McCutcheon (22-5) Heads to LaPorte Semistate to Face Northridge

McCutcheon’s 22-5 Mavericks will meet Northridge (20-7) in the Class 4A semistate at LaPorte High School on Saturday, Feb. 21, with the semifinal slated for 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Central). A win would set McCutcheon up against the winner of Crown Point (23-4) and Norwell (23-4) in the evening championship, and two victories would send the Mavericks to what would be the program’s first IHSAA state-championship game in 33 years.

McCutcheon booked the LaPorte trip by winning the regional in Frankfort on Feb. 14, defeating Hamilton Southeastern by a margin reported as 53-26 in one account and 53-36 in another; the official box score should be consulted to reconcile that discrepancy. Junior Keara Lipscomb-Allen led McCutcheon with 20 points and three assists, junior Lillie Graves posted 14 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Trinity Wilburn added nine points, six steals and drew two charges in the regional victory. Hamilton Southeastern’s Kennedy “KK” Holman was held to 11 points, and the Royals made 9 of 19 free throws.

McCutcheon opened the regional game in a zone before switching to man-to-man defense, a tactical move that amplified Wilburn’s impact and helped stifle Holman on consecutive possessions. Lipscomb-Allen said, “I just know how the game flows. That really helps me, and if I know people are covering me, somebody has to be open.” Hamilton Southeastern coach Brian Satterfield acknowledged the Mavericks’ physical effort: “You got to give (McCutcheon) a lot of credit. They came out and played hard. It definitely wasn't our shooting night. We've had some of those nights throughout the year, but we've been able to compete and play well. Defensively, we were not ourselves tonight. You got to give them some credit, but we did some things we defensively that were uncharacteristic.”

Scouting the rest of the LaPorte bracket, Crown Point’s sophomore guard Ava Richie averages 16.6 points per game with a 46 percent field-goal rate, 3.5 steals per game and 2.6 assists per game, while junior 6-foot-4 center Ivy Henderson averages 10.5 points and 5.7 rebounds on 62 percent shooting. Norwell’s senior Vanessa Rosswurm exploded for 36 points in a 90-56 regional win over Fort Wayne Snider and is signed to play at Indiana Wesleyan, making a potential semistate final a matchup between McCutcheon’s defensive depth and Norwell’s scoring punch or Crown Point’s two-way athleticism.

Beyond the Xs and Os, McCutcheon’s return to semistate matters for program momentum and regional visibility. Back-to-back regional titles underline sustained growth for a program seeking statewide relevance, and players such as Lipscomb-Allen, Graves and Wilburn will gain extra exposure on a LaPorte stage that draws college scouts and local media. Logistically, fans should note the 11 a.m. ET semifinal start time and that published schedules list the night championship as either 8:30 p.m. ET or 9 p.m. ET; that discrepancy should be confirmed with the tournament office before making travel plans.

McCutcheon arrives in LaPorte with a mix of defensive confidence and postseason hunger, and the Mavericks’ path to Springfield-level visibility runs through Northridge at 11 a.m. Feb. 21 and a likely evening championship against either Crown Point or Norwell.