February 22, 2026

Boys Basketball State Tournament begins next week Indiana Pacers, Fever are Presenting Sponsors of State Tournament

The two opening weeks of pairings have been announced for the 116th Annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament presented by the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever.

Sectional games are scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 3, and run through Saturday, March 7 with regionals on Saturday, March 14.

The regional is a single-game championship, and the semi-state is a two-round affair with the winner advancing to the state championship game.

Two regional championship games will be played back-to-back at the same site with the winners finding out their next opponent and host site the following day. The semi-state games – scheduled for Saturday, March 21 – will be randomly drawn and announced in a special pairings show via IHSAAtv.org on Sunday, March 15.

The four state championship games that make up the State Finals will be played on Saturday, March 28, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, home of our presenting partners,the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever.

About the Draw

IHSAA To Induct Ping-Pong Balls Into The Hall Of Fame

To conduct the random drawing for the boys basketball state tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in each sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order. For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two.

That same method is followed through all 64 sectionals and 16 regionals.

No. of Schools Entered: 404 teams (+1 from 2024).

By Class: 82 4A teams; 100 3A teams; 100 2A teams; 122 1A teams.

Total No. of Games: 400 games in 26 days.

Last Year’s State Champions

4A: Jeffersonville (vs. Floyd Central in Sectional 15 at Seymour)

3A: South Bend Saint Joseph (now playing in 4A; vs. Mishawaka-South Bend Adams winner in Sectional 3 semifinals at Mishawaka)

2A: Manchester (hosts Oak Hill in Sectional 38 first round game)

1A: Orleans (vs. Washington Catholic in Sectional 62 opener at Loogootee)

Schools Play Up due to Tournament Success Factor

4A: Scottsburg (vs. New Albany in Sectional 15 first round at Seymour)

4A: South Bend Saint Joseph (now playing in 4A; vs. Mishawaka-South Bend Adams winner in

Sectional 3 semifinals at Mishawaka)

3A: Brownstown Central (vs. North Harrison in Sectional 30 first round at Madison Consolidated)

3A: Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (vs. Angola in Sectional 21 opener at DeKalb)

Most State Championships

8: Marion, Muncie Central.

7: Washington.

5: Carmel.

4: Ben Davis, Frankfort, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks, Lawrence North, Park Tudor.

3: Anderson, Bloomington South (Bloomington), Evansville Bosse, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Franklin Community, Lafayette Central Catholic, Lafayette Jefferson, Lebanon, Martinsville, Pike.

All‐Time Consecutive State Tournament Victories

33: Franklin Community, 1920‐23.

28: Marion, 1985‐88.

24: Lawrence North, 2004‐07.

Active Consecutive State Tournament Win Streaks

7: Jeffersonville, Orleans, South Bend Saint Joseph

6: Manchester

Last Year’s Sectional Champions

4A: Brownsburg, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Crown Point, Evansville Harrison, Fishers, Harrison (West Lafayette), Homestead, Jeffersonville, Lawrence North, Mooresville, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), Portage, South Bend Riley, Terre Haute North Vigo, Warsaw Community, Whiteland Community.

3A: Brownstown Central, Columbia City, Delta, East Chicago Central, Evansville Memorial, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Guerin Catholic, Hanover Central, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks, Jennings County, Maconaquah, Marion, New Palestine, Northview, Princeton Community, South Bend Saint Joseph.

2A: 21st Century, Centerville, Forest Park, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Jimtown, Linton-Stockton, Manchester, Parke Heritage, Providence, South Ripley, Tipton, Triton Central, University, Wapahani, Western Boone, Westview.

1A: Christian Academy of Indiana, Clay City, Clinton Prairie, Daleville, Hauser, Indianapolis Lutheran, Kouts, Lafayette Central Catholic, Lakewood Park Christian, Liberty Christian,Monroe Central, North Decatur, Northeast Dubois, Orleans, Tri-County, Triton.

Active Sectional Championship Streaks (Three or more years)

8: Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian.

4: 21st Century, Brownstown Central, Forest Park, Liberty Christian, Tipton

3: Delta, Guerin Catholic, New Palestine, Parke Heritage, Tri-County, Wapahani, Westview.

Most Consecutive Sectional Championships

29 by Lafayette Jefferson, 1944‐72.

Top 10 All‐Time Sectional Championships

77: Kokomo.

71: Marion, Vincennes Lincoln.

69: Lafayette Jefferson.

64: Richmond.

60: New Castle.

59: Connersville, Muncie Central.

56: Logansport.

54: Valparaiso.

Semi-States

Date: Saturday, March 21, 2026.

Admission: $12 session. Children age 5 and younger admitted free.

Pairings: Each site will have four teams from the same class and will play two semifinal games and a championship with the winner advancing to the state championship game. Pairings will be made by random draw and announced via IHSAAtv.org on Sunday, March 15, 2026, the day after the regional championship games. The designated home team will be the second team listed in each game.

North

Elkhart (North Side Gymnasium)

Logansport (Berry Bowl)

Lafayette Jefferson (Marion Crawley Center)

Muncie Central (Muncie Fieldhouse)

South

New Castle (New Castle Fieldhouse)

Southport (Southport Fieldhouse)

Seymour (Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium)

Washington (Hatchet House)

State Finals

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2026.

Site: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 125 S. Pennsylvania

Street, Indianapolis.

Admission : $20 per session (two games).

Home Team: The winners of the north semi-states will be the designated home teams.

Streaming: All four state championship games will stream exclusively on IHSAAtv.org and the IHSAAtv suite of apps (iPhone, Android phone, Roku, Amazon Firestick, AppleTV, and Android TV) via pay-per-view for $20 per game or $25 for all games.

Radio: Each game will be broadcast on affiliates of the IHSAA Champions Network.

Class 1A State Championship | 10:30 am ET

Class 2A State Championship | Approx. 12:45 pm ET

Class 3A State Championship | 6 pm ET

Class 4A State Championship | Approx. 8:15 pm ET

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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)

The IHSAA is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization that is self-supporting without the use of tax monies. Since its founding in 1903, the Association’s mission has been to provide wholesome, educational athletics for the secondary schools of Indiana. Its 412-member high schools – public, institutional, parochial and private – pay no annual membership fee or incur entry fees to play in the Association’s tournaments. A state tournament series is conducted annually in 24 sports, 11 for girls, 11 for boys and two co-eds (Unified Flag Football, Unified Track and Field). A 19-person board of directors, elected by member school principals, governs the organization.