectional 64 is traditionally won by someone around the Loogootee area, but next season we think it’s going to be someone from Orange County. I’ve said all post season that Orleans was going to win 63 next, but that Springs Valley team is also going to be loaded with talent. Valley will have one of the most athletic teams around Southern Indiana, if they can finish, they’ll be hard to beat. We’ve already seen what Orleans can do after they took down Loogootee last year. I think this Sectional remains one of the best around, but we’re going to see a new face take the mantle.
Its too bad North Daviess couldn’t come back to protect their crown!
IHSAA 1A Sectional 64
Sectional 64 is the last sectional we’re covering changes on for Southern Indiana. This sectional will feature new faces in Evansville Christian who is achieves class status, and Tecumseh who comes down from 2A. Remaining are Cannelton, Evansville Day, Northeast Dubois, and Wood Memorial. We’ll be giving the favorite to Evansville Day next season.
That wraps up our coverage of all the changes from the IHSAA realignment for the 2022/2023 Indiana High School Football and Basketball seasons. These changes will bring a lot of fun to the game, and hopefully a lot less traveling for the teams across the state. Let us know what you think of our predictions and our coverage. Please like and share our post. Thank you for following us.
Stay tuned this week as we release our first podcast, featuring an interview with 1A State Champion North Daviess Head Coach Brent Dalrymple.
Complete changes can be found at the link below at the IHSAA site.
https://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/ihsaa/documents/news%20media/2021-22/050322.SectionalAssignments.pdf
