It was a Saturday of firsts last weekend.

Whiting and Wheeler both celebrated each the first girls basketball sectional title in school history.

The city of Gary boasted two girls sectional champions in the same season for the first time with Lew Wallace winning in its first year in Class 3A to add to the usual West Side victory.

Calumet even got into the act with a first — the first repeat of a sectional championship by any basketball team in the school’s history.

All of those accolades are just a memory now that those teams get ready to take on the next endeavor with a regional title in their sights.

“First and foremost, we were floating on air last year being the first one,” said Calumet coach Dori Downing of her team’s loss to Tippecanoe Valley last year. “They were just goofy! It’s a little bit easier to get the girls focused this year.”

The Warriors might have one of the toughest roads of any area team on Saturday in the Class 3A Twin Lakes Regional. They face a South Bend St. Joseph’s squad that made it to the state final last year before losing to Beech Grove.

The Indians not only will be focused on returning to Indianapolis, but they might have had one of the toughest schedules from top to bottom.

“My kids have a brain. They understand how good South Bend is,” Downing said. “We might get killed. We might surprise some people. But we’re going to play hard.

“Their nerves will be better. They know they’ve got nothing to lose against a very good team.”

The other area team in the Twin Lakes Regional is Lew Wallace, which will face a West Lafayette team with a 20-3 record that is a little deceiving. It plays in the Hoosier Conference, which only has one other team with a winning record.

The Hornets are making their first regional appearance since 1995. They will be trying for the second regional title in school history with the last coming in 1986.

In Class 2A, the shine has already worn off the Bearcats’ first sectional trophy with a very good Rochester team on the docket.

Even though a tough double-overtime victory might worry some coaches or fans, Wheeler coach Tim Powers gives all the credit to his opponent.

“(Boone Grove) played a triangle-and-two, box-and-one defense on us,” he said. “It was a great coaching move by coach (Candy) Wilson. We hadn’t seen it all year.”

Especially with Ali Roper out of the game, the players will have to count on each other and the experience of Powers who has been here before.

“This is the first time for the girls, but I’ve won sectionals before,” Powers said. “I know and understand that if we don’t play better basketball and play up to our potential and ability for all 32 minutes, then we won’t win.”

On paper, it looks like Whiting will only have to worry about one player in its semifinal match-up against Fort Wayne Canterbury. But that player is a good one.

Freshman Megan King averages more than 27 points per game for Canterbury, including a game in which she scored 40 of the team’s 55 points in a victory over Triton.

She also averages just under six rebounds. No other player on the team averages more than 8.8 points.

“We kind of practice that way,” said Whiting coach Joe Pokraka. “We have someone trying to guard Becca (Papach) and try to control her.”

Papach, though, averages more than 12 points less than King. So it will be up to the defense to step up even more and hold the freshman phenom to below her usual output.

Steve T. Gorches can be reached at 648-3141 or by e-mail at sgorches@post-trib.com.