New assignments: Rochester to stay in volleyball sectional with Southwood, basketball sectionals with Oak Hill

Caston, N. Miami, Pioneer in same 1A football sectional

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester girls and boys basketball teams both lost to Oak Hill in their respective sectional finals, and they might see them again the next two years.

They will also remain in the same volleyball sectional with powerhouse Southwood.

Those were among the revelations when the IHSAA released new sectional assignments for fall and winter sports for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years Tuesday.

Here is how the new sectional assignments affect area schools:

Rochester

Rochester will be in Class 2A, Sectional 38 for volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. The girls and boys basketball sectionals will also include Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill and Peru. The volleyball sectional will include those five and also Southwood.

Oak Hill was the state runner-up in girls basketball and also won its regional in boys basketball. None of the 10 starters in the Rochester-Oak Hill girls basketball sectional final Feb. 7 was a senior.

Meanwhile, Oak Hill also had only one senior starter in their boys basketball sectional final against the Zebras. (A second senior, R.J. Shugart, returned for the regional game the following week.) Of Oak Hill’s top seven scorers, only Shugart was a senior. Oak Hill went 25-2 and finished No. 2 in the final USA Today media poll. Their season ended with a loss to Fort Wayne Luers in the semistate semifinals.

Maconaquah and Peru, both of whom drop down from Class 3A, replace Manchester and Wabash in the sectional. Manchester and Wabash were both reassigned to Sectional 36.

In volleyball, Southwood ascended to Class 2A per the IHSAA Success Factor after winning the Class 1A state title in 2023. After winning back-to-back regional titles in 2024 and 2025, the Lady Knights accumulated enough points to stay in Class 2A. Shania Rhamy, a University of Kentucky recruit, is expected back for her senior season in the fall for the Lady Knights.

Meanwhile, Rochester’s football sectional will include only one team from their sectional from the last cycle – Wabash. The other six teams in Class 2A, Sectional 34 include Bremen, Central Noble, Eastside, Lakeland, Manchester and Prairie Heights.

Of these eight teams, the team that most recently won a sectional title was Eastside in 2021. Lakeland, Prairie Heights and Wabash have never won a sectional. Rochester’s last sectional title came in 2000.

Rochester’s Class 1A girls soccer sectional will include Argos, Culver, Manchester, North Miami, Peru and Wabash.

LaVille, who won this sectional each of the last two years, was moved to Sectional 34.

The Rochester boys soccer team, which made it to the Class 2A, Sectional 22 final last fall before falling to Maconaquah, saw their sectional grow from seven to eight teams with the addition of Oak Hill.

Tippecanoe Valley

Valley’s volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball groupings remain unchanged as they will stay with Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, Wawasee and West Noble in Class 3A, Sectional 20.

In all three sports, the sectional champion – NorthWood volleyball, Fairfield girls basketball and Columbia City boys basketball – went on to win the regional as well.

In football, Valley will be a part of Class 3A, Sectional 26 with Angola, Fairfield, John Glenn, Jimtown, Mishawaka Marian, South Bend Washington and West Noble.

Only Valley and West Noble had a winning regular season record among these teams last fall.

Angola and Mishawaka Marian have made coaching changes since the end of last season, and John Glenn’s job is currently vacant.

Valley’s Class 2A girls soccer sectional will also include Culver Academy, Eastern, Maconaquah and Northwestern.

Caston, Pioneer

Caston and Pioneer remain in Class 1A, Sectional 50 for volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. The other six opponents remain DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, South Newton, Tri-County and West Central.

South Newton has won six sectionals in the last seven years in volleyball and beat Pioneer in this year’s sectional final. Pioneer also lost the girls basketball sectional title by one point to West Central. Tri-County won their fourth straight boys basketball sectional title March 7, beating Caston in the sectional final.

As for Caston and Pioneer, they will remain football sectional rivals. Clinton Central, Madison-Grant, North Miami, Sheridan, Taylor and Tri-Central fill out the rest of Class 1A, Sectional 43.

Pioneer was last year’s state runner-up after suffering a season-ending loss to South Putnam at Lucas Oil Stadium, but they are not the only school with recent football success: Sheridan is a four-time defending sectional champion, North Miami is a two-time defending sectional champion, and Taylor won a sectional as recently as 2024.

In boys soccer, Caston’s Class 1A sectional expands from six to seven teams with the addition of Manchester. They join holdovers Argos, Culver, Lakeland Christian, North Miami and Winamac.

Argos, Culver

Argos and Culver’s volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball sectionals in Class 1A, Sectional 51 swap out South Central (Union Mills), who is now in Class 2A due to increased enrollment, for Tri-Township.

Elkhart Christian, North Judson, Oregon-Davis and Triton join them in volleyball. Trinity Academy at Greenlawn does not have a volleyball team, but they will round out an eight-team sectional in girls and boys basketball.

Elkhart Christian is a two-time defending regional champion in girls basketball. Triton made it to the semistate in volleyball and the state finals in boys basketball this school year.

As for the Culver football team, they will stay in Class 1A, Sectional 41 with holdovers Bowman Academy, North Judson, North Newton, South Central and West Central. The newcomers to the sectional are Triton and Winamac, who replace South Newton and LaVille.

LaVille won the sectional last fall before falling to Pioneer in the regional. LaVille moved up to Class 2A based on increased enrollment.

Winamac

Winamac’s volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball sectionals grow by one with the addition of South Central, who moves up from Class 1A. Winamac’s other rivals in Class 2A, Sectional 34 remain Bremen, South Bend Career Academy, Jimtown, Knox and LaVille.

Bremen won both girls and boys basketball sectionals this winter. The girls team went on to the semistate while the boys team’s sectional title was their first since 1999. Jimtown is the two-time defending sectional champion in volleyball.

Winamac’s sectional droughts date back to 2014 for volleyball and girls basketball and 2015 for boys basketball.

North Miami

North Miami will remain in Class 1A, Sectional 55 for volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. Those three sectionals swap out Madison-Grant for Tri-Central. Southwood remains in Sectional 55 for girls and boys basketball but remains in Class 2A for volleyball.

North Miami is the two-time defending regional champion in girls basketball. North Miami also advanced as far as the sectional final in boys basketball for the first time in 15 years this winter before losing to Southwood. Northfield will look for back-to-back sectionals in volleyball next fall.

Madison-Grant has won 19 sectional titles in volleyball, including 13 in the class era.

Sectional assignment notes

• The release of the new sectional assignments might have come by surprise to some. In 2024, they were not released until April 30.

• The IHSAA did not say when they will release new softball and baseball sectional assignments. In 2024, sectional assignments for those sports were released Aug. 27.

Sectional assignments for 2026-28

Girls soccer

Class 1A, Sectional 36: ARGOS, CULVER, Manchester, NORTH MIAMI, Peru, ROCHESTER, Wabash

Class 2A, Sectional 22: Culver Academy, Eastern (Greentown), Maconaquah, Northwestern, TIPPECANOE VALLEY

Boys soccer

Class 2A, Sectional 22: Eastern (Greentown), Maconaquah, Northwestern, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wabash

Class 1A, Sectional 36: ARGOS, CASTON, CULVER, Lakeland Christian, Manchester, NORTH MIAMI, WINAMAC

Volleyball

Class 2A, Sectional 38: Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER, Southwood

Class 3A, Sectional 20: Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wawasee, West Noble

Class 1A, Sectional 50: CASTON, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, PIONEER, South Newton, Tri-County, West Central

Class 1A, Sectional 51: ARGOS, CULVER, Elkhart Christian, North Judson, Oregon-Davis, Tri-Township, Triton

Class 2A, Sectional 34: Bremen, South Bend Career Academy, Jimtown, Knox, LaVille, South Central (Union Mills), WINAMAC

Class 1A, Sectional 55: Cowan, Daleville, Madison-Grant, NORTH MIAMI, Northfield, Southern Wells, Wes-Del

Football

Class 2A, Sectional 34: Bremen, Central Noble, Eastside, Lakeland, Manchester, Prairie Heights, ROCHESTER, Wabash

Class 3A, Sectional 26: Angola, Fairfield, John Glenn, Jimtown, Mishawaka Marian, South Bend Washington, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, West Noble

Class 1A, Sectional 43: CASTON, Clinton Central, Madison-Grant, NORTH MIAMI, PIONEER, Sheridan, Taylor, Tri-Central

Class 1A, Sectional 41: Bowman Academy, CULVER, North Judson, North Newton, South Central (Union Mills), Triton, West Central, WINAMAC

Girls basketball

Class 2A, Sectional 38: Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER

Class 3A, Sectional 20: Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wawasee, West Noble

Class 1A, Sectional 50: CASTON, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, PIONEER, South Newton, Tri-County, West Central

Class 1A, Sectional 51: ARGOS, CULVER, Elkhart Christian, North Judson, Oregon-Davis, Trinity Academy, Tri-Township, Triton

Class 2A, Sectional 34: Bremen, South Bend Career Academy, Jimtown, Knox, LaVille, South Central (Union Mills), WINAMAC

Class 1A, Sectional 55: Cowan, Daleville, Madison-Grant, NORTH MIAMI, Northfield, Southern Wells, Wes-Del, Southwood

Boys basketball

Class 2A, Sectional 38: Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER

Class 3A, Sectional 20: Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wawasee, West Noble

Class 1A, Sectional 50: CASTON, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, PIONEER, South Newton, Tri-County, West Central

Class 1A, Sectional 51: ARGOS, CULVER, Elkhart Christian, North Judson, Oregon-Davis, Trinity Academy, Tri-Township, Triton

Class 2A, Sectional 34: Bremen, South Bend Career Academy, Jimtown, Knox, LaVille, South Central (Union Mills), WINAMAC

Class 1A, Sectional 55: Cowan, Daleville, Madison-Grant, NORTH MIAMI, Northfield, Southern Wells, Wes-Del, Southwood