2025-26 Season Preview: Class 1A, Sectional 62

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is a throwback from 2023 of [player_tooltip player_id='567991' first='Callie' last='Alston'] (2026) from Orleans 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 #62. 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 #62 at Loogootee</font></strong><br>Vincennes Rivet (15-11), SAG 116, SOS 190<br>Orleans (18-6), SAG 129, SOS 212<br>Barr-Reeve (14-9), SAG 184, SOS 236<br>North Daviess (11-12), SAG 230, SOS 273<br>Loogootee (9-13), SAG 273, SOS 251<br>Shoals (5-18), SAG 344, SOS 314<br>Washington Catholic (1-16), SAG 390, SOS 306</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vincennes Rivet is one of those programs who always has success. They play a strong schedule for a Class 1A team, and they just seem to reload the roster. They did graduate some size and experience, but they should have several nice younger players ready to go. 5-5 Senior guard <strong>Ava Benson</strong> has plenty of experience and should be a leader this time around. 6-0 Senior forward <strong>Claudia Herman</strong>, 5-10 Senior forward <strong>Kali Klem</strong>, 5-10 Junior forward <strong>Alli Stearns</strong>, 5-6 Junior guard <strong>Piper Lewis</strong>, 5-7 Junior wing <strong>Rachael Jacqmain</strong>, plus 5-10 Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1277478' first='Payton' last='Allen']</strong> all compete for major roles on the team. Just the fact they have that many players with solid experience shows their depth compared to their opponents and gives them an edge come playoff time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Orleans is in the middle of a really nice group of players, and despite graduating a trio of starters, the combination of 5-10 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='567991' first='Callie' last='Alston']</strong> (<em>13.5p, 4.8r, 1.5a, 2.4s</em>) and 5-8 Junior forward <strong>Chelsea Ralph</strong> (<em>8.3p, 4.0r, 1.5a, 1.8s</em>) could be plenty on some nights. 5-9 Senior post <strong>Izzie Rutherford</strong> is another frontcourt player with at least some experience. The question will be who plays in the backcourt. If they can find some players to step into those roles, they have a shot at continuing their recent run of winning seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite graduating a double-double machine in the post, don't be surprised if Barr-Reeve continues their winning ways. They have four returnees with a great deal of experience who can likely keep them competitive in 2025-2026. Senior wing <strong>Josie Knepp</strong> (<em>7.8p, 4.3r, 2.8a, 2.3s</em>) is versatile and can perform any number of rolls, plus she's an ideal playmaker and can be a nice defender. 5-8 Sophomore wing <strong>Shelby Dobson</strong> (<em>6.1p, 3.2r, 1.5s</em>) is another nice, young prospect who had a solid role as a rookie and looks to contribute more in year two. Junior guard <strong>Paighton Parsons</strong> (<em>5.5p, 2.3r, 1.3a, 1.8s</em>) and Junior forward <strong>Cadence Burch</strong> (<em>3.7p, 2.6r</em>) look to carve out bigger roles as Juniors this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Loogootee: 6-3 Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='622340' first='Alaina' last='Diamond']</strong> (<em>16.7p, 9.3r, 1.2a, 1.9s, 1.7b</em>) and 5-5 Junior point guard <strong>Ava Jeffers</strong> (<em>5.2p, 4.6r, 3.0a, 2.4s in 9 games</em>); North Daviess: 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Macy Alderson</strong> and 5-11 Sophomore forward <strong>Peyton Cates</strong>; Washington Catholic: 5-5 Sophomore guard <strong>Macey McCracken</strong> and 5-4 Sophomore guard <strong>Madison McCracken</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->