2025-26 Season Preview: Class 2A, Sectional 44

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is a throwback from 2022 of [player_tooltip player_id='486539' first='Adysson' last='Kircher'] (2026) from Northeastern 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 #44. 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 #44 at Hagerstown</font></strong><br>Northeastern (24-2), SAG 73, SOS 278<br>Union County (16-8), SAG 175, SOS 205<br>Shenandoah (13-10), SAG 194, SOS 281<br>Winchester (8-10), SAG 215, SOS 218<br>Centerville (11-13), SAG 316, SOS 368<br>Hagerstown (1-22), SAG 374, SOS 365</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Northeastern Lady Knights look to win their third consecutive Sectional title, but to do so, they must overcome the graduation of their point guard, plus two other key members of the 2025 class. At the same time, every other competitor in Sectional #44 has suffered major losses as well, so the Lady Knights will start out in front of the pack. 5-5 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486539' first='Adysson' last='Kircher']</strong> (<em>17.0p, 2.7r, 2.2a, 3.6s</em>) will wrap up her stellar career, but this year she might also be asked to carry on a little more of the ball-handling load at times, which she is capable of doing. 6-0 Junior post <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751083' first='Karri' last='Gammon']</strong> (<em>7.1p, 5.3r, 1.0s</em>) and 5-11 Junior forward <strong>Mackenzie Johnson</strong> (<em>6.2p, 5.0r, 1.1a, 1.2s</em>) solidify the frontcourt with their strength, physicality, and experience. I would look for Gammon to approach double-double averages this season. 5-6 Senior guard <strong>Gracie Green</strong> (<em>2.7p, 2.6r, 1.5a</em>) and 5-8 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='773829' first='Brooklynne' last='Adams']</strong> (<em>2.5p, 2.7r</em>) are hustlers who do a lot of the "little things" to help the Lady Knights win games. Northeastern also has a couple of Freshmen who could impact the Varsity immediately as well. Look for the green &amp; gold to lead Sectional #44 once again this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there is anyone in Sectional #44 who can keep up with Northeastern, maybe it will be the Winchester Golden Falcons this year. They too suffered graduation losses, but they return some youth, and they have size. There are three players I feel like could have standout seasons in Winchester. 6-2 Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1259583' first='Auden' last='Hummel']</strong> has a great deal of potential. She is difficult to define by position, because while she has the size and strength to be one of the better posts in Eastern Indiana, she's also skilled around the perimeter. She can handle it in transition a little, and she can knock down the occasional perimeter jumper. 6-0 Junior wing <strong>Lilyana Mayberry</strong> stands out with her length and athleticism. She is extremely long &amp; wiry, fluidly athletic, and she also flashes some skillful versatility around the perimeter. That leaves 5-5 Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='992359' first='Kendall' last='Patterson']</strong>, who saw plenty of opportunity as a rookie and showed the ability to play both on and off the ball. One area the Golden Falcons might struggle, especially early in the season with a new coach, is offensively. They'll need to utilize their size &amp; strength to lockdown opponents defensively, but Winchester has some potential to grow as a team throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Centerville: 5-8 Junior guard <strong>Kendall Nelson</strong> (<em>8.6p, 3.9r, 1.9a, 1.4s</em>) and Sophomore point guard <strong>Bowi Frame</strong> (<em>2.8p, 2.6r, 1.8a</em>); Hagerstown: 5-3 Sophomore point guard <strong>Mackenzee Johnson</strong> (<em>7.0p, 3.1r, 1.0a, 1.5s</em>) and 5-6 Senior forward <strong>Avery Blunk</strong> (<em>4.4p, 3.3r</em>); Shenandoah: 5-7 Senior guard <strong>Gabbi Patrick</strong> (<em>11.1p, 8.9r, 1.6a, 2.6s</em>); Union County: 5-8 Senior wing <strong>Nora Robinson</strong> (<em>7.0p, 3.5r, 2.0a, 1.0s</em>) and 5-7 Senior guard <strong>Natalie Long</strong> (<em>5.5p, 4.4r, 1.3s</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->