Jay draws Bruins (01/30/07)

INDIANAPOLIS - Both Jay County and South Adams missed out on the bye as the IHSAA announced the draw Monday for the girls basketball sectional tournament.

The Patriots will meet Blackford in the opening round of the Class 3A tournament at Mississinewa Tuesday, Feb. 6, and the Starfires will play Bluffton in the first game of the Class 2A sectional at Woodlan.

Jay County (11-7) will play the second game Tuesday against Blackford (1-17), following the opening between Delta (6-12) and Tipton (9-10) at 6 p.m.

The winners of those Tuesday games will play each other Friday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. in the semifinal round. The other semifinal game will pit Elwood (14-5) against Mississinewa (4-15).

South Adams (3-14) and Bluffton (10-8) will start the action at Woodlan Tuesday at 6 p.m. Class 2A No. 7 Heritage (18-2) will take the host Warriors (5-13) in the section opening-round game.

The winners from the Tuesday games will meet in the semifinal round Friday at 6 p.m. Harding (10-8) and Adams Central (6-11) will play in the second semifinal game.

Both championship games will be Saturday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

The winning team from Mississinewa will advance to the Class 3A Peru regional to play the champion from the Angola tournament. The sectional champion at Woodlan will play the Oak Hill winner at the Class 2A regional hosted by South Adams.

Jay County has a perfect record against sectional opponents with a game still remaining Thursday against Delta. The Patriots defeated Mississinewa 54-22, Elwood 43-36 and Blackford 43-14.

Elwood has a 4-1 record against sectional foes, followed by Tipton and Delta (both 1-1), Mississinewa (1-3) and Blackford (0-4).

The Patriots will be seeking their second straight sectional title, and fourth in five seasons. They avenged a regular-season loss to Elwood in the championship game a year ago before falling to eventual state champion Bishop Luers in the regional semifinal round.

South Adams has not beaten a sectional opponent all season, including losses of 67-40 and 61-24 to Bluffton. It has also lost to Heritage 41-26, Woodlan 70-45 and Adams Central 69-57.

Heritage is 7-0 against sectional opponents at 10-1 in Class 2A overall. Bluffton has a 4-1 record within the sectional, followed by Harding (1-1), Adams Central (2-3) and Woodlan (1-5).

The Starfires have not won a sectional game since an opening-round overtime victory over Woodlan in 2003. Their last sectional title came in 1995.[[In-content Ad]]