2025-26 Season Preview: Class 3A, Sectional 23

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that the previews for Classes 1A and 2A are complete, it's time to turn to Class 3A. These should come almost two to a day over the next week, because the season is a week underway, and 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 3A, Sectional #23. 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 #23 at Western</font></strong><br>Maconaquah (16-9), SAG 167, SOS 243<br>Peru (14-11), SAG 222, SOS 215<br>Northwestern (8-14), SAG 243, SOS 230<br>Twin Lakes (6-18), SAG 246, SOS 170<br>West Lafayette (6-17), SAG 269, SOS 179<br>Western (9-16), SAG 272, SOS 216<br>Logansport (4-19), SAG 324, SOS 246</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seems like there is a lot of size spread throughout Sectional #23, however, experienced guard play eludes many of the teams this season. Because of it, I feel like Maconaquah is probably in the best position to win the title for a second consecutive, while both Peru and Twin Lakes could challenge because they return as much as anyone, and they have the steady backcourt play to compete with the Lady Braves. Maconaquah returns all eight players who saw action in 23 or more of their games in 2024-2025. 5-9 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1351132' first='Ireland' last='Kile']</strong> (<em>15.0p, 5.2r, 1.0a, 1.4s</em>) is their leading returning scorer and rebounder, and she does a little of everything from all three levels for them. 5-7 Junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1351121' first='Delaney' last='Betzner']</strong> (<em>11.0p, 3.8r, 2.0a, 2.3s</em>) is another double-figure scorer who can also create and distribute. 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Addie Maiben</strong> (<em>9.3p, 2.6r, 2.2a, 1.6s</em>) and 5-5 Junior guard <strong>Aubrey Stoll</strong> (<em>6.1p, 3.7r, 4.3a, 4.4s</em>) add to an already solid backcourt. Maiben is another capable shooter/scorer, while Stoll acts as a primary ball-handler and facilitator, plus she's chaotic defensively. 5-7 Junior wing <strong>Kasey Murry</strong> (<em>2.6p, 2.5r, 1.2a, 1.0s</em>), 5-8 Junior forward <strong>Aubrey Kaiser</strong> (<em>2.4p, 3.7r, 1.3a, 1.7s</em>), and 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Averie Maiben</strong> (<em>1.5p, 1.4r</em>) make up an experienced group of pieces Coach can fill in, in a number of different ways. A lack of height and post play could hinder the Lady Braves, but they should be very good in transition, and they'll likely put up a lot of points with the seven ladies above sharing the ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Peru Tigers are coming off their first winning season since the 2019-2020 season, and they return a big portion of their production from last year, starting with 5-5 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='761184' first='Addison' last='Robbins']</strong> (<em>15.9p, 6.2r, 4.3a, 2.3s</em>). Robbins is one of the best players in the Sectional, she is a capable shooter/scorer, and she has improved her playmaking/creativity over the past year as well. If the Tigers are to challenge Maconaquah in February, she'll be a big reason for it. 5-9 Junior forward <strong>Madalyn Gatliff</strong> (<em>9.3p, 7.9r, 1.1s in 9 games</em>) was limited to just 9 games a year ago, so she could provide a double-double caliber boost this season. 5-8 Junior forward <strong>Jacey Boswell</strong> (<em>9.2p, 4.0r</em>) is another frontcourt presence who helps with rebounding and defense. 5-7 Senior wing <strong>Kyannah Correll</strong> (<em>5.8p, 6.4r, 1.6s, 1.3b in 13 games</em>) was limited to 13 games herself, and she brings a versatile, athletic presence to the lineup. 5-9 Sophomore forward <strong>Olivia Ross</strong> (<em>3.9p, 4.2r, 1.0s</em>), plus Senior guard <strong>Addison Butt</strong> (<em>1.2p, 1.4r, 1.0a</em>), offer additional Varsity experience to the rotation. The Tigers will need to stay healthy and develop a second consistent scoring option to go along with Robbins each night, but they have enough talent and experience to compete for Sectional #23.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Twin Lakes will be intriguing this year. Last season, they unexpectedly and unfortunately had to play without their best player due to injury, but she has since graduated, and they have their top two scorers returning...both guards. 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Taylor Oliver</strong> (<em>12.2p, 4.0r, 2.0a, 1.9s</em>) and 5-6 Sophomore guard <strong>Addy Hines</strong> (<em>11.2p, 4.8r, 2.5a, 2.3s</em>) learned a lot "on the fly" last season, so this year they should be prepared from the outset. Now, if they can get any help, it could put the Indians in a position to compete in this field of teams. 5-6 Senior wing <strong>Kaitlyn Lipps</strong> (<em>1.8p, 8.0r, 1.1s</em>) saw a great deal of action last year, while the Sophomore trio of 6-1 post <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1229682' first='Crickette' last='Draghici']</strong> (<em>0.5p, 3.1r</em>), 5-4 guard <strong>Leah Shrock</strong> (<em>0.7p, 1.3r</em>), and 5-3 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='954835' first='Kaitlyn' last='Morgan']</strong> (<em>0.8p</em>) each saw a fluctuation in minutes but should be ready for bigger roles this season. The backcourt for the Indians seems to be strong, so if they can get defensive support up front, the Indians could have a quick turn-around from last year's 6-18 record.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye on:</strong> Logansport: 5-6 Sophomore guard <strong>Mady Baumgardner</strong> (<em>5.2p, 2.4r, 1.4a, 2.5s</em>) and 5-11 Senior post <strong>Golda Kitchell</strong> (<em>4.8p, 4.6r</em>); Northwestern: 6-1 Senior post <strong>Maci Rody</strong> (<em>5.7p, 6.7r</em>) and 5-10 Junior forward <strong>Ava Schultz</strong> (<em>1.4p, 3.6r</em>); West Lafayette: 6-3 Sophomore forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1144653' first='Amaya' last='St. Hilaire']</strong> (<em>8.1p, 9.7r, 1.2s, 1.4b</em>) and 6-1 Freshman forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1263949' first='Cora' last='Loveless']</strong>; Western: 5-11 Senior post <strong>Ellyse Walden</strong> (<em>12.9p, 8.6r</em>) and Junior wing <strong>Ella Rawlings</strong> (<em>9.6p, 3.7r, 1.0a</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->