Rochester gets a bye as sectional brackets unveiled

On Sunday, the Indiana High School Athletic Association released the sectional pairings for the 116^th Annual Boys Basketball State Tournament.

Sectional games begin on March 3 with sectional champions determined on March 7.

Regional championship games in the four classes are scheduled for March 14. The semi-state games follow on March 21.

The four state championship games will take place on March 28 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

2A Sectional 38 at Manchester

Rochester received a bye to move straight through to the Friday semifinal round. The Zebras (8-11) will play the winner of Eastern (Greentown) (14-8) vs Wabash (5-16).

Rochester is 1-2 against the sectional field with a win against Wabash in TRC play and losses to Lewis Cass and Manchester, each by four points.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Manchester (10-10) will host second-ranked Oak Hill (19-1) in the late game quarterfinal on Tuesday. The winner will play Lewis Cass (13-7) in the other Friday semifinal.

1A Sectional 50 at Caston

An eight-team field will feature a pair of quarterfinals on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two winners each night will meet in the semifinals.

South Newton (9-13) vs Tri-County (11-1) will open the tournament Tuesday followed by North Newton (6-16) vs 9^th-ranked West Central (15-3).

On Wednesday, Caston (14-6) will play North White (3-19). On February 5, Caston dominated North White, 66-11.

The second Wednesday quarterfinal pits 12^th-ranked Demotte Christan (17-4) against Pioneer (7-14)

1A Sectional 51 at Culver

Triton (17-3) won the North Judson sectional last season on the way to a semi-state semifinal appearance.

The 6^th-ranked Trojans will play Trinity Academy (7-12) Tuesday in the opening game at Culver Community. Two three-win teams meet in the second quarterfinal with Oregon-Davis against Argos.

On Wednesday, South Central (Union Mills) (18-5) is pitted against Elkhart Christian (8-13) followed by Culver (8-13) and North Judson (7-15) in the final quarterfinal.

3A Sectional 20 at Columbia City

A six-team field includes Tippecanoe Valley in Tuesday’s late-game quarterfinal. The Vikings (9-12) will play Wawasee (15-8).

The game would have pitted Wabash coach Joe Luce against the school he just left. However, Wawasee Athletic Director Brent Doty announced earlier this month that Luce would no longer be the Wawasee boys basketball coach. No information was released as to what led to the change.

Assistant Coach Nate O’Connell accepted the position as the replacement. O’Connell began his career with Wawasee in 2008.

The winner of that game will move to the Friday semifinal to play NorthWood (12-11)

The winner of Columbia City (17-4) vs West Noble (5-15) will play 8^th-ranked Fairfield (15-3) in the other semifinal.