The postseason is finally here and in the state’s smallest class, two area schools are looking to make a big impact. While Triton will be looking for its first sectional title since 2011 at Culver, Lakeland Christian will be searching for its first postseason win in program history in the Summit City.

Class 1-A Sectional 51 Tournament at Culver

Triton junior Hannah Wanemacher. (File photo by Mike Deak)

The Trojans will have their mettle tested right away in the postseason as they start their tourney run with No. 3 Argos. Triton has already lost twice to the Dragons this season, but the Trojans have plenty of reason to think that the third time could be the charm.

“It’s a challenge I think our girls are looking forward to at the sectional,” said Triton head coach Adam Heckaman. “They say it’s tough to beat a team three times, but we showed that we can keep up with them at the Bi-County. We’re going to have to play our best game of the season to beat them, but after what we showed against North Judson, we are capable of pulling off the upset.”

Argos (19-2) defeated Triton 47-24 back in November and 37-29 in the opening round of the Bi-County earlier this month. Courtney Dunlap is the undisputed leader of the Argos team, the senior averages 22.7 points per game. The Trojans are led by Hannah Wanemacher’s 13.7 ppg.

Triton has been a confusing team to figure out this season as the Trojans have an 8-14 record but have won five of their past seven games. Strong efforts against Argos at the Bi-County and North Judson (18-4) in last Friday’s season finale have shown that Triton has what it takes to run with the big dogs, but the Trojans have still only beat one team with a winning record this season (Winamac).

Triton and Argos are slated to play Wednesday night following the conclusion of a 6:30 p.m. quarterfinal between North Miami (11-11) and Culver (1-21). Semifinals will be played Friday night starting at 6:30 p.m. with LaCrosse (14-9) taking on the winner of Tuesday’s game between South Bend Career Academy (1-13) and South Central (10-12). The second semifinal will follow. Saturday’s championship is set for 7:30 p.m.

The sectional champion will advance to the Caston Regional, the Culver winner facing the Michigan City Marquette winner in game two, following the Fort Wayne Blackhawk-North White champion’s matchup.

Class 1-A Sectional 52 Tournament at Fort Wayne Blackhawk

LCA’s Hope Fancil. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

The history is different for LCA than it is for Triton, but the goal remains the same: survive and advance.

The Cougars have officially had their best regular season in program history. Following Saturday’s win over Clinton Christian, LCA bumped its record to 12-10, guaranteeing the Cougars their first-ever winning season since being an official IHSAA member. (LCA was 12-12 in 2015-16.)

LCA kicks off the sectional tournament Tuesday night with a rematch with Bethany Christian (11-9) at 6 p.m. The Bruins topped the Cougars 47-31 back in December. While its hard to pinpoint a favorite in the sectional field, Bethany and LCA enter as the only two teams with winning records though the Cougars were just 1-4 against sectional 52 teams this season.

The Cougars have played some of their best basketball as of late thanks to the continued improvement of Hope Fancil. The junior averages 18.8 ppg and well as more than four steals per game. Fancil is the motor behind LCA’s offense while lone senior Melissa Goss is in the driver’s seat. Goss averages just 5.3 ppg, but almost five steals per contest. Goss also leads the team in assists with 4.3 apg. Between Fancil and Goss, the Cougars have the talent needed at the top to earn their first sectional win. But talent is not what head coach Allison Kauffman feels her team lacks.

When coaching a team that is not used to winning as much as Kauffman’s girls have over the past two seasons, it become easy to see that credence can sometimes be at a premium.

“It’s all about that confidence factor for us,” Kauffman said. “These girls have the potential to do something a Lakeland girls team has never done before and that’s winning a sectional game. You see their potential, you could see it in how we played Blackhawk. They just need to come out with the confidence and belief that they can do it.”

Following LCA’s game on Tuesday, Hamilton (8-14) will play Elkhart Christian (4-15). Friday’s first semifinal will be between at 6 p.m. Lakewood Park (7-13) and the winner of LCA’s game. Blackhawk (10-12) will play the winner of Tuesday’s second game starting at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s championship game is set for 7:30 p.m.

The winner will advance to the Caston Regional to meet the winner of the North White Sectional in game one of the day.