2025-26 Season Preview: Class 4A, Sectional 4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that the previews for Classes 1A, 2A, and 3A are complete, it's time to finish up all of the previews with Class 4A. This is the beginning for Class 4A Sectionals, and the season is just past Thanksgiving, so 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 4A, Sectional #4. 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 #4 at Goshen</font></strong><br>Warsaw (26-2), SAG 3, SOS 22<br>Northridge (21-5), SAG 20, SOS 35<br>Elkhart (13-11), SAG 92, SOS 121<br>Concord (9-13), SAG 169, SOS 162<br>Goshen (7-15), SAG 271, SOS 117</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What a difference a year makes! If I heard correctly, during the 2023-2024 season, the Warsaw Tigers led every single game they played at some point during the 4th quarter, only to finish the year 14-8 and bow out during their opening Sectional game. Then, last season, they begin 18-0, finish 26-2, and lose by just 6 points in the State Finals. And, this year, they return their top two scorers...both Division I guard recruits. The Tigers only played seven girls more than 10 minutes per game, and four of them return. Now, I'd again look for a short rotation of maybe six or seven girls at most. 5-8 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='567134' first='Joslyn' last='Bricker']</strong> (<em>19.0p, 5.3r, 3.2a, 2.6s</em>) and 5-8 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='403531' first='Brooke' last='Zartman']</strong> (<em>17.8p, 1.1r, 1.9a, 2.9s</em>) lead the way for the Lady Tigers. Bricker is a long, slashing style of creator. She can fill it up from all levels, plus she has tremendous vision and toughness. Zartman is an exceptional perimeter shooter who, on multiple occasions, began games nailing about a half dozen 3-pointers in a row. She is also a talented on-ball defender. 5-7 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='686307' first='Alexis' last='Neely']</strong> (<em>9.5p, 4.6r, 3.8a, 1.6s</em>) is a high-motor, tough-nosed, North/South athlete. She can handle it a little, get downhill to create/score, and she'll rebound, plus defend, with energy. 5-8 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1357834' first='Kyra' last='Kiser']</strong> (<em>1.8p, 2.4r</em>) saw key minutes off the bench for Warsaw, and she plays much bigger than she is but also has some skill facing the basket. Look for her to potentially start this season. 6-1 Junior post <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='908500' first='Cayleigh' last='Goheen']</strong> (<em>1.6p, 1.1r in 16 games</em>), 5-9 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1231133' first='Erin' last='McManus']</strong> (<em>1.4p in 17 games</em>), and 5-4 Sophomore guard <strong>Raegan Robinson</strong> (<em>0.8p in 10 games</em>) now all vie to be rotation members. Goheen has a great motor and brings physicality; McManus showed nice touch outside throughout the Spring &amp; Summer; Robinson is a feisty worker who can create for others or knock down open shots. But a bigger boost to the lineup should come from 5-11 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='747044' first='Reagan' last='Huss']</strong> (<em>4.7p, 1.6r</em>), a transfer from Sectional rival Northridge. She adds length, athleticism, and nice skill in the mid-post and around the perimeter. Just having another player over 5-8 really helps. If Warsaw can continue to make shots at the level they did last year, especially Bricker &amp; Zartman, and they can get comfortable essentially playing without a traditional frontcourt player, they could be in for similar success as to a season ago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Northridge Lady Raiders graduated a talented backcourt, plus a nice rotation player up front, and they lost a key 2027 to transfer. But they have been a strong program from top to bottom the last several years, and they have a really nice, younger nucleus, that should allow them to continue to compete at a Top 20 level in 2025-2026. 5-10 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='834963' first='Lily' last='Scholl']</strong> (<em>15.8p, 6.2r, 2.2a, 3.1s</em>) is an absolute stat stuffer for the Lady Raiders. She is strong, athletic, versatile, and hard-working. She can score it from all three levels, she can initiate the offense, plus she plays much bigger than she is inside. 5-11 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='624876' first='Camryn' last='Conley']</strong> (<em>9.7p, 2.9r, 3.1a, 1.0s</em>) is a long, wiry, fluid, and somewhat smooth slashing style of player. She too can score it from all three levels, she plays incredibly hard, and she defends with great effort. 5-9 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1228391' first='Allison' last='Ambers']</strong> (<em>3.4p, 1.2r</em>) showed flashes last Winter, but she got better and better throughout the Spring &amp; Summer grassroots season. She can make shots, attack the basket, or push the ball in transition, plus she's a highly effective defender. 5-11 Junior front-liner <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1006209' first='Zoe' last='Yeater']</strong> (<em>2.9p, 2.7r</em>) is a strong, physical, but athletic post who can box out or chase down rebounds outside of her area. She has shown flashes of double-double potential in the past; now she just has to do it consistently. 5-3 guard <strong>Macey Riegsecker</strong> (<em>2.4p, 2.5r, 2.1a, 1.7s</em>) is a tough-nosed, hard-working, feisty little guard who always makes the most of her minutes on the floor. Those five together give Northridge a great foundation, as each is experienced and ready to go. Look for 5-2 Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1231136' first='Jada' last='Walker']</strong> and 6-0 Sophomore forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1262613' first='Morgan' last='Gorball']</strong> to potentially be the first two subs off the bench this season. Walker is extremely quick and assertive, while Gorball is long, bouncy, and skilled at all three levels. Like any team, Northridge will just need to adapt to players in bigger roles, but they have the potential to be a real problem by February.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Players to Keep an Eye on:</strong> Concord: 5-5 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1219772' first='Shelby' last='Emerick']</strong> (<em>10.4p, 2.3r, 1.6a, 2.2s</em>), 5-4 Junior guard <strong>Shiloh Smith</strong> (<em>6.5p, 3.4r, 2.0a, 2.4s</em>), and 5-7 Senior guard <strong>ZaZa Zilm</strong> (<em>0.9p in 10 games in 2023-2024</em>); Elkhart: 5-9 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='624884' first='Shaniyah' last='Stout']</strong>, 5-4 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486489' first='Jordynn' last='Johnson']</strong>, and 5-7 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='567138' first='Aaniyah' last='Bonner']</strong>; Goshen: 5-0 Sophomore guard <strong>Mia Winship</strong> (<em>0.3p in 11 games</em>), 5-4 Sophomore guard <strong>Janessa Brown</strong> (<em>2 games</em>), and 5-8 Sophomore forward <strong>Amari Lind</strong> (<em>4.2p, 5.8r at Bethany Christian</em>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->