Early Sectional Upsets Reshape East Central Indiana Boys Basketball Brackets

Pendleton Heights capped a dominant Sectional 9 run with a 66-42 win over Greenfield-Central, cruising through the bracket with earlier victories of 60-39 over Mt. Vernon (Fortville) and an 80-30 semifinal rout of Richmond. The full brackets and scores for East Central Indiana sectionals were posted March 3 and updated March 5, laying out semifinal pairings and the path to regionals across Classes 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A.

In Class 4A Sectional 9 the bracket lists Pendleton Heights as host for the detailed game results, though another listing shows the sectional header as at Greenfield-Central; that host-location discrepancy is flagged for verification. Greenfield-Central reached the final after a 50-13 win over Muncie Central and a 53-38 semifinal win over Anderson, but could not match Pendleton Heights in the championship, falling 66-42.

Class 3A Sectional 24 produced Connersville’s sectional title behind a 56-45 win over Delta. Connersville advanced with a 50-30 win over Hamilton Heights and a 47-30 semifinal over Yorktown; Delta reached the final after beating Jay County 58-49 following Jay County’s 55-46 win over New Castle. Some score sheets list Sectional 24 at Yorktown while others show New Castle as host; the final scores are consistent across sources and show Connersville ending Delta’s run.

Class 2A featured two East Central sectionals with clear champions. In Sectional 40 Alexandria-Monroe captured the title 67-23 over Wapahani after a 68-24 semifinal win over Muncie Burris. Wapahani had beaten Eastbrook 41-37 and Blackford 36-19 to reach the final. The sectional header appears in some places as at Wapahani and in others as at Eastbrook; the bracket scores list Wapahani among hosts in earlier rounds. In Sectional 44 at Hagerstown Union County beat Shenandoah 54-30 in the final after a 46-14 semifinal win over Hagerstown; Shenandoah had knocked off Winchester Community 66-28 and edged Centerville 41-20 in the semifinal.

Class 1A saw North Miami and Monroe Central win lopsided sectionals. Sectional 55 at Southern Wells ended with North Miami defeating Southwood 50-27 after North Miami’s 47-40 semifinal over Northfield; earlier games included Northfield’s 55-30 win over Tri-Central and Southwood’s 57-9 victory over Wes-Del. Sectional 56 lists Monroe Central as champion, 49-11 over Union City, following a 35-33 semifinal win over Randolph Southern; Union City beat Cambridge City Lincoln 33-12 and won a 45-22 semifinal over Blue River Valley. Sectional 56 appears in some listings as at Union City and in others as at Cambridge City Lincoln; that hosting conflict is also pending verification.

Last season saw four East Central Indiana teams emerge as sectional champions — Delta in Class 3A, Wapahani in 2A and Daleville and Monroe Central in 1A. The Golden Bears would go on to defeat the Broncos to win a regional, while the Eagles and Raiders would both claim their third consecutive regionals. All three teams lost in the first round of their respective semi-state, which means 2023 Wapahani is still the most recent ECI team to reach a state championship.

Three East Central teams reached Saturday night’s championship rounds but fell: Delta (Sectional 24), Wapahani (Sectional 40) and Shenandoah (Sectional 44) lost to Connersville, Alexandria-Monroe and Union County, respectively. Reported host-location inconsistencies exist for Sectionals 9, 24, 40 and 56 and the reporter contact email is listed in different extracts; both the hosting labels and the contact information remain flagged for verification. Reporter X handle for follow-up is @CadeHamp10.

Yorktown's Zahden Zowd calls out a play during a game against Wapahani in the semifinals of the Delaware County boys basketball tournament Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, at Delta High School in Muncie.

"March will eventually reveal the answers to all of these questions, but this week is all about sectionals.