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Hoops sectionals now include Marquette Catholic, Westville
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Argos might well have some formidable new rivals in both their Class 1A girls soccer and boys soccer sectionals.
Meanwhile, Argos will seek to defend their girls basketball sectional title against a field that includes two new teams.
Here is how sectionals will look for all of Argos’ fall and winter teams covering the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years:
Girls soccer
Argos won its fourth straight sectional title in Class 1A, Sectional 35 last fall; however, they will not be the only team in their sectional looking to repeat in the fall of 2022.
That’s because Trinity Greenlawn is also part of the six-team group after winning the Sectional 34 title in its first ever IHSAA state tournament. Trinity Greenlawn just gained full IHSAA membership this school year, and they are a rival of Argos’ in the Northern Indiana Soccer and Hoosier Plains conferences.
The other four teams in the sectional are Rochester, Culver, Bremen and LaVille.
Trinity Greenlawn replaces North Miami, who was moved to Sectional 39.
Rochester, Culver and Bremen have never won sectional titles in girls soccer.
Boys soccer
After a one-year stay in Class 2A due to the IHSAA Success Factor, Argos was returned to Class 1A after failing to win their new sectional.
The move back down returns Argos to Class 1A, where they won 10 straight sectionals from the start of class soccer in 2011 to 2020.
Argos will be in Class 1A, Sectional 37 along with Caston, Culver, North Miami, North White, Winamac and Whitko.
Caston is the only team in the sectional who won a sectional last fall, but North White, who was No. 7 in the final Class 1A coaches poll last year and who won a sectional as recently as 2019, could also be a formidable opponent.
Whitko did not field a boys soccer squad last fall.
Girls basketball
Argos earned their first sectional title in five years when they won Class 1A, Sectional 50, and coach Scott Jennings’ team will return to Sectional 50 for the next two years.
Culver, Oregon-Davis, Trinity Greenlawn and Triton will stay sectional rivals, but Marquette Catholic and Westville are new to the sectional. Marquette Catholic moves over from Sectional 49, and Westville moves down from Class 2A due to a decline in enrollment.
Marquette Catholic won back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019 but has gone 29-34 in the three years since. Westville has never won a sectional title in girls basketball.
They replace LaCrosse, who is now in Sectional 49, and West Central, now in Sectional 52.
Argos defeated Trinity Greenlawn, Culver and Oregon-Davis at this year’s sectional. They eventually fell to North White in the regional final but are expected to return starters Emma Dunlap, Bella Stults, Samantha Redinger and Amanda Fajardo.
Boys basketball
Like girls basketball, Argos is in Class 1A, Sectional 50 with Culver, Marquette Catholic, Oregon-Davis, Trinity Greenlawn, Triton and Westville.
Triton is the two-time defending sectional champion, but the Trojans graduate four starters. Argos also graduates four starters.
Westville lost a 2A sectional final to North Judson in overtime and moves down a class due to a decline in enrollment. Marquette Catholic won six straight sectionals from 2014-19 and also won three regionals, two semistates and a state title in 2014 during that span. They have not won a sectional since.
Volleyball
Like girls and boys basketball, Argos is in Class 1A, Sectional 50 with Culver, Marquette Catholic, Oregon-Davis, Trinity Greenlawn, Triton and Westville.
Triton has won seven sectionals in the last eight years.
Marquette Catholic won nine state titles in an 11-year span from 1999-2009, but they have only won one sectional title since.
Trinity Greenlawn gained IHSAA membership for the 2021-22 school year, but they did not participate in the volleyball sectional.
