Mitchell, Paoli receive updated sectional assignments in football, basketball, volleyball
The high school sports landscape was shifted on Tuesday as the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced new sectional assignments for football, volleyball, soccer, boys' basketball and girls' basketball.
Among the multitude of schools around the state affected by the alterations were a pair of local Class 2A schools, Mitchell and Paoli. With the most recent changes, the duo has been grouped within the same sectional in all four sports this time around after sharing only three of the four sectionals previously, and they'll have plenty of competition .
Football sectional shaken up with new contenders
In recent years, the Class 2A football sectional for local schools has been run by the trio of Triton Central, Paoli and Providence. Now, two of those programs are gone as Triton Central was shifted north, closer to home, and Providence was dropped to Class 1A.
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Their place as prime title contenders has been refilled though. Alongside Mitchell and Paoli, Sectional 40 will also feature Evansville Mater Dei, last year's Class 2A state runner-up, Forest Park, Perry Central, North Posey, Tell City and Crawford County. Last season that group of teams posted a combined 48-36 record and the quartet of Mater Dei, Paoli, Perry Central and North Posey was particularly potent as that group combined to go 35-12.
Volleyball sectional spearheaded by Class 3A descendant
While many of the faces in Sectional 46 will be familiar for the Bluejackets and the Rams — they'll continue competing against Clarksville, Eastern (Pekin) and Henryville as they have in years past — there will also be some fresh competitors. Gone are Christian Academy and Crawford County, who have been replaced by Austin and Brownstown Central.
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Brownstown Central, in particular, is a team worth noting in this new group as they could very well be a favorite come tournament time this fall. They only went 14-20 last season, but they played a tough schedule. They excelled within the Mid-Southern Conference, finishing second to just Silver Creek with a 7-1 record. They also won a sectional championship at the Class 3A level, dropping just a single set in matches against West Vigo, Edgewood and Northview. They'd ultimately lose to eventual state champion Brebeuf Jesuit at regional.
Basketball sectionals to feature powerhouse programs
When it comes time to hit the hardwood, the Bluejackets and Rams will be faced with an uphill battle in both boys' and girls' basketball as they'll have challenges coming from every direction.
The girls' version of Sectional 47 will feature Mitchell and Paoli alongside 2020 and 2021 Class 2A state champion Linton, reigning Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference champion Eastern Greene, North Daviess, North Knox, South Knox and Sullivan.
Those eight teams combined to post a record of 119-63 last season and each and every one of them outside of North Daviess won at least 13 games. On top of that, most of those teams will return significant portions of their rotations and be chock-full of veterans during the 2022-23 season.
The boys' version of Sectional 47 might be even more loaded. The field will consist of the same schools minus North Daviess, which requested to play in the Class 3A tournament next season, and in that group will be three reigning sectional champions. Linton is the reigning Sectional 47 champion while Paoli won Sectional 46 last year and Sullivan won Sectional 31 before winning a regional as well.
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Five of the teams in the sectional won at least 10 games while two, Linton and Sullivan, won more than 20.
Mitchell soccer receives shuffled sectional
On the pitch, the Bluejackets will face a mixture of familiar and new foes in sectional play as well. They've been assigned to Sectional 47 once again along with mainstays North Knox, South Knox and Vincennes Rivet. Now that trio will be joined by Northeast Dubois, Shoals, Tell City and Wood Memorial.
South Knox is the reigning champion in Sectional 47 and each of Northeast Dubois and Tell City were semifinalists in Sectional 48 last season, so this field should be competitive in 2022.
Contact Times-Mail sports reporter Auston Matricardi via e-mail at amatricardi@tmnews.com or on Twitter at @amatricardiTM.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: What you need to know about Mitchell and Paoli's sectional assignments
