2025-26 Season Preview: Class 1A, Sectional 61

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='486498' first='Lani' last='Graves'] (2026) from Bloomfield High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I've always enjoyed offering preseason coverage of each of the 64 Sectionals in Indiana high school basketball, and last year I felt like I got a little behind and didn't finish with the previews until after Thanksgiving. With that said, as we come up on October, I wanted to get out in front of it this year and offer you a glimpse at what the 2025-26 season could hold with a preview of each of the state's 64 Sectionals once again. During the Spring of 2024, the IHSAA moved to a traditional enrollment-based format, realigning all classes with hard enrollment cutoff lines per class instead of taking nearly 400 schools and simply dividing them into four equal classes. With that said, each class has been more competitive, but the bigger classes have fewer teams than the smaller classes. This article serves as one of many previewing each Sectional in the state. In this specific article, I will take a look at Class 1A, Sectional #61. Below is a look at the teams in that Sectional, along with some general comments and analysis.<br><small>(<em>SAG = Final 2024-2025 Multiclass Sagarin Rating (398 teams); SOS = Final 2024-2025 Strength of Schedule</em>)</small></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="#FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+2">Sectional #61 at Clay City</font></strong><br>North Central (Farmersburg) (23-4), SAG 135, SOS 304<br>White River Valley (18-6), SAG 158, SOS 331<br>Shakamak (13-11), SAG 241, SOS 266<br>Bloomfield (4-19), SAG 325, SOS 207<br>Clay City (6-17), SAG 336, SOS 327<br>Cloverdale (5-19), SAG 342, SOS 332<br>Dugger Union (7-16), SAG 364, SOS 375<br>Lighthouse Christian (1-21), SAG 393, SOS 376</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sectional #61 will be much different in 2025-2026. While the top three teams will come back closer to the field, I feel like they had separated themselves so much, they should still narrowly remain out in front, though their leadership should all change significantly. For North Central, they graduated their entire backcourt, so they will definitely be turning to a group of youngsters in that capacity. However, the 6-0 combination of Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486477' first='Hannah' last='Stepp']</strong> (<em>9.0p, 3.4r, 2.1s</em>) and Senior post <strong>Maycie Drieman</strong> (<em>3.4p, 4.8r</em>) could definitely cause problems for opponents in the paint. 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Hayden Crooks</strong> (<em>0.3p</em>) and 5-11 Junior forward <strong>Shelby Shattuck</strong> (<em>0.1p</em>) each played in 23 games, but they played just a handful of minutes each time and will certainly be asked to contribute a lot more this time around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolverines of White River Valley must also turn to a couple of younger players to lead them this year, as they graduated three of their top players. 5-8 Junior wing <strong>Molly Settles</strong> and 5-6 Junior guard <strong>Payton LaFever</strong> should be more than capable of stepping up. They have each played key Varsity roles since they were Freshmen, but now they'll be the centerpieces moving forward. Instead of making effort plays and complimenting their teammates, they'll now be asked to score a little more and get big stops.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That just leaves Shakamak from that top group of three teams, and the Lakers are intriguing. If they are going to finish 2025-2026 with a winning record once again, they might be in the best position to do so. Senior wing <strong>Madelyn Kennett</strong> and Senior guard <strong>Aubree Langford</strong> both return with multiple years of starting experience. Having that backcourt experience should help other newcomers to settle into their roles. Junior post <strong>Mattilyn Hill</strong>, Sophomore guard <strong>Emmalyn Wolf</strong>, and Sophomore forward <strong>Ava Landry</strong> could all contribute this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Bloomfield: Senior guard <strong>Lexi Oliphant</strong> (<em>5.7p, 2.3r, 1.5s</em>), 5-10 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486498' first='Lani' last='Graves']</strong> (<em>4.8p, 7.3r, 1.6a, 1.1s, 1.1b</em>), and 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Lola Myers</strong> (<em>4.4p, 2.6r, 1.8a, 1.3s</em>); Clay City: Junior forward <strong>Taylor Rhienhart</strong> (<em>9.9p, 8.5r, 2.6s</em>), 5-9 Senior wing <strong>Olivia Shidler</strong> (<em>6.2p, 1.9r</em>), and Junior wing <strong>Jenna Hofmann</strong> (<em>5.8p, 2.5r</em>); Dugger Union: 5-11 Senior post <strong>Sage Stahl</strong> (<em>10.1p, 13.9r, 1.9s, 1.3b</em>); Lighthouse Christian: 5-6 Junior point guard <strong>Ellie Mae Winders</strong> (<em>16.4p, 6.8r, 1.3a, 2.7s</em>) and 5-8 Senior wing <strong>Aleah Winders</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->