DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
2000 Champs repeat at Conseco Fieldhouse

By Bob Potosky
High School Sports Publications
Northern Indiana Sports Report
Additional RRR State Finals Notes

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

For the first time ever in state history, four defending champions traveled to Indianapolis and successfully defended their crowns in girls hoops. Triton, Indianapolis Cathedral and Ben Davis repeated their 2000 success, and Fort Wayne Luers made history by becoming the first girls program to claim three titles in a row, and joined Franklin and Marion as the only schools to turn the trick.

For the first time, the Girls Finals were held at Conseco Fieldhouse, moved from Hinkle Fieldhouse the previous year.

Triton 55, White River Valley 38

Triton (23-3) repeated as Class 1A champs by scoring the first 16 points of the game and winning 55-38 over White River Valley (22-6).

After relying on Amber Feldman’s three-point overtime buzzer-beater last year to down Rising Sun, Feldman made sure that any dramatics would not be needed by scoring six out of Triton’s first eight points. The Trojan’s ‘D’ forced seven Wolverine turnovers in the stanza to jump out to a 20-3 lead at the first stop. “It’s a good thing we got off to a great start,” said Triton coach Mark Heeter. “That 16-0 start was huge for us. It was a one-point game from that point on. I think you can see some of the experience factor showing through there early in the game.”

Triton would extend the lead to 21 at 26-5, but the Trojans hit a drought, and had trouble hanging on to the pumpkin as they committed 13 turnovers in the 1st half, and finished with 25 total for the game. With turnovers plaguing the Trojans, the Wolverines tried to creep back in the game by closing the half on an 8-2 run to go into the locker room down 28-13.

White River Valley kept hanging around in the 2nd half. Three different times in the half the Wolverines got the deficit into single-digits, even as close as eight points in the early stages of the 4th quarter. But every time the Wolverines made a run, Triton answered every challenge by building on the lead, and put away White River Valley with a 15-9 4th quarter and repeating as 1A champs.

“We made a good run starting the second quarter I thought and continued to the third quarter,” said Wolverines coach Joe Pigg. “Then we kind of ran out of gas at the end.

“We just weren’t ready physically to start the game. To me, that’s what it boiled down to,” said Pigg.

Elizabeth Salyer led Triton with 13 points. Her 15 rebounds tied a record for a 1A title game. Ashli Senff and Feldman added 10 points for the Trojans. Ashlee Arthur scored a game-high 14 points for White River Valley. White River Valley’s April Williams was named as the Patricia Roy Mental Attitude Award Winner. 

“These girls had a target on them all year,” said Heeter. “We were No. 1 at the beginning of the year and we maintained that all year."

Luers 55, Shenandoah 39

Fort Wayne Luers (28-0) claimed their third consecutive Class 2A championship by defeating Shenandoah (25-1) 55-39 in a battle of unbeatens.

Luers broke a 7-7 deadlock with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter and went on a 20-2 run to build a 27-9 lead. Rachel King and Megan Dossen keyed the Knights run by combining for 16 points over a span of nine minutes. Despite a 5-2 spurt for the Raiders to close the quarter, Luers ended the half ahead 29-14.

The Knights started the 3rd quarter a little lethargic, and Shenandoah clawed their way back in the game. An Ashley Smith bucket got the Raiders within 11 at 33-22 at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter. A Teran Warner free throw and another Smith bucket got the Raiders within eight at 33-25. Luers then forced two key turnovers in the closing stages of the third and coverted those into baskets by Dossen and King and the Knights took a 37-25 lead into the 4th.

The Raiders got the deficit down to 12 in the 4th quarter, but the Knights date with history was not to be denied. Dossen led the Knights with 23 points. King capped her career with 20 points and was awarded the Patricia Roy Mental Attitude award. “There’s not a better leader in the state,” said Luers coach Gary Andrews. “I know some people in Indianapolis might disagree but she’s Miss Basketball.”

Tracie Hancock led the Raiders with 10 points. “We tip our hat to Fort Wayne Luers,” said Shenandoah coach Todd Salkoski. “They’re to be congratulated on their third straight championship.”

Indianapolis Cathedral 54, Plymouth 39

Plymouth headed into the Class 3A title game on the strength of their defense. But it was Indianapolis Cathedral (29-1) who tightened the defensive screws in a 54-39 win to repeat.

Plymouth (22-6) could not find the bottom of the basket in the first quarter by shooting 1-of-13 from the field and scoring three points. Asjah Zinnerman keyed the steady offensive attack for the Irish by scoring eight points in the quarter, including a bank-in three at the end of the stanza to give Cathedral a 13-3 lead.

The shooting woes continued for Plymouth as they finished the half by shooting 4-of-27. The Pilgrims were able to claw their way back by getting the deficit to nine points three minutes into the quarter, but the Irish closed the half on a 10-3 run, with Jessica Wright converting two steals into layups, and the Irish took a 29-13 lead at the half. “It was just one of those nights,” said Plymouth coach Dave Cox. “We had never played in Conseco (Fieldhouse). And the background is going to change the shooting style a little bit but Cathedral had to shoot at the same baskets.”

Plymouth got back to basics in the third, and Brandi Swihart put the Pilgrims on her shoulders, scoring eight points in the quarter and got the Pilgrims within 10 at the 2:18 mark of the third quarter 32-22. But then the Irish finished with 7-0 run, keyed by Wright  who hit a three-pointer and scored a layup in the run, and the Irish led 39-22 going into the 4th.

The Pilgrims had one final run in them, and got within 10 halfway through the 4th quarter, but the Irish mountain was too high to climb and Cathedral pulled away for the 15-point win. “I’m extremely proud of this team and for all of their hard work and effort throughout the season,” said Cathedral coach Linda Bamrick. “Our good start made the difference in the game.”

Wright led Cathedral with 16 points, while Sharika Webb and Zinnerman tallied 12 and 10 points respectively for the Irish. Swihart led the Pilgrims with 14 points and set a 3A title game record with 14 rebounds. Carin Benge of Plymouth was awarded the Patricia Roy Mental Attitude Award.

Ben Davis 69, Ft. Wayne Snider 45

The Class 4A championship proved to be a game of fond farewells. Fort Wayne Snider coach Lamar Kilmer was coaching his final game, and Ben Davis’ dynamic duo of Shyra Ely and Ashley Allen were playing their final high school game. Allen and Ely blew open a close game in the third quarter to propel the Giants (27-2) to a 69-45 win over the Panthers (25-3).

Snider steadily built a 9-6 lead in the 1st quarter as Jasmine Fullove scored five points for the Panthers. But the Giants took the lead at the end of the stanza on an Allen three-ball 11-9.

The Panthers took a 15-13 lead three minutes into the second quarter, but an 8-0 run by the Giants put them into lead, and it would be a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. A Megan Mattson bucket at the end of the half got Snider with two 23-21 at the intermission.

An Erin Heffner free throw to start the third quarter got Snider within a point at 23-22. After that it was all Ben Davis. Baskets by Allen and Ely after steals extended the Giants lead to seven and forced Kilmer to call time. “Once we got the first steal and bucket we got going,” said Giants coach Stan Benge.

The Giants harrassed Snider all half long and used a 26-9 advantage in the third quarter to put away the Panthers. The Giants defensive pressure was relentless in forcing 30 turnovers for the contest. “They seemed to put a lot of pressure on us tonight, and we just didn’t handle the press that well,” said Kilmer. “But it was their overall full-court defense that made us take some difficult shots tonight.”

Allen scored 20 points and made nine steals  to lead the Giants, while Ely chipped in with 19. Freshman Janese Banks added 12 points for Ben Davis. Ely was awarded the Patricia Roy Mental Attitude Award.

After 21 years at Snider, Kilmer finished with a record of 356-106. “I know we didn’t win the ballgame, but I just want to say that it’s great to retire with a bunch of winners on my team,” said Kilmer.