BOUNCE: Winners and losers from Sunday’s girls basketball Sectional draw

***Norwell’s Maiah Shelton drives to the basket during a December 12 game against Garrett.***

You know how it goes, the Sectional draw is always a mixed bag.

Does it mean we need seeding? Who does that seeding? Is it a committee or coaches or Sagarin ratings or do you let Bounce do it? The argument will always exist.

So that plays a part in my approach today. Random draw, when it messes up the ultimate goal of having the to best teams playing for a title Saturday night can make teams losers and also winners in the draw. There are other factors too. Maybe a draw is just an overall no win situation for you. Whatever the case, here are Bounce’s top winners and losers from Sunday’s Sectional draw ahead of games starting on February 2.

THE WINNERS

BLUFFTON

The Tigers have won this Sectional two of the past three seasons and been to the finals each of those years. Getting a bye in a seven team Sectional is always favorable so that is already big news even though the Tigers don’t get to host this year. The draw favors them considerably as they start in Friday’s semi final game against the winner of Churubusco and Whitko who are a combined 7-32 heading into the last week of the regular season that includes a Whitko/Bluffton game on January 28. Both of those two teams are building with some young cores while the Tigers have Sectional battle tested players. Emme Boots has never not been to a Sectional final in her career, starting in three of them in a row, and that isn’t something that anyone else in this Sectional can claim.

GARRETT

You can’t ask for a better draw in a top heavy Sectional than what the Railroaders are getting at home. They will face Leo, a team they beat by 26 points, to open things up and then look at a Friday semi final against a Woodlan team they have also beaten. That was a six point game, but it was the season opener and the teams have taken pretty different paths since then. The big win for Garrett: they don’t have to see somewhat rival Angola or a really underrated Concordia until possibly the title game. The draw means it is likely we get two of the top two teams in the final, which makes us all happy but its an easier route for Garrett.

NORWELL

This isn’t a very strong Sectional overall with just Norwell and Bellmont holding winning records. So overall, the Knights were going to be considered winners. But, we all know when the Knights and Bellmont meet, all bets are off. Norwell has had a better season but they just edged out Bellmont in their regular season meeting. A possible final between those two could be close, so Norwell has to be very happy that they will not see the Squaws until a possible final and one held in The Castle.

SNIDER

At this point, it would be just wild to bet against Carroll in their Class 4A Sectional. They’ve won it four straight years and are the top team in the area right now, regardless of class. But if someone could shake things up in this Sectional, it is the young and hungry Panthers. Snider not only gets a bye straight to Friday’s semi final, but they are on the other side of the bracket from Carroll. I’m not giving the Panthers anything at this point but they have to be happy with not only being one win from a title game but for Carroll to be on the other side of the bracket.

THE LOSERS

LAKEWOOD PARK

Well Bethany Christian made out like a bandit in Sectional 51 but it puts Lakewood Park and Blackhawk Christian, possibly the two favorites, against each other in the opening round on the other side of the bracket. Why does this hurt Lakewood Park more? The Panthers just had a fantastic win over Blackhawk Christian this past Saturday night. The last thing you want is to have to bounce back and play the defending Sectional champion again immediately. Neither LP or BC are winners here, but Lakewood Park has the unenviable task of trying to beat the same team twice in 10 days and that is never easy.

CLASS 3A NECC TEAMS NOT NAMED GARRETT

While Garrett got a good draw, none of their fellow NECC teams in Class 3A did. We look at Angola first and they have to face a Concordia team that is very battle tested in the opening round. How dangerous is Concordia to the Hornets? They upset them and eliminated them last season in the Sectional round.

Sectional 20 has three NECC teams and they have to be considered the best three teams in this Sectional. But they have to cannibalize each other on one side of the bracket. Central Noble and Lakeland play on Tuesday with the winner facing West Noble. These three teams are all playing really good basketball right now and it would be ideal to see two of them face off with a title on the line. Unfortunately, the draw puts them all against each other and that is far from ideal for us as viewers or these three programs.

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