The opening week’s pairings have been announced for the 47th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament presented by the Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers.

Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 1, and run through Saturday, Feb. 5, with the regional round slated for Feb. 12 and semi-states on Feb. 19.

The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be played at the newly-renovated and renamed Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 26

At the 2A sectional site at Lewis Cass, Rochester (15-7) will open tournament play on Tuesday in the lone quarterfinal game that night.  The Zebras will play #12 Pioneer (17-4). 

The Panthers moved up to the 2A level after back-to-back 1A state championship appearances.  Pioneer beat Loogootee for the 1A state title last season, 43-42.  The year before, Pioneer lost the 1A state title to the Lions, 45-43.

Pioneer is led by one of the state’s top scorers.  5’6” junior Ashlynn Brooke averages 25.7 points while dishing out 6.5 assists per game.

Rochester is the two-time defending sectional champions.

The winner of the Rochester – Pioneer quarterfinal will play Wabash (7-13) in a Friday semifinal.

At Lewis Cass on Wednesday, Manchester (3-17) will play Carroll (Flora) (15-6) followed by Delphi (9-9) vs Lewis Cass (7-12).  The winners of Wednesday’s games meet in the other Friday semifinal.

In the 3A sectional hosted by NorthWood, Tippecanoe Valley (14-6) will play the host Panthers (3-21) in Tuesday’s quarterfinal. 

The Vikings beat NorthWood on January 11, 46-33.

The winner will play Wawasee (10-11) in a Friday semifinal.

The other semifinal is already set with West Noble (5-15) vs Lakeland (11-10).

North White will host a 1A sectional that opens on Tuesday with a single quarterfinal game.  #12 Caston (15-5) will play Frontier (8-10).

The Caston – Frontier winner will play Tri-County (8-9) in a Friday semifinal.

On the other side of the bracket, South Newton (1-14) will play #11 North White (14-6) in the other semifinal.

Culver will also host a 1A sectional.  Tuesday’s opening quarterfinal will pit LaCrosse (13-6) against Oregon-Davis (4-12).  The winner will meet West Central (4-13) in a Friday semifinal.

The winners of the Wednesday games will meet in the other semifinal.  On Wednesday, Trinity Greenlawn (8-9) will play Argos for a second time.  Argos (11-7) won the November 19 matchup, 49-22.

The other game Wednesday features Triton (12-8) vs Culver (4-14).  Triton won their January 14 regular season meeting, 71-34.