Tippecanoe Valley’s Anne Secrest will be a big key for the Vikings come sectional time. Valley, 18-2 and TRC champions, drew Fairfield in the opening game of the Wawasee Sectional on Feb. 10 (File photo by Nick Goralczyk).

The IHSAA did area high school girls basketball teams no favors Sunday.

The “blind” draw for the 40th annual state tournament series was a real eye opener for several local squads who will have to gear up for some tough first-round match ups.

That rings especially true for both Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley.

Warsaw (12-9) will meet conference foe Northridge (15-7) in the sectional opener at Goshen on Feb. 10. The Tigers beat the Raiders 37-35 in overtime in Middlebury on Jan. 10. Northridge rallied to stun Warsaw 42-41 in a sectional semifinal a year ago en route to the program’s first-ever sectional title.

Warsaw is 4-0 versus the sectional field with wins over NLC schools Northridge, Elkhart Memorial, Goshen and Concord. Elkhart Central and host Goshen drew the semifinal bye games at Goshen.

The No. 10 Vikings, who are having one of the best seasons in program history, drew Fairfield (14-7) in the opening game Feb. 10 of the Class 3-A Wawasee Sectional. Valley improved to 18-2 Saturday night by winning the Three Rivers Conference title at 7-0 with a 63-26 win over Manchester. The Vikings have not played Fairfield this season, but do own wins over possible sectional foes Whitko, Lakeland, West Noble and Wawasee.

“The draw was not real kind to us,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig. “Fairfield is a good team. We will have to play well for three games to win it.  We know that.”

The field is loaded at Wawasee with five of the seven teams boasting winning marks. No. 12 NorthWood (18-5) drew the bye game at Wawasee. The Panthers, who just beat Warsw 40-32 Saturday night to win the Northern Lakes Conference title, have won three straight sectional titles. NorthWood beat Valley 61-55 at Valley back on Jan. 13 and has won their last eight games.

“I think that NorthWood is the favorite,” Kindig said. “They are the defending champions and beat us at our place. I think that we are one of the favorites too though. We are right there with the others in a strong sectional.”

Valley’s last sectional championship came in 2007.

Triton will play in a loaded field at the Class 1-A Oregon-Davis Sectional. All six teams in the field have winning records. The host Bobcats, who had a 55-game home court winning streak snapped in a loss to NorthWood this past week, have won seven of the last eight sectional titles. No. 4 Oregon-Davis won the Class 1-A state championship a year ago.

The No. 7 Trojans did get a break in that they got one of the two byes into the semifinals. Triton will play either No. 6 Culver or No. 5 South Central. The Trojans have lost 40-38 in double overtime at home on Jan. 16 and 41-32 in the Bi-County Tournament to Northern State Conference foe Culver so far this season.

Lakeland Christian Academy will play Bethany Christian in the opening game of the Class 1-A sectional at Lakewood Park Christian. The Cougars lost 52-36 to the Bruins in a tournament back on Dec. 20.

The sectional championship games are set for Saturday, Feb. 14. Four-team regionals are Feb. 21 with LaPorte (4-A), Bellmont (3-A) and Caston (1-A) the hosts for area teams. Semistates are Feb. 28 with Warsaw serving as one of the four host sites statewide the State Finals on March 7 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Warsaw senior Vicki Harris will be in action for the Tigers in the Goshen Sectional. Warsaw will play Northridge in the opening game on Feb. 10 (File photo by Scott Davidson)

Girls Basketball Sectional Pairings   (All Times EST)

Class 4-A
At Goshen
Feb. 10: 6 p.m.: Warsaw (12-9) vs. Northridge (15-7)
Feb. 10: 7:30 p.m.: Elkhart Memorial (10-10) vs. Concord (7-13)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: Elkhart Central (5-15) vs. Warsaw-Northridge winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: Goshen (10-11) vs. Memorial-Concord winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 3-A
At Wawasee
Feb. 10: 7 p.m.: Fairfield (14-7) vs. Tippecanoe Valley (18-2)
Feb. 11: 6 p.m.: West Noble (14-7) vs. Whitko (12-8)
Feb. 11: 7:30 p.m.: Wawasee (5-15) vs. Lakeland (9-12)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: NorthWood (18-5) vs. Fairfield-T. Valley winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: West Noble-Whitko winner vs. Wawasee-Lakeland winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 1-A
At Oregon-Davis
Feb. 10: 6:30 p.m.: Culver (17-4) vs. South Central (16-5)
Feb. 10: 8 p.m.: Argos (12-9) vs. Oregon-Davis (13-6)
Feb. 13: 6:30 p.m.: Triton (14-7) vs. Culver-South Central winner
Feb. 13: 8 p.m.: LaCrosse (13-7) vs. Argos-Oregon-Davis winner
Feb. 14: 8 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 1-A
At Lakewood Park Christian
Feb. 10: 6 p.m.: Bethany Christian (6-12) vs. Lakeland Christian Academy (7-14)
Feb. 10: 7:30 p.m.: Hamilton (5-14) vs. Elkhart Christian Academy (7-12)
Feb. 13: 6 p.m.: Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (6-13) vs. Bethany-LCA winner
Feb. 13: 7:30 p.m.: Lakewood Park Christian (2-15) vs. Hamilton-ECA winner
Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m.: Championship Game