It's not even March, and the madness has already begun.

Tuesday night's Central Indiana boys basketball sectional matchups, which Brian Moore so eloquently previewed for us, resulted in some surprising finishes—most notably the game between Cathedral and Warren Central.

Sectional 10 has already not disappointed. Cathedral’s Sean Esposito and Errick Peck put the Offutt-less Warriors to the test and won in nail-biting fashion, 67-66.

The two teams combined for 48 points in a Phoenix Suns-esque fourth quarter, but Warren Central (16-7) could not muster the necessary comeback. The 6-foot-8-inch junior Ed Hazelett led Warren Central with 20 points, but Cathedral’s Esposito finished with a game-high 23 points while Peck finished with 17.

It’s shocking to see the sectional host go down in the first game, and Warren’s season is a head-scratcher considering it leaves a huge “What If”—What if Walter Offutt hadn’t gone down with the season-ending knee injury in December? But so it goes. Props to Cathedral (21-2) for pulling out the victory on tough ground. The Irish will now play Lawrence North Friday.

The other game that blew me away—not so much in the actual result, but in the dominating fashion it was achieved—was between Plainfield and Terre Haute South. Going into the game, TH South (18-5) was ranked No.17 in the state among all classes in the final IBCA Coaches’ Poll (the voters rank all Indiana schools in every class, so TH South was actually ranked higher in Class 4A alone), but Plainfield (17-3) handily disposed of the Braves, 78-58.

Four Quakers reached double figures: Grant Tolliver with 21, Blake Metcalf, Brian Mucho with 11 and Jameson Wheeler with 10. A 20-point defeat of No. 17 TH South? Plainfield has been good all season long, as its record shows, but this game proved that even more. They’ll take on the other side of Terre Haute now (TH North) on Friday. Look out for the Quakers, Sectional 13.

One last game I would like to highlight from last night is Brownburg’s 59-54 victory against Ben Davis. Brownsburg (16-5) certainly did not dismantle the Giants (5-15) by any means, but senior Julian Mavunga threw down a great performance—I’m talking “Charles Barkley” great (Tha’s a turrible comparison, Bob…just turrible). He put up 32 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and catapulted the Bulldogs into Friday’s matchup against an 11-9 Pike team.

I think it is Brownsburg’s sectional to lose (it helps the team is hosting), even though Pike won its sectional last year and even though Pike still has a formidable frontcourt.

Finally, Guerin Catholic’s sectional game was scheduled for 7 p.m. last night against Madison-Grant. However, it was postponed because Madison-Grant did not have school because of the always unpredictable Indiana weather. And if there’s no school, there are no extracurricular activities. I just hope those players enjoyed the snow day. I’ve been spoiled enough to experience a few during college, and quite frankly they never get old. But now it’s time for the two teams to lace 'em up as they face off tonight at 7 p.m. at Tipton.