IndyStar Picks, Scorers Table Guests Forecast IHSAA Girls Semistate Winners

IndyStar’s semistate forecast opens with three bold predictions: Hamilton Southeastern (26-0) by 12 over Valparaiso (19-7) in a 10 a.m. Frankfort matchup, Warsaw (24-1) by 7 over McCutcheon (listed as 24-3 in IndyStar) at noon, and Marquette Catholic over North Miami by 13. The picks were promoted across IndyStar platforms as "bulletin board material" ahead of Saturday’s semistate slate.

The Scorers Table preview accompanied those picks and pushed the statewide conversation with the line "Let's pick the games (dramatic pause) all the games." The segment named Lilly Bischoff of Center Grove, Laniah Wills of Lapel, Olivia Berzai of Bishop Chatard, Michael Menser of Plainfield and Natalie Morse as guest pickers for Class 4A and 3A matchups.

IndyStar’s reasoning for the Frankfort game was specific: "It'll take a complete team effort by Valparaiso to pull the upset here, and while I'm not doubting their ability to keep this thing close, I'm predicting a very workman-like effort by HSE, which builds an early lead and coasts into the state semifinals." That pick cites Hamilton Southeastern’s unbeaten 26-0 mark versus Valparaiso’s 19-7 ledger and projects a double-digit HSE margin.

The Warsaw-McCutcheon preview emphasized personnel and scoring tempo. IndyStar notes sophomore Lillie Graves makes her semistate debut for McCutcheon and called Warsaw "arguably the state's most prolific offense," listing the Tigers’ season average at 73 points per game. The column predicted Warsaw would wear McCutcheon down late and took Warsaw by 7 in the noon contest.

IndyStar’s Marquette Catholic projection pointed to top-tier players and coaching: Laniah Davis is described as "one of the top players in the class," Marissa Pleasant is "quietly heating up," and coach Katie Collignon carries past semistate and state final success (semistate title last year and state championships in 2018 and 2019). For North Miami, IndyStar called out 5-11 sophomore Kayden Donaldson as "averaging a double-double" and noted first-year coach Nathan Curtis leading a senior-free top four; the preview still favors Marquette Catholic by 13.

IHSAA semistate structure and schedule are set for Saturday, Feb. 21, with two semifinals (10 a.m. and noon) and an 8 p.m. championship at each site, and winners advancing to state finals on Feb. 28 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The state finals schedule lists Class A at 10:30 a.m., Class 2A at 12:45 p.m., Class 3A at 6 p.m. and Class 4A at 8:15 p.m. Notably, LaPorte site times are given in Central Time while other sites use Eastern Time.

Reporters should note several inconsistencies in published listings before finalizing brackets: the author byline appears as both "Hank Haenchen" and "Brian Haenchen" in source material; Elkhart Christian is listed as playing Lafayette Central Catholic at LaPorte (IndyStar) but also appears as North Miami’s opponent at Huntington North in other pairings; McCutcheon’s record appears as 24-3 in IndyStar and 22-5 in other listings; Elkhart Christian is listed as 21-5 in one place and 22-4 elsewhere. Verify official IHSAA pairings, team records and time zones before publication.