2025-26 Season Preview: Class 2A, Sectional 43

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is a throwback from 2022 of [player_tooltip player_id='486559' first='Maryrose' last='Felling'] (2026) from Triton Central High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are now into the Southern Sectionals for Class 2A. With official IHSAA practices starting this past week, I wanted to continue offering 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 64 previewing each Sectional in the state. In this specific article, I will take a look at Class 2A, Sectional #43. 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 #43 at Christel House</font></strong><br>Heritage Christian (15-13), SAG 64, SOS 85<br>Triton Central (14-9), SAG 94, SOS 177<br>Eastern Hancock (21-4), SAG 107, SOS 229<br>Scecina Memorial (10-12), SAG 301, SOS 348<br>KIPP Legacy (7-12), SAG 383, SOS 395<br>Irvington Prep (8-12), SAG 389, SOS 394<br>Christel House (0-12), SAG 394, SOS 381</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite entering the postseason with just a 10-12 record last year, the Heritage Christian Eagles made it to the Class 2A Final Four before falling to eventual State Champion South Knox. The Eagles did suffer a couple of key graduation losses, but they do return six players who saw action in more than 20 games, including their leading scorer from a year ago. 5-10 Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='999405' first='Riley' last='Johnson']</strong> (<em>14.7p, 3.5r, 1.4a, 2.0s</em>) made quite the splash as a rookie, and she looked even stronger and more aggressive throughout the Summer months. I look for her to push 20 points per game this season. She is long, smooth, and skillfully versatile. 5-11 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='773844' first='Trinity' last='Taylor']</strong> (<em>7.0p, 13.1r, 1.2a</em>) is a talented athlete, a solid defender, and a tremendous rebounder, but she'll be asked to be more aggressive offensively this season. The quartet of Senior forward <strong>Isabelle Papineau</strong> (<em>1.6p, 2.4r</em>), Junior guard <strong>Emma Gast</strong> (<em>1.6p, 2.5r, 1.9s</em>), 6-0 Junior post <strong>Sophie Gullion</strong> (<em>1.3p, 2.4r</em>), and Senior guard <strong>Natalie Curnutt</strong> (<em>1.2p, 2.5r, 1.5s</em>) have each seen plenty of action, but they haven't been asked to put up huge numbers. Collectively, that could very well be asked of them this season. I won't go as far as to say the Eagles will be the Sectional #43 favorite this year, but they should contend if they can find an additional scorer to go with Johnson.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Triton Central has the pedigree of a Sectional Champion, and they should be in the mix once again. They didn't graduate a starter, but they did lose one to transfer. However, they return their top three scorers from a year ago. 5-8 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486559' first='Maryrose' last='Felling']</strong> (<em>22.2p, 6.4r, 2.2a, 2.6s</em>) is back for her final season, and she is a dangerous weapon. She is a knockdown shooter from the perimeter, she can handle the ball and run offense, and she has a toughness to her and will go inside to rebound. 5-4 Junior guard <strong>Quinn King</strong> (<em>7.8p, 2.3r, 5.0a, 3.2s</em>) settled in nicely last year as the primary ball-handler, but she'll likely be asked to score a little more this time around as well. 5-6 Junior forward <strong>Sophia Burbrink</strong> (<em>6.4p, 3.7r, 1.2a, 1.0s</em>) is a bit undersized, but she battles and more than makes up for it with productivity. 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Kate Collier</strong> (<em>5.7p, 3.3r, 2.3a, 1.7s</em>), 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Layla Compton</strong> (<em>4.0p, 3.9r, 2.5a, 1.4s</em>), and 5-8 Senior forward <strong>Cheyenne Allen</strong> (<em>2.2p, 1.5r</em>) all look for bigger roles this season, but they each have plenty of past experience. The Tigers aren't very big, so if they can figure out how to defend the interior, they have enough balance and firepower offensively to keep up with most opponents.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastern Hancock graduated 5 players in the Spring, but they return their top three scorers, plus possibly the best player in Sectional #43. Back in the fold for her third year is 5-9 Junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='750766' first='McKenzie' last='Koch']</strong> (<em>28.6p, 5.7r, 3.2a, 4.5s, 1.1b</em>), a recent Ball State University commit. The dynamic guard can act as a facilitator and distributor, but she's highly effective for the Royals as a fill-it-up scoring option. I was also impressed with the play of 5-6 Junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137341' first='Bella' last='Sotelo']</strong> (<em>11.6p, 3.7r, 2.8a, 5.6s</em>) last year. She is a quick, athletic guard who can play some point, but she also showed the ability to make shots as well, and she turns opposing guards over constantly with her defense. She takes some pressure off of Koch. 5-11 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='832671' first='Kiersten' last='Judd']</strong> (<em>4.9p, 4.2r</em>) is a scrapper. She defends hard, pursues rebounds outside of her area, and she is a capable scorer in the mid-post. From this point, the Royals don't have much experienced depth, however, 5-9 Senior wing <strong>Addisyn Trackwell</strong> (<em>3.6p, 2.9r, 1.1a, 1.2s</em>) saw some key minutes as a Junior. Look for 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Clara Wallace</strong> (<em>0.8p in 15 games</em>) and 5-10 Junior post <strong>Heidi Meyer</strong> (<em>0.2p in 13 games</em>) to get early looks this season. As much as this is a team sport, as long as Koch and Sotelo take the floor together, Eastern Hancock has a chance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Christel House: 5-9 Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='909687' first='Maleah' last='Jackson']</strong> (<em>10.5p, 2.9r</em>); KIPP Legacy: 5-8 Senior guard <strong>Nadiya Abdullah</strong> (<em>15.1p</em>) and 5-11 Junior forward <strong>Alicia Crawford</strong> (<em>10.5p</em>); Scecina Memorial: 5-9 junior forward <strong>Mia Miller</strong> (<em>5.8p, 5.6r, 1.7a, 1.2s, 1.8b</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->