Sectional week is finally here.

Sixty-four girls basketball sectionals in four classes are being played around the state this week.

Trinity Lutheran, Crothersville and Medora are concentrating on the Class A New Washington Sectional that will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday when Trinity Lutheran (11-11) faces Medora (7-14), followed by Crothersville (4-17) playing Shawe Memorial (8-12).

New Washington (9-13) will play the Trinity-Medora winner at 6 p.m. Friday, and that game will be followed by Rising Sun (8-13) playing the Crothersville-Shawe winner. The championship game will be played Saturday night.

Darrin Keith, in his first season as head coach at Trinity, said the Cougars are looking forward to defending their sectional title. Trinity did not face Medora during the regular season.

“We’re just going to have to play our game,” he said. “Our game starts with defense. Our defense creates offense, and I don’t know what the percentage of it is, but it’s a lot.”

Trinity dropped its final regular-season game at Madison 67-51 on Thursday night and is averaging 58 points per game and giving up an average of 56 per game. Medora comes in with an offensive average of 37 and a defensive average of 50.

“When we can get into our sets and run the stuff that we need to be running, we’re pretty good,” Keith said.

Marley Warren tops the Cougars in scoring at 14.4 points per game. She is followed by Liza Froedge at 10.4 and Jordan Brewer at 9.

Madison Keith, the coach’s daughter, suffered a knee injury Jan. 4 at West Washington and hasn’t been able to play since.

Coach Keith said he talked to his team about the lack of rebounding following the South Decatur game, and he felt the team did a better job in its final two games.

He also said he would like to see the team reduce its turnovers and for his team to turn up its defensive pressure.

“You put Laura (Roeder) on a kid and Laura is going to play good defense. Laura is a different kid. She is awesome, she has quick hands. She plays as hard as she can play no matter what the score,” he said. “If we do what we do and don’t let somebody dictate us, I think we’ll walk out of there with another sectional trophy.”

Malik Cook-Stroupe is in his first season coaching the Lady Hornets.

The Hornets lost their final game of the regular season to Union Dugger by 20 points on Friday night.

Jenna Bowers tops the Hornets in scoring at 16.7, and Aaralyn Hackney is next at 13.3. Medora finished runner-up in the Southern Roads Conference tournament.

Crothersville coach Curtis White says his team will look for redemption when it faces Shawe in the second game Tuesday night. The Tigers fell to Shawe 58-10 on Jan. 4.

He spoke on the chance to face the Hilltoppers once again.

“It gives us a chance to play a team that beat us badly before Christmas and allows us a chance at redemption,” White said. “In the first game, the girls played scared, and Shawe simply had their way on the floor. I believe we have made improvements since then and hope to change the outcome this time.”

White believes one big thing will be if the Tigers can handle the pressure of playing in the postseason.

“The key for us will be able to handle the pressure that they will apply,” he said. “We will need to have more confidence on the offensive end of the floor. We will need to step up on defensive intensity.”

White also is in his first year as Tigers coach. Jojo Clay tops the Tigers in scoring at eight points per game.

The Tigers coach spoke on the improvement of the team during the course of the season.

“Watching the girls at the start of the season and seeing them play now, there is a big difference,” White said. “I feel that the girls work hard, and that is half the way of making up for our shortcomings in other areas.”