Semi-State Preview: Class 1A
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The featured image is of Gracie Little Gracie Little 5'7" | CG Washington Township | 2025 State IN (2025) of Washington Township High School. Following an exciting round of Regional games Saturday afternoon and evening, the Semi-State fields are now…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Gracie Little Gracie Little 5'7" | CG Washington Township | 2025 State IN (2025) of Washington Township High School.
Following an exciting round of Regional games Saturday afternoon and evening, the Semi-State fields are now set. This season, the IHSAA decided to make the Regional a one-game affair to win a title, with two Regional championship games at the same host site, similar to past Semi-States. Therefore, there were two Regional winners at each site. The Semi-States are now four-team, three-game events tomorrow, where teams in each class must win twice to advance to the State Finals. Below is a look at the two Semi-State locations in Class 1A, one taking place in the North, and one taking place in the South.
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Frankfort Semi-State:
Game-1: Tri (25-1) vs. Tri-Central (12-13), 10:00 a.m. ET
Game-2: Bethany Christian (22-3) vs. Washington Township (20-6), 12:00 p.m. ET
Game-3: Winner Game-1 vs. Winner Game-2, 8:00 p.m. ET
Game-1: If not for Bethany Christian getting in the way, we could have had Tri, Tri-Central, and Tri-County all in the same Semi-State, but I digress. On paper, Tri looks to have a major advantage over Tri-Central tomorrow. The Lady Titans have size, strength, and experience, they have nearly made it this far undefeated, and they are on a mission right now. Senior post Bailey Parham Bailey Parham 6'0" | C Tri | 2023 State IN will be very difficult for the Lady Trojans to defend. If they figure out a away, then they will still have to deal with the combination of Sophomore Kenley Cornelius Kenley Cornelius 5'9" | SG Tri | 2025 IN , Junior Rylee Boyd, plus Seniors Abi Clarke and Amber Rich. Give Tri-Central credit, though. They are incredibly scrappy and figure out ways to compete with just about everyone. I think they will give Tri trouble for about the first quarter and a half, then the Titans will start to separate a little. I think Tri wins this one, but Tri-Central will put up a strong effort. I’ll take Tri over Tri-Central, 44-33.
Game-2: This second game at Frankfort could be a lot of fun. Bethany Christian and Washington Township are both very guard-oriented, they each like to rip it from beyond the arc, and there could be some stretches offensively that are exciting to watch. For Bethany Christian, they lean heavily on the Junior backcourt duo of Zoe Willems Zoe Willems 5'7" | SG Bethany Christian | 2024 State IN and Mariah Stoltzfus Mariah Stoltzfus 5'2" | PG Bethany Christian | 2024 State IN . Willems is a tough-nosed, strong, physical wing guard who can score it at all levels. Stoltzfus is a feisty, tough-nosed, quick little point guard who can knock down shots with range or create opportunities for others. The Lady Bruins will go as those two go. For Washington Township, they can hit you from three different directions. Sophomore guards Clair Klinger Clair Klinger 5'5" | CG Washington Township | 2025 IN and Gracie Little Gracie Little 5'7" | CG Washington Township | 2025 State IN can fill it up outside or create offense for others, while Senior wing Addison Graf has put together a tremendous Senior season as well. The Lady Senators tend to live and die by the 3-pointer, so you’ll see several of them fly. I think both of these backcourts will get after each other, but that third scorer for Washington Township really stands out to me. I think I will lean the way of the Senators, but by a narrow 41-40 margin.
Players to Watch:
Bethany –
Zoe Willems
Zoe
Willems
5'7" | SG
Bethany Christian | 2024
State
IN
, 2024 – 17.2p, 8.2r, 2.7a, 3.7s
Bethany –
Mariah Stoltzfus
Mariah
Stoltzfus
5'2" | PG
Bethany Christian | 2024
State
IN
, 2024 – 10.0p, 3.4r, 4.2a, 4.5s
Bethany – Kiersten Todd, 2023 – 6.4p, 3.9r
Bethany – Julia Moser, 2023 – 5.7p
Tri –
Bailey Parham
Bailey
Parham
6'0" | C
Tri | 2023
State
IN
, 2023 – 21.0p, 10.5r, 3.9a, 4.2s, 3.7b
Tri –
Kenley Cornelius
Kenley
Cornelius
5'9" | SG
Tri | 2025
IN
, 2025 – 10.5p, 4.2r, 2.4a, 3.8s
Tri – Rylee Boyd, 2024 – 8.4p, 2.7r, 2.5a
Tri – Abi Clarke, 2023 – 8.0p, 5.2r
Tri – Amber Rich, 2023 – 7.5p
Tri-Central – Megan Conner, 2023 – 8.5p, 3.6r, 2.2s
Tri-Central – Karley Leininger, 2023 – 6.9p, 4.0r, 2.5a, 2.6s
Tri-Central – Abby Hoback, 2023 – 5.9p
Tri-Central – Gracie Grimes, 2023 – 5.4p, 5.0r, 3.6a, 2.6s
Washington Twp. –
Clair Klinger
Clair
Klinger
5'5" | CG
Washington Township | 2025
IN
, 2025 – 15.0p, 5.3r, 4.5a, 3.1s
Washington Twp. – Addison Graf, 2023 – 15.0p, 4.7r, 2.7a, 2.6s
Washington Twp. –
Gracie Little
Gracie
Little
5'7" | CG
Washington Township | 2025
State
IN
, 2025 – 14.8p, 3.8r, 3.3a, 4.0s
Washington Twp. – Jaycee Jackson, 2025 – 4.5p, 2.0r
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New Albany Semi-State:
Game-1: Bloomfield (14-14) vs. Jac-Cen-Del (16-11), 10:00 a.m. ET
Game-2: Lanesville (25-2) vs. Trinity Lutheran (22-6), 12:00 p.m. ET
Game-3: Winner Game-1 vs. Winner Game-2, 8:00 p.m. ET
Game-1: With each team entering this game with double-digit losses, this could be about as even as a game gets. Bloomfield entered postseason play just 10-14, so a win tomorrow morning would guarantee them at least a .500 record for the year. They have seen graduation hit them pretty hard the last couple of seasons, so to be where they are is exciting. They also won their first Regional title in 18 years last Saturday. The Cardinals use good size and strength for a Class 1A team, they control tempo, and they play sound, physical defense. Junior guard Jacenyia Godoy will handle the ball quite a bit, while Seniors Delaney Richardson and Ruby Myers do a lot of work around the lane. Jac-Cen-Del is quite the opposite, having won four Regional titles, a Semi-State title, and a State title (2016) in the last 12 years. They too have worked through some turnover each of the last couple of seasons, but they have three double-figure scorers in Junior forward Julia Meyer Julia Meyer 5'10" | SF Jac-Cen-Del | 2024 State IN , Junior guard Reagan Hughes, and Senior wing Olivia Neal. The Lady Eagles are also a defensive-minded team, so this game could be a low-scoring, physical contest with a lot of free throws being shot. I think it will be close throughout, but I like Jac-Cen-Del to take this one, 43-36.
Game-2: Per Sagarin Ratings, these are the #1 and #4 teams in Class 1A, though Lanesville won a January 10th matchup, 59-30. Lanesville is extremely deep for a Class 1A team, actually for a team in any classification. Senior forward Linzie Wernert Linzie Wernert 5'8" | PF Lanesville | 2023 State IN and Sophomore guard Hadley Crosier Hadley Crosier 5'9" | CG Lanesville | 2025 State IN do stand out to a degree, but this is a total team effort, as they tend to play as many as nine or 10 kids each game, so you won’t necessarily see anyone score 30 points, but the above two are capable. The Lady Eagles beat you with precision, discipline, and execution, and they don’t fall off much at all when they go to their bench. They simply wear opponents out. Trinity Lutheran is not nearly as deep, but they put a really nice starting group on the floor each game. Senior guard Bailey Tabeling Bailey Tabeling 5'10" | SG Trinity Lutheran | 2023 State IN is a legitimate threat, and she can explode for 40+ points if given any breathing room. She’s athletic, skilled, and will defend as well. Sophomore Madison Keith does a lot of work inside for the Lady Cougars, while Junior wing Liza Froedge Liza Froedge 5'10" | SF Trinity Lutheran | 2024 IN and Sophomore guard Jordan Brewer surround Tabeling in the backcourt. As evidenced by their win earlier this year, I think Lanesville has a decided matchup advantage over Trinity Lutheran. I don’t think the score will be as lopsided as it was previously, but I think the Eagles knock off the Cougars, 54-40.
Players to Watch:
Bloomfield – Delaney Richardson, 2023
Bloomfield – Ruby Myers, 2023
Bloomfield – Jacenyia Godoy, 2024
Bloomfield – Jaeden Mietus, 2024
Jac-Cen-Del –
Julia Meyer
Julia
Meyer
5'10" | SF
Jac-Cen-Del | 2024
State
IN
, 2024 – 13.1p, 6.6r, 3.7a, 2.3s
Jac-Cen-Del – Reagan Hughes, 2024 – 12.9p, 2.9r, 2.5s
Jac-Cen-Del – Olivia Neal, 2023 – 10.9p, 5.8r
Jac-Cen-Del – Kelsey Borgman, 2025 – 7.1p, 2.9r, 2.4a
Lanesville –
Linzie Wernert
Linzie
Wernert
5'8" | PF
Lanesville | 2023
State
IN
, 2023 – 13.7p, 7.2r, 2.3a, 2.8s
Lanesville –
Hadley Crosier
Hadley
Crosier
5'9" | CG
Lanesville | 2025
State
IN
, 2025 – 9.7p, 3.2r, 3.4a, 3.7s
Lanesville – Morgan Sonner, 2023 – 7.4p, 5.4r
Lanesville – Ava Kerr, 2024 – 7.3p, 2.3r, 2.0a, 2.4s
Lanesville –
Shelby Allen
Shelby
Allen
6'3" | C
Lanesville | 2025
IN
, 2025 – 7.0p, 5.5r
Trinity –
Bailey Tabeling
Bailey
Tabeling
5'10" | SG
Trinity Lutheran | 2023
State
IN
, 2023 – 22.7p, 8.1r, 4.6a, 2.8s, 2.4b
Trinity – Madison Keith, 2025 – 11.3p, 8.9r, 2.1s
Trinity –
Liza Froedge
Liza
Froedge
5'10" | SF
Trinity Lutheran | 2024
IN
, 2024 – 10.2p, 3.8r
Trinity – Jordan Brewer, 2025 – 9.6p, 2.7r