Staff reports
For Johnson County’s football and soccer teams, the postseason landscape will look considerably different next year.
The IHSAA released new sectional alignments Monday for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years across six sports: football, boys and girls soccer, volleyball and boys and girls basketball.
The biggest local changes in football come in Class 5A, where Franklin and Whiteland’s sectional will continue to include Martinsville, but Columbus East and New Palestine are being replaced by Bloomington North and Bloomington South.
Reigning 4A state champion Roncalli moves up to Class 5A and into a sectional featuring perennial power Cathedral, which is moving down after two years in Class 6A. Also in the Rebels’ bracket will be Decatur Central, Indianapolis Tech and Plainfield.
Greenwood, which lost to Roncalli in a 4A sectional final last year, will now be in a sectional with Beech Grove, Connersville, Mooresville, Mount Vernon (Fortville), New Castle and Richmond.
Center Grove’s Class 6A football sectional still will include Columbus North and Jeffersonville, while Franklin Central replaces New Albany.
In 3A, Indian Creek is joined by Crispus Attucks, Bishop Chatard, Broad Ripple, Cardinal Ritter, Indianapolis Manual, Indianapolis Northwestern and Rushville. Edinburgh’s Class A sectional will feature Cambridge City Lincoln, Hagerstown, Indianapolis Lutheran, North Decatur, Oldenburg Academy, South Decatur and Tri.
On the soccer field, the move to three classes has shifted the alignment, but all four Johnson County schools will remain grouped together.
For the 3A boys, Center Grove, Franklin, Greenwood and Whiteland are grouped with Perry Meridian, Roncalli and Southport. On the girls side, the four county schools will be joined by Columbus East and Columbus North.
In basketball, the Class 4A sectional grouping (Center Grove, Franklin, Franklin Central, Greenwood, Martinsville and Whiteland) is unchanged. Class A squads Edinburgh and Greenwood Christian will be in separate sectionals after being together the past two winters.
