2025-26 Season Preview: Class 3A, Sectional 22

<!-- 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 #22. 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 #22 at Mississinewa</font></strong><br>Bellmont (21-3), SAG 31, SOS 81<br>Marion (10-14), SAG 213, SOS 211<br>Mississinewa (10-13), SAG 223, SOS 192<br>New Haven (4-20), SAG 289, SOS 105<br>Heritage (1-20), SAG 369, SOS 261</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The best news for the five teams in Sectional #22 this year...no more Norwell!! The Lady Knights have been elevated to Class 4A due to their postseason success over the last two years, including a 2025 Class 3A State Championship. The Bellmont Braves have had their battles with Norwell, and those will continue during the regular season, but the Lady Braves will likely now take control of this Sectional in the meantime. Bellmont did graduate a pair of starters, but they had a quintet of underclassmen who played in the rotation, and they now step into the forefront to lead the Lady Braves. 5-8 Sophomore wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1225040' first='Ashley' last='Bleke']</strong> (<em>13.1p, 4.6r, 1.8a, 2.0s</em>) was outstanding as a rookie, and she could be their next star moving forward. She is strong, tough-nosed, hard-working, and she can score it from all three levels. Twin sister <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1228337' first='Mary' last='Bleke']</strong> (<em>4.6p, 4.3r, 1.1a, 1.0s</em>), a 5-11 front-liner, also saw a great deal of playing time and can be physical inside, plus she shows some touch in the mid-post. 5-6 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751092' first='Lanie' last='French']</strong> (<em>4.9p, 2.0r</em>) and 5-5 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751084' first='Kate' last='Kitson']</strong> (<em>4.6p, 2.0r</em>), a pair of Juniors, each have two years of experience and should help solidify the backcourt with their system knowledge and balanced skillsets. 5-6 Sophomore guard <strong>Kaitlyn Burton</strong> (<em>4.6p, 2.1r, 1.3a, 1.2s</em>) joins the Bleke sisters in the 2028 class. Burton could help act as a primary ball-handler. Bellmont doesn't possess a ton of size, but they are disciplined, they work incredibly hard, and they have a lot of skill throughout their program.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Marion Giants experienced a bit of a resurgence last season, and a lot of it had to do with the play of two Freshmen, which is why I think they are ready to take that next step and compete with Bellmont for the Sectional #22 crown. 6-0 Sophomore wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1144630' first='Nyomi' last='Hahn']</strong> (<em>19.2p, 9.8r, 2.2a, 2.7s, 2.8b</em>) is one of the best prospects in Indiana's 2028 class. She is a do-everything perimeter player, not a post. She does have the size and enough strength to dominate smaller defenders inside, but she can also handle it in transition, she has excellent vision and can find open teammates like a point forward, and she is improving her perimeter shooting. Additionally, she can defend just about any position on the floor. Fellow Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1144657' first='Jaylee' last='Townsend']</strong> (<em>13.3p, 8.4r, 1.9a, 2.4s</em>), a 5-9 forward, is an absolute workhorse inside. She very easily could average a double-double this season, because she is strong, tough-nosed, hard-working, and athletic in most directions. She could be the best player on many other teams, but teamed with Hahn, they form a nice inside-out duo. From there, options are limited, but those two can dominate most games on their schedule. However, Junior guard <strong>C'risma Weatherly</strong> (<em>2.1p, 1.2r</em>), Sophomore post <strong>Emoni Inman</strong> (<em>1.3p, 1.1r</em>), Sophomore wing <strong>Jayme Hardwick</strong> (<em>0.9p</em>), and Senior wing <strong>Aubry Roedl</strong> (<em>0.6p</em>) each saw action in 14 or more games a season ago. Clearly, the Giants will lean heavily on Hahn and Townsend, and that should be enough to win a dozen or more games. If they can get any help around them, they could push for 15 or more wins for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye On:</strong> Heritage: 5-10 Junior forward <strong>Audra Bickel</strong> (<em>6.0p, 7.9r, 1.0s</em>) and 5-6 Junior wing <strong>Olivia Lybarger</strong> (<em>4.0p, 2.7r</em>); Mississinewa: 5-4 Senior guard <strong>Brooklynn Nash</strong> (<em>6.8p, 2.9r, 1.4a, 1.7s</em>) and Junior guard <strong>Ashlyn Baker</strong> (<em>4.8p, 2.1r</em>); New Haven: 5-7 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1256523' first='A'lanah' last='Webb']</strong> (<em>15.8p, 7.9r, 1.2a, 2.3s</em>) and 5-9 Senior forward <strong>Aries Odom</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->