LAKEVILLE - The Indiana High School Athletic Association is set to open the 51st edition of Hoosier Hysteria! LaVille Jr-Sr High School will play host to the Class 2A Sectional #34 at Dale E Cox Gymnasium beginning Tuesday, February 3. In the Tuesday 6pm opener, Career Academy will face Winamac. The nightcap features Knox against INSC rival Jimtown. Tuesday winners will advance to Friday's semifinals.  The game one winner is scheduled to face host LaVille at 6pm, while Tuesday's game two winner meets Bremen immediately following. There are 393 teams entered for the 51st Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournamentpresented by the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers. Sectional champions will be crowned on Saturday, Feb. 7 in 64 title games statewide.The regional is a single-game championship set for Saturday, Feb. 14, and the semi-state a two-game affair with the winner advancing to the state championship game.Two regional championship games will be played back-to-back at the same site with the winnersfinding out their next opponent and host site the following day. The semi-state games – scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21 - will be randomly drawn live and announced in a special pairings show viaIHSAAtv.org.The four state championship games that make up the State Finals will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse – the home of the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers - in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 28 At LaVille, the Class 2A #7 Bremen Lions are the heavy favorite.  Coach Alex Robinson's club has won six games against teams with a .500 record or better and a 20-2 overall record.  Bremen's 2025-26 season was the best regular season by win percentage in program history. They also won the 2026 everwise Bi-County Tournament Championship, the Lions' second in a row, and are looking to three-peat in the sectional round of state tournament.Bremen will face either Knox or Jimtown, both INSC foes. The Lions beat each team by 38-plus points in the regular season. LaVille also drew a bye and awaits CASB or Winamac in the 6pm semifinal. Coach Nicholas Amor's Lancer squad did not play either the Trailblazers or the Warriors this season. It has been a couple years since LHS last played either Career Academy or Winamac. QUARTERFINAL #1 - Tip 6pm Career Academy (5-13) v. Winamac (17-6) Winamac enters sectional with a season-best five game winning streak. Coach Tony Stesiak's club rides into Lakeville with momentum following dominant wins, led by top scorer Kandace Kroft and rebounder Sadie Popejoy. The winner of Tuesday's game advances to play LaVille in the sectional semifinals on February 6 at 6pm. The Warriors have dominated this season, with nine victories by 20 points or more, including a recent 59-39 win against Twin Lakes.Among key players to watch for the Warriors are Kandace Kroft (Winamac), brings a 19.8 scoring average, along with 6.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 3.4 steals. She recently scored 30 points with 6 assists against Twin Lakes. Kroft has scored nearly 1,200 points in her career, has over 300 assists, and over 200 steals.  Sadie Popejoy adds 12.9 ppg and 7.1 rebounds per outing. Popejoy also recorded a double-double (13 points, 13 boards) in recent action.  Marissa Iveron chips in with 10.8 ppg and 8.3 boards.Career Academy The Trailblazers (4-10) have won two of its last four games, including a 48-24 win over Andrews Academy (Mich.), and are looking to improve upon a tough 54-26 loss to Jimtown on Jan. 27. QUARTERFINAL #2 - Tip 730pm Knox (7-15) v Jimtown (9-13)These two are no strangers to one another, playing in the Northern State Conference and now in the INSC.After spending time with the Knox boys' program, Rob Krueger is now guiding the Redskin girls' program. "It's been an interesting journey being a first-year coach on the girls side," said Krueger, who was 78-85 with the Knox boys in seven seasons.  "I've had a lot of experience on the boys side so it's been a really positive experience for me and I think the girls have really grown together as a group. I feel like right now we are playing our best basketball and carry that momentum into the sectional." Being conference rivals again, Knox and Jimtown met back on December 6 and played to a very competitive three-point contest - a 33-30 Knox victory. "It's been a while ago and there's been a lot of basketball that's taken place," Kreger said when asked about that early-December game. "You know we were just able to make a few more plays at the end of the game and we were able to capitalize on some mistakes they made and in a close game. You can pick out 3, 4, 5 different things that happen in that game and allow you to come out on top and we were fortunate at that point. I respect Jimtown a lot. Their coach does an excellent job." So what about this time, coach Krueger? "They have nice athleticism, they have length that will cause us problems and we are going to have our hands full," explained the Knox coach.  "In the tournament you never know, you can come out and shoot lights out and stay in a game that maybe you didn't before. Now on the flip side you look on paper and maybe they don't shoot the ball as well and it keeps the game close.  There are a lot of different things when you put the added pressure of if you lose and you are done to now that it's always interesting to see how players respond to that side." On the Jimtown side veteran coach Shaunte Calhoun has helped a young Jimmie team not improve in the win-column, but grow as a team. "It's been a few ups and downs for us this season," said Calhoun, who is in her sixth season in Baugo Township. "We started off great with our non-conference schedule and then INSC and we had to make some adjustments pretty quickly. Not just the INSC but that was when the schedule was a little bit tougher.  "I think our kids are playing really good basketball now. Our kids have made the adjustments that we needed to make. We just struggled to score and now we have been able to create some offense with defense recently and that has been exciting, but we have a young team. No seniors on the team, they are junior-led. They knew last year when they were 'young' everything they were doing was for the future. This year we are taking those steps, we have doubled our wins from last year, with still the opportunity to triple last year's wins. I feel like we are moving in the right direction." According to coach Calhoun, both teams played a great game the first time. "It was back and forth and we had pretty good control at the end, then we had some turnovers." Knox is led by Riley Taylor at 13.5 ppg and 2.0 steals per outing.  Jayla Patrick leads the Redskins in rebounds (6.3) and blocked shots. The Jimmies are led by a junior, freshman and sophomore to lead the team.  Kiera Jackson has scored in double figures 11 times and averages 10.0 points per outing.  Freshman Jordyn Williams kicks in 6.7 ppg and 4.4 rebounds, while sophomore Kamryn Williams chips in with 4.9 points and 4.8 boards. It's time for Hoosier Hysteria ... IHSAA Class 2A Sectional #34 At LaVille Quarterfinal #1 Teams: Career Academy (5-13) v Winamac (17-6) Site: Dale E Cox Gymnasium | Lakeville, IN. Tip: 6pm Coaches: Ja'Mare Washington, 9-29 in 2nd year at Career Academy. Tony Stesiak, 49-46 in 4th year at Winamac, 307-180 in 21st year overall Sagarin Ratings: Winamac, 61.77, 171st overall, 38th in 2A. Career Academy, 19.73, 369th overall, 93rd in 2A Last Outing: Career Academy defeated Andrews Academy (Mich.), 48-24. Winamac defeated Twin Lakes, 59-39 Series: No Meetings All-Time Tournament Series: No Meetings Strength of Schedule: CASB 376th | Winamac 295th  Offense: CASB 30.7 | Winamac 52.1  Defense: CASB 46.1 | Winamac 38.3 JH Prediction: Knox, 38-37 Quarterfinal #2 Teams: Knox (7-15) v Jimtown (9-13) Site: Dale E Cox Gymnasium | Lakeville, IN. Tip:730pm Coaches: Rob Krueger, 7-15 in 1st year at Knox. Shaunte Williams, 36-93 in 6th year at Jimtown Sagarin Ratings: Jimtown, 44.69, 276th overall, 64th in 2A. Knox, 43.33, 285th overall, 68th in 2A Last Outing: Knox defeated Argos, 33-24. Jimtown defeated South Bend Washington, 59-36 Series: Knox leads Jimtown, 9-8 Last Meeting: Knox def Jimtown, 33-30, Dec 6, 2025 All-Time Tournament Series: No Meetings Strength of Schedule: Knox 223rd | Jimtown 291st Offense: Knox 34.8 | Jimtown 30.5 Defense: Knox 47.7 | Jimtown 37.2 JH Prediction: Winamac, 67-17 CHANCES TO WIN SECTIONAL, per John Harrell Bremen 86.38% Winamac 10.04% LaVille 3.16% Knox .23% Jimtown .20%