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Indiana girls basketball state tournament celebrates its golden year

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby:Lawrence Fernandez•about 24 hours•

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Indiana High School Football Logo
© Leah Klafczynski/For IndyStar

The Indiana girls basketball state tournament reaches a monumental milestone by celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Then and now, this competition celebrates the state’s top talent, some of them eventually playing in the pro leagues.

The state’s professional basketball teams, the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever will be co-presenters of this prestigious state tournament. For this year’s schedule, the Sectionals for all four classes will happen from February 4 to 8.

Meanwhile, the Regionals will occur on February 15, while the Semi-State games will be on the 22nd. Finally, the four state championship games will be on March 1 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Pacers and Fever.

The IHSAA conducted the draw for the Sectionals via a lottery-style air mix machine. Each ping-pong ball inside the machine represented one team, with the first ball loaded in the transparent container being the visiting team. This system is in effect after identifying all 64 Sectionals and 16 Regionals pairings.

For 2025, 391 schools will be participating throughout Indiana girls basketball’s four competitive divisions. That number includes 82 teams in Class 4A, 98 in 3A, 99 in 2A, and 112 in 1A. While all teams have a shot at winning a state championship, the defending titleholders will attract more attention.

Lawrence Central won last season’s Class 4A title, while Gibson Southern defeated Evansville North in Class 3A, and Fort Wayne Bishop Luers defeated Adams Central for the 2A state crown. Finally, Lanesville defeated Salem for the Class 1A championship.

This year, Lawrence Central remains a formidable foe as they are in second place in the Indiana On3 Composite Team Rankings. They’ve lost only one game all season, a 52-50 contest against Hamilton Southeastern.

You can view the Indiana girls basketball Sectionals pairings and schedule by clicking this link. This document also contains the state records established over the tournament’s 50-year history.