Girls basketball draw: Hanover ready for jump to 3A

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Whiting's Citlali Lopez is fouled from behind by Bowman's Princess German and Diamond Delk (right) as Citlali drives to the basket in the third quarter of play during their game held at Whiting High School on Saturday November 19th, 2011. | Charles Mitchell~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 1, 2012 8:42AM

The words “luck of the draw” truly fit the situation of the Hanover Central girls basketball team this season, especially after Sunday’s 37th annual Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional draw.

First of all, the Wildcats earned a bye in the Class 3A Kankakee Valley Sectional, getting the winner of the first-round contest between Rensselaer and the host Kougars.

On the other end of the draw are Andrean, Knox and Calumet.

That leads to the second fortunate part of Hanover’s upcoming postseason — moving up to 3A after being in Class 2A for years.

The tougher local 3A teams — Griffith, Roosevelt and Gavit — are in Sectional 17 at Griffith, and Hanover also avoids a stacked region 2A bracket.

All in all, not a bad day if you’re Hanover coach Doug Nelson.

“You get that extra week to prepare,” he said about the bye. “It’s a natural part of progression to see how your program is growing. We’ve played a lot of bigger schools throughout the season, so we’re prepared.”

One of those games was a victory over Northwest Crossroads Conference champion Lowell.

The sectional Hanover used to be in — Sectional 33 which is being played at River Forest this year — consists of a Wheeler squad coached by Nelson’s brother, Dustin, which won the Greater South Shore Conference tournament, a Whiting squad that won the GSSC round-robin crown after moving up to 2A this season, and Bowman Academy, which won its 1A sectional last year.

Bowman is ready for the challenge. The Eagles get River Forest in the first round, with the winner facing the Oilers.

“We’re going in with high expectations and there’s going to be competitive competition,” Bowman coach Janora Holmes said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Freshman center Joshlynn King knows it won’t be easy for the Eagles.

“They’re going to come with aggression, so we have to be ready for that,” she said.

In Class 4A, Lowell gets to carry over the momentum of its NCC title by facing Highland in the first round, while defending sectional champ Lake Central gets Munster in the Munster Sectional bracket. West Side gets Morton in the top half of the draw, then possibly East Chicago in the semifinals.

Undefeated Merrillville, which will be looking to complete a perfect 20-0 season on Thursday in its Duneland Conference finale at Crown Point, didn’t get an easy draw. The Pirates face Valparaiso in the first round. If they win that contest, it’s the winner of Michigan City-Hobart in the semifinals.