With no clear-cut heavy favorite in three of the state's four classes (defending Class A champion Lanesville is the exception after knocking off Borden), this year's IHSAA girls basketball state tournament was ripe for parity. And oh my goodness did sectionals ever deliver.

From some close calls on opening night to a truly chaotic Saturday, these were some of the week's biggest surprises.

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Saturday: Homestead stuns Columbia City

Host Columbia City was the team to beat within its sectional and among the frontrunners in Class 4A. It boasted an experienced lineup headlined by 1,000-point scorers Addi Baxter, a junior Butler commit, and Kyndra Sheets, a senior Huntington commit, and a resume that included wins over FW Snider, Valparaiso, Hamilton Southeastern and FW Northrop, plus Indian Creek and Jennings County at the Hall of Fame Classic.

But for the fifth straight season, the Homestead hurdle proved insurmountable.

The Eagles raced out to a 10-0 lead behind a strong start by Molly Baker, who racked up eight of her team-high 17 points over the first eight minutes. But Myah Epps pulled Homestead back into contention before halftime, then after Baker broke a 36-all tie to start the fourth, sophomore Whitney Ankenbruck put the Spartans ahead for good. Homestead converted nine of 12 free throws down the stretch and were led in scoring by Epps (22). Helsom and Ankenbruck added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

This sectional runs through Homestead and next Saturday's showdown between Epps and McCutcheon freshman Lillie Graves will be must-see television.

Saturday: Bedford North Lawrence wins its 13th consecutive sectional title

If Jennings County was to finally pick off Bedford North Lawrence in sectionals, this was going to be the year. The Panthers boasted one of the state's best top-3s with Juliann Woodard, Alivia Elmore and Mollie Ernstes, and had pummeled the Stars during the regular season, snapping a 20-plus game losing streak vs. the Stars, who struggled this season to find steady production outside Miss Basketball candidate Chloe Spreen.

But for as ugly as the regular-season matchup was, BNL knew it couldn't play much worse in the rematch and behind a career-high 24 points from senior Madisyn Bailey, they stunned the Panthers at Floyd Central to win their 13th consecutive sectional crown (39 straight sectional wins). Spreen finished with 16 points.

Friday/Saturday: Pike!

How about them Red Devils?! Their sectional was wide open and second-year coach Keith Hollins' squad was the one to break through, knocking out Roncalli and Franklin Central (aka the two I picked to reach the finals) over the weekend.

Pike out-scored Roncalli 43-19 in the second half and forced a total of 23 turnovers en route to a 62-39 drubbing in the semifinals, avenging a 65-38 loss back in November. Freshman Saniya Smith hit three straight field goals to break open a one-point game, then Akylah Cole and Korinne Nickolson hit back-to-back 3s to push the lead to double digits and seize full control for Pike.

Saturday's finale was a touch more dramatic with the Red Devils rallying from an eight-point deficit over the final three minutes to win, 61-60.

Pretty cool run by Pike, which took its licks against a stacked regular season schedule, but stayed the course and is now a win away from advancing to semistate for the first time since 2017.

Tuesday/Saturday: Close calls for Franklin

No disrespect to any of the other teams in the field, but the Whiteland sectional was kinda supposed to be a cakewalk for the Grizzly Cubs.

The first and last games of their run were anything but.

Let's start with Tuesday. Shelbyville — which lost to Franklin, 60-32, in December —  limited its opponent to a season-low 31 field goal attempts (second-lowest: 42 vs. Center Grove). While the Grizzly Cubs converted on 45% of those shots, they were held under 40 points for the first time since Nov. 2022 in the 37-32 come-from-behind win.

Then on Saturday, host Whiteland gave them a serious run for their money, building a four-point lead with 3:45 remaining. But an empty Warriors possession was followed by a pair of free throws by Brooklyn York (16 points) and a go-ahead 3-pointer by Lauren Klem with 1:11 remaining. Franklin escaped, 45-42.

Friday: New Palestine spoils a Pendleton Heights homecoming

This may seem peculiar considering the Dragons won the regular-season meeting. But the stars were seemingly aligned for Pendleton Heights to win its sectional for the first time since 2011. It was rated highest in RPI, featured one of the area's best (Kaycie Warfel) and two rising underclassmen (sophomore Olivia Jones and freshman Adah Hupfer), it was hosting the event (for maybe the first time ever?) and it avoided rival Mt. Vernon.

Heck, the Arabians even erased a nine-point deficit Friday to set themselves up for a dramatic entrance into a fourth straight state tournament meeting with the Marauders.

But alas, senior Allie Blum grabbed a rebound, drew a foul and sank both free throws with 8.7 seconds left to lift the visiting Dragons to a dramatic 46-44 triumph.

New Palestine advanced to the final for a sixth time in seven seasons; Pendleton Heights was left to lament what could have been. The Arabians return almost their entire roster, but with sectional realignment on the horizon and area teams like Greenfield-Central on the rise, it probably won't be getting any easier.

Friday: A top-5 upset at Delphi

Lafayette Central Catholic delivered one of the week's biggest upsets Friday, knocking off Class 2A No. 4 Carroll (Flora), 42-39.

The Knights, who beat Carroll in last season's sectional final, leaned on their defense to get the job done. Running a triangle-and-two (per the Lafayette Journal & Courier), they limited Western Michigan commit Alli Harness to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting and held fellow senior Madison Wagner scoreless.

Carroll shot 33% as a team; its 39 points were its fewest since Jan. 2022 (34 at Caston).

A likely Indiana All-Star, Harness graduates with over 2,000 career points.

Friday: Covenant Christian avenges regular-season rout

The Warriors lost to University by 33 during the regular season. They retaliated Friday and secured their first state tournament win since 2021 with a 56-47 triumph in the sectional semifinals. That's an impressive turnaround by CC, which rallied from a 10-point deficit.

Vivian Hafner scored 30 points and hit four 3-pointers in the second half (eight total) for Covenant Christian, while teammate Avery Recihart recorded 17 points with the team's other three triples.

Friday: Lebanon denies Tri-West a rivalry rematch

Honestly, a Danville-Tri-West final felt inevitable at Cascade, but weird things happen in February and Lebanon crashed those plans by beating the Bruins for just the second time since 2017-18 on Friday night.

It was a seesaw battle with Tri-West leading after a quarter, Lebanon leading at half and the score tied at 36 entering the fourth. Lebanon led by three with two minutes remaining, then Claire Boling hit a pair of free throws to help ice the win in the final minute.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana girls basketball sectionals: Biggest playoff surprises so far