Led by Park Tudor, which eliminated defending Class A state champion Lafayette Central Catholic in a sectional championship overtime thriller, four schools won their first IHSAA boys basketball sectional titles in the opening week of the 91^st IHSAA state tournament.

The Panthers were joined as first-time sectional champs by North Daviess in Class A, along with Eastern (Bloomfield) and River Forest in Class 2A. In the four years of the multiple-class format, 19 schools have won a boys basketball sectional title for the first time. Of the four first-time winners in 2001, River Forest waited the longest to celebrate its first sectional crown. The Ingots joined the IHSAA in the 1958-59 school year and were playing in their 43^rd state tournament.

Brebeuf (Class 3A) was the only defending state champion to survive the first week of play, winning the Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Sectional. Marion (Class 4A) fell in the sectional semifinals to Huntington North and Westview (Class 2A) was ousted in the sectional finals by Glenn.

Blue River Valley (19-4) and Sullivan (23-2) extended their run of sectional championships to a state-leading four.

Waldron ended a 41-year title drought while winning its fourth sectional crown overall with a 51-40 triumph over Shelby County rival Morristown at the Class A Edinburgh Sectional. Waldron’s last title came in 1960 at the Columbus Sectional. Other long gaps between titles came to an end for Speedway (28 years), Shenandoah (19 years) and Cascade (17 years).

• A 44-point performance from senior Levi Carmichael delivered Eastern (Bloomfield) the school’s first sectional title in a 75-72 thriller over host North Knox. He capped the night by hitting the winning bucket, a three-pointer with six seconds left. The Thunderbirds were playing in their 40th IHSAA state tournament. Carmichael hit 16 of 28 shots, including 8 of 12 from three-point range. North Knox was led by Daniel Trabant’s 35 points.

• Jake Parker scored a career-high 46 points and went past the 1,000-point career mark to lead Portage to an 81-73 overtime triumph over South Bend Washington at the Michigan City Sectional. Parker scored 26 points in the second half and eight more in the overtime as the Indians rallied from a 16-point hole in the third quarter. Parker’s 46-point effort was the state’s highest single-game output during sectional week. He scored 104 points in three sectional games to lead Portage to its first title since 1996.

• Senior Jeremiah Kincaid’s layup with less than three seconds left gave Tipton a 40-39 Taylor Sectional triumph over Delphi and the school’s first title since 1989.

• Senior Nathan Storey bagged two free throws with 1.7 seconds left in overtime to give Jasper a 71-69 victory over Big Eight Conference rival Vincennes Lincoln for the Washington Sectional title. Storey finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

• Brandon Haverstock’s three-pointer from the left corner with six seconds remaining in overtime propelled Crawford County to a 65-64 victory over Tell City in the Southridge Sectional.

• Sean May scored 30 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead 2000 Class 4A state runner-up Bloomington North (21-2) past Bloomington South 64-54 at the Columbus North Sectional. The victory avenged a 56-52 loss to the Panthers on Jan. 5.

• Sophomore center Kenny Harris contributed 23 points and 17 rebounds as Hammond Noll collected its first sectional title since 1990 by defeating host Calumet 68-51.

• Eight-time state champion Muncie Central (17-6) won its 51^st sectional crown and first since 1994 with a 69-38 rout of Richmond at the New Castle Sectional. The Bearcats held Richmond scoreless for more than 10 minutes to start the game while grabbing an 18-0 lead. Veteran coach Bill Harrell, who retired from the Muncie Central bench after the 1991-92 season and then returned in 1999-2000, celebrated his ninth sectional title. Harrell directed the Bearcats to state titles in 1978, 1979 and 1988. His teams have won a sectional title in four different decades.

• Loogootee (18-4) celebrated its 25^th sectional crown overall and 20^th under long-time coach Jack Butcher in a 26-24 overtime battle with Barr-Reeve at the Loogootee Sectional. The Lions held the ball for the entire overtime before hitting the winning free throws in the closing seconds. Butcher, who leads the state in coaching victories with 789, has coached teams to sectional titles in five different decades, all with the Lions.

• Speedway (18-4), which hadn’t won a sectional title since 1973 at Ben Davis, took no chances against Indian Creek. The host Sparkplugs bolted to a 28-0 lead over Indian Creek on the way to a 71-47 victory.

• Shenandoah won its first sectional title since its 1982 squad marched all the way to the state finals. Senior Jeremy Peckinpaugh hit two free throws with 24 seconds left to give the Raiders enough to get past Northeastern 69-64 at the Hagerstown Sectional.

• East Chicago Central (14-9) avenged two regular-season defeats to Gary Roosevelt – including an 86-46 loss in November – and claimed its first sectional crown since 1995 with a 44-40 victory at Gary West Side.

• East Noble won its first sectional title since 1997, 68-54 over Goshen at the Elkhart Central Sectional. It avenged a 58-39 loss to the Redskins a month earlier. East Noble celebrated its 13th sectional title but the first away from its home court.

• Cass, which ranks second in the state for defensive average at 42.0 points per game, stifled Manchester 46-20 for the Eastbrook Sectional title. The Kings won their 11^th straight game by limiting Manchester to 4-of-41 shooting from the field with no two-point field goals. First-year Cass coach Basil Mawbey celebrated his 20^th sectional title, with the championships coming at Angola, Connersville, Kokomo and Cass.

• Sullivan (23-2) claimed its fourth straight sectional title by defeating South Vermillion 55-48. The Golden Arrows have won 14 straight games and their 23 victories are a school single-season record.

• Despite going through the fourth quarter without a field goal, Glenn (19-4) eliminated two-time defending Class 2A state champion Westview 57-54 at the Westview Sectional. The Falcons, who were led by 25 points from Chris Adkins, hit 13 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter. It was first sectional title for Glenn since 1991 and the third ever.

• Park Tudor (18-4) ousted defending Class A state champion Lafayette Central Catholic 62-55 in overtime at the Clinton Central Sectional. The Panthers, playing in their 22^nd IHSAA state tournament, rallied from a 48-35 deficit in the third quarter to force the overtime.

• Senior Otis Shannon of Indianapolis Cathedral, another two-sport standout, scored a career-high 41 points to lead the Irish to an 80-77 overtime victory over Beech Grove at the Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Sectional. Shannon scored 29 points in the second half and finished 15 of 28 from the field. Named Indiana’s Mr. Football in 2000, Shannon holds state football records for rushing in a game (489), season (3,252) and career (7,560).

• Hoosier Hills Conference rivals Bedford North Lawrence and Jeffersonville went to overtime for the sixth time in their last nine meetings. Bedford North Lawrence emerged the victor, 73-67 at the Seymour Sectional. Senior Cole Sinclair scored Bedford North Lawrence’s first nine points in overtime and finished with a game-high 30 points and 14 rebounds for his 13^th double-double of the season.

• Huntington North won its first game in Marion since December 1971, eliminating defending Class 4A state champion Marion 68-61. The Vikings had lost their previous 10 IHSAA tournament games in the Bill Green Arena, and had suffered 25 straight losses overall in the building. Huntington North hit 12 of 15 free throws in the final quarter to seal the victory.

• Junior Anthony Winchester scored 37 points and grabbed 23 rebounds to lead Austin past Silver Creek 59-54 at the Silver Creek Sectional.

• Crawford County withstood a 37-point blast by junior Evan Seacat to defeat Paoli 74-69 at the Southridge Sectional. Seacat had seven three-pointers.

• With time expired, South Newton junior Sam Logan hit the first two shots of a three-shot foul to give the Rebels a 27-26 victory over Caston at the Tri-County Sectional.

• Junior Sean May of Bloomington North scored 17 of his game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter as the Panthers avoided upset-minded Center Grove and held on for a 65-63 victory at the Columbus North Sectional. May added 11 rebounds for the Cougars, who meet Bloomington South in the championship game.

• At North Newton, Winamac rallied from a 41-33 in the final four minutes as junior Kyle Podell scored the last 10 points of the game. Podell scored all 12 of Winamac’s fourth-quarter points.

• Senior Ðavid Logan of North Central (Indianapolis) hit seven three-point goals and scored a career-high 42 points to lead the Panthers past Noblesville 67-61 at the North Central Sectional.

• Freshman Logan Whitman of Northview hit a school-record 10 of 12 three-point attempts and finished with 30 points as the Knights fell to Martinsville 73-64 at the Terre Haute South Sectional. Whitman missed his first attempt, then hit 10 straight treys.

• Senior Dennis Coutee of Jeffersonville scored a career-high 40 points as the Red Devils downed Floyd Central 72-61 at the Seymour Sectional.

• Angel Rosado tossed in an off-balance sbot from near halfcourt at the buzzer to give River Forest a 71-69 triumph over Hebron at the Boone Grove Sectional.

• Senior Austin Brooks hit 16 of 22 shots on the way to a 39-point game as Evansville Day defeated New Harmony 68-43 at the Tecumseh Sectional.

• Cloverdale celebrated its first IHSAA tournament victory since winning the 1983 Terre Haute Regional by downing Tri-West Hendricks 57-42 at the South Putnam Sectional. Casey Burk came off the bench to score 17 points for the victorious Clovers.

• Hagerstown ended Winchester’s four-year of sectional championships with a 51-43 triumph at the Hagerstown Sectional. It also snapped a 46-game Winchester winning streak against Tri-Eastern Conference rivals that dated to 1997.

• Anderson Highland ended eight years of frustration with a 59-54 victory over archrival Anderson in the opening round of the Marion Sectional. Playing on their home floor, the Scots rallied from a 35-22 deficit late in the first half to beat Anderson for the first time in 13 meetings.

• Portage gained its first victory over Michigan City since the consolidation of Rogers and Elston high schools in 1995 in a 79-48 triumph at the Michigan City Sectional. The host Wolves had won 12 straight outings over Portage. Jake Parker led the Indians with 31 points.

• Norwell withstood a 32-point outburst by Peru guard Brandon Jones to win 95-88 in overtime at the Blackford Sectional. Jones, who scored 18 points in the final 3:14 of regulation, nailed a three-pointer from 25 feet to force the overtime at 78-78. All five Norwell starters scored in double figures, led by Patrick Hauk’s 25 along with 18 rebounds. He contributed seven points and five rebounds in the overtime.

• Central Noble rallied from a 19-point hole in the second quarter to defeat Churubusco 72-68 in overtime at the Garrett Sectional. Tyson Parker led the way by scoring 27 of his game-high 35 points in the second half.