Could this be their year?

Speedway’s girls basketball team learned their IHSAA tournament fate Sunday. The Lady Sparkplugs will enter tournament play hovering around .500 but they are the tournament favorites for the Class 3A Sectional 28 field that they host.

The Sparkplugs will face Beech Grove on Tuesday, Jan. 31 in the 6 p.m. sectional opener. The Sparkplugs defeated Beech Grove 52-28 on January 14th. With a win, the Sparkplugs would advance to Friday night’s semifinal against Purdue Polytech.

The other side of the bracket features three teams: George Washington, Cardinal Ritter, and Christel House Manual, and those three teams have a combined nine wins this season.

The Lady Sparkplugs (9-9, 4-1 ICC)  have two regular season matchups remaining.  The first is a road date at Lutheran on Tuesday night where the Sparkplugs are favored.  The second is a larger challenge.  Coach Joe Smith’s squad will take on ICC rival Cascade (18-2, 5-1 ICC) in a contest that will determine the conference runner-up for the season. Cascade’s only losses this season are to ICC champ Triton Central and 4A Brownsburg in the Hendricks County tournament.

The Lady Sparkplugs rallied from a loss to 4A Southport with a win Saturday night. On Saturday, the Lady Sparkplugs hosted South Putnam.   Speedway picked up their first win over the Eagles in ten years, taking a 45-33 victory.

Juniors Alex DeLisle and Daniella Galvez continue to deliver strong performances during the month of January. DeLisle posted 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal for the evening. Galvez added 13 points and six rebounds in the nonconference victory.