It is sectional week for high school girls basketball, which means it is a weird schedule this week for the boys. There was only a smattering of games on Tuesday, a few coming on Friday night and a light Saturday night schedule.

But that does not mean it is a light week overall. It will be the rare Thursday night filled with big games and Saturday afternoon is pretty good, too. Here are games and storylines to watch going into Thursday and the weekend, with a few predictions:

Lawrence North gets a scare, stays unbeaten

It is a big weekend for Lawrence North, which is the newly crowned No. 1 team in Class 4A in the Associated Press poll. The 17-0 Wildcats are at Carmel (8-9) on Thursday night and come back home on Saturday afternoon to host Fort Wayne North Side (12-5).

The trickier game of the two is Carmel, which is coming off a 54-46 win over previous No. 1 Fishers, ending the Tigers 16-game winning streak to start the season. The Greyhounds, after a slow 2-6 start with a young and inexperienced team, have now won four consecutive games with victories over Pike, Brownsburg, Ben Davis and Fishers.

Can Alex Couto, Evan Harrell and the Greyhounds do it again at home against Lawrence North? Couto went for 26 points against Fishers. He and senior Ryan Clevenger will have a tough matchup against Lawrence North guards Azavier Robinson and Kobi Bowles, who are about as physical of a backcourt duo as you will find. An arguably even bigger challenge will come against the Wildcats’ frontcourt of sophomores Brennan Miller and Kai McGrew.

I think Lawrence North wins a close one at Carmel and comes out of the weekend still undefeated.

Fishers bounces back, wins HCC

Why can’t we spread these great games out a little bit?

Class 4A No. 2 Westfield (14-1) is at No. 3 Fishers (16-1) on Thursday night in a game that could decide the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. If Fishers wins, the Tigers will clinch the HCC title with a league game still remaining at Zionsville (Feb. 16). Westfield and Noblesville would both have two HCC losses with only one game remaining.

A Westfield win would tie the Shamrocks at the top of the standings with Fishers. The Shamrocks, whose only loss came to HCC rival Brownsburg, still have a conference game remaining vs. Franklin Central on Feb. 16.

Beyond those stakes, it is just a great matchup. Only three opponents have scored more than 46 points on Westfield this season. The Shamrocks get most of their offensive production from senior guard Trey Buchanan (13.3 ppg, 2.6 assists, 40% 3-pointers) and senior forward Nic Book (12.7 ppg, 7.7 rebounds), along with several players who play their roles well.

Fishers is the more explosive offensive team, averaging 69.5 points. Senior Keenan Garner (17.0 ppg, 8.4 rebounds) is having a season that should land him on the Indiana All-Star team. Can Westfield handle the Tigers’ full-court press?

I like Fishers to win at home in a close game. That is hardly the end of the weekend, though. The Tigers will play in the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout in Illinois at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday against Homewood-Flossmoor (22-2), the No. 2 ranked team in Illinois. That game will be played with a shot clock.

Cathedral travels up road to Kokomo

Why can’t we spread these games out a little bit? OK, I’m repeating myself. But seriously.

Class 4A fifth-ranked Cathedral (13-2) plays at No. 7 Kokomo (16-3) on Thursday night in another top-10 showdown. Can Cathedral’s interior play hold up against Flory Bidunga (17.6 ppg, 12.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocked shots) and Karson Rogers (17.4 ppg, 8.5 rebounds)? Cathedral has a tough matchup of its own in junior Brady Koehler (17.9 ppg, 6.1) and could get a big lift if sophomore Keaton Aldridge (15.3 ppg, 7.0 in 10 games) can return.

It should be a great atmosphere on Thursday night at Kokomo. I like the Wildkats in a tight one.

Other games of note and things to watch …

∎ Class 4A No. 6 Greenfield-Central (16-0) goes on the road to Delta on Thursday night, which could be tricky. Class 3A No. 8 Delta (13-5) played Mt. Vernon to a 53-51 loss on Saturday night. Those 51 points match what Braylon Mullins scored himself in a 74-72 double overtime thriller on Saturday at Pendleton Heights.

∎ If you are wanting to see a good small-school game Thursday night, head down to Loogootee for its game vs. Orleans. I covered this game last year at Orleans and it went four overtimes – a 62-58 Loogootee win. Loogootee then beat Orleans again for the Class A Sectional 63 championship and came within one point of beating Class A state champion Lutheran in the semistate. Orleans (13-2) is ranked No. 3 in Class A; Loogootee (10-6) is ranked No. 9.

∎ Plainfield (12-5) will get an up-close look at two of its potential sectional opponents (Class 4A Sectional 12) in less than a 48-hour span. The Quakers travel to Terre Haute North (14-3) on Thursday night, then turn around and host Terre Haute South (7-8) on Saturday afternoon.

Terre Haute North is riding an 11-game winning streak, which includes four wins en route to the championship of the Wabash Valley tournament at the end of December. Senior Braden Walters (11.2 ppg, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists) is a transfer from last year’s Linton-Stockton team that reached the Class 2A state championship.

∎ Two of the state’s most tradition-rich programs go head-to-head on Thursday night when Class 4A No. 9 Richmond (18-1) plays at Anderson (13-4). Juniors Cedric Horton (18.5 ppg) and Mason Carpenter (13.2 ppg) lead Richmond. Anderson junior Damien King (23.7 ppg, 8.8 rebounds) scored 39 points in Anderson’s 65-62 loss to Lawrence Central on Saturday. Both teams are undefeated in the North Central Conference and trying to keep pace with Kokomo, which is 6-0 in the league but has not played Richmond or Anderson yet.

∎ Brownstown Central senior and Purdue recruit Jack Benter has just one game this week (vs. Columbus East on Thursday night) but could jump up several spots on the state’s all-time scoring list. Benter currently has 2,227 points to rank No. 27. He will soon pass Johnell Davis of Gary 2^1st Century (2,228 points), Logan Irwin of Whitko (2,230), Mekhi Lairy of Evansville Bosse (2,237) and Anthony Winchester of Austin (2,256).

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: What to watch, predictions for Thursday schedule