Final USA TODAY Indiana Poll: Fishers, Silver Creek, Paoli Top; Princeton 4-3

As sectional play begins, the final USA TODAY Network Indiana high school boys basketball poll (released March 3) sets a statewide pecking order entering the 116th IHSAA boys tournament." The final poll lists Fishers 23-0 atop Class 4A, with Crown Point 20-1 at No. 2 and Pike 21-3 at No. 3, establishing clear favorites as sectionals open.

Indystar’s Feb. 23 poll table supplies the full snapshots for other classes: Silver Creek sits No. 1 in Class 3A at 24-1 with 170 poll points, and Paoli tops Class 2A at 21-0 with 161 points. Indystar’s Feb. 23 Class 4A table also shows Fishers 22-0 with 170 points in that midweek snapshot, followed by Crown Point 18-1 (140) and Pike 20-3 (137), while Mt. Vernon (Fortville) registers 20-3 with 113 points and Plainfield 21-2 with 102 poll points.

Princeton’s standing looms as the poll’s biggest off-court storyline. Indystar reports, "Princeton's record is officially 4-3 after it was discovered an accidental "administrative error" led to an ineligible player playing in all-but one game before Feb. 13, causing 15 wins to be forfeited. That player is now fully eligible." Earlier snapshots show Princeton higher in the rankings: Sports Yahoo’s Feb. 16 poll listed Princeton 17-3 with 120 points, while Indystar’s Feb. 23 table showed 19-3\ with 139 points before the forfeiture language was attached. The administrative adjustment drops a previously top-3 program to a markedly different official record heading into sectionals.

The week-to-week progression is explicit in the dated snapshots: Sports Yahoo on Feb. 16 recorded Fishers 21-0 (170), Crown Point 17-1 (141) and Pike 18-3 (128); Indystar on Feb. 23 showed Fishers 22-0 (170), Crown Point 18-1 (140) and Pike 20-3 (137); the USA TODAY Network Indiana final on March 3 lists Fishers 23-0, Crown Point 20-1 and Pike 21-3 as the top three in 4A. Similar climbs appear in other classes: Silver Creek rose from 23-1 on Feb. 16 to 24-1 on Feb. 23, both snapshots crediting 170 poll points, while Paoli moved from 18-0 on Feb. 16 to 21-0 on Feb. 23 with poll points in the 160s.

Poll minutiae underscore regional support and voter separation: Silver Creek carries a parenthetical 17 in both snapshots indicating heavy first-place support, and Paoli appears with an 11 in the Feb. 23 table. Indystar’s Feb. 23 "others receiving votes" lists include Jay County (18-3) with 23 points and West Lafayette (18-4) with 11 points in Class 3A, while Indystar’s Class 4A list shows Carmel (15-5) with 10 points among others. Indystar explicitly notes "Dropping from last week’s rankings: Carmel (T9th)" in its Feb. 23 4A block, and Sports Yahoo’s Feb. 16 2A snapshot flagged Fort Wayne South as dropping from 10th.

Beyond wins and losses, the final poll and the Princeton forfeiture carry real consequences for seeding, sectional hosting expectations and local attention as the 116th IHSAA boys tournament begins. Fishers, Silver Creek and Paoli enter sectionals with momentum and clear media-visible profiles; Princeton’s administrative reversal injects controversy into bracket math and could alter sectional pairings and gate interest in that region. With sectionals now underway and the final poll released March 3, these rankings set immediate matchups and storylines that will shape which programs draw college scouts, regional media focus and weekend crowds across Indiana.