On the north wall of Carroll Fieldhouse resides a massive display of each Chargers athletics program and the years in which it has achieved a championship of some sort.
On the girls’ basketball placard, all the multiple years signifying sectional titles are accompanied by a single number for the program’s lone regional crown in 1998.
“We have talked about getting a partner up there because it is lonely,” said Coach Mark Redding. “That was our goal – to get another number next to the ’98. This group finally did it.”
The Chargers sure did, locking up their second-ever regional championship with a 66-58 victory over Homestead in the Class 4A Marion Regional championship game on Saturday night.
Despite Homestead never leading over the course of 32 minutes, the win for Carroll was anything but easy.
With Ayanna Patterson running amok to the tune of a game-high 33 points, Carroll (25-2) needed to answer every charge that the junior star and her Homestead teammates made. Innumerable times the Spartans would bring the game to within one possession, and twice they tied the game, yet each time, the Chargers had an answer.
In one clutch moment, it was freshman Lexi Castator with and-1s on consecutive possessions.
In another, it was sophomore Nevaeh Jackson rising up and knocking down a pair of three-pointers with the game in the balance.
With every point needed late, sophomore Saniya Jackson calmly stepped to the free throw line and knocked down one after another to help keep the Spartans at bay.
“The only thing we always talk about is that we go nine or 10 girls deep and they can all score,” Redding said. “The great thing about it is you don’t know who is going to show up each game.”
After semifinal victories earlier in the day, it was fitting that Carroll and Homestead met in the final with a regional trophy on the line. Earlier this season, it was the Chargers who handed their rival its first-ever regular-season loss in the Summit Athletic Conference after years of dominance.
Last year, Homestead knocked Carroll out in the regional semis in a 51-24 rout.
While many of the Chargers are young, one of the few seniors still vividly remembered.
“Last year they sent us home (in the regional),” senior Emily Parrett said. “So to be able to come back and win and send them home is really exciting.”
Carroll’s two wins over Homestead this season marks the first time that a northeast Indiana team has beaten the Spartans twice in the same year since South Side did it in 2008-09.
When asked how big it was to beat their rival, one that has owned the series for the better part of a decade prior to this year, to capture a regional crown and advance, Redding pointed to his team.
“It says a lot about our girls,” Redding said. “We stayed within our game plan. We spread them out and we attacked. We had to switch to a 3-2 (zone) because Patterson was killing us. So we squished on her and hoped they didn’t make shots.”
Unfortunately for Patterson, the consistent secondary scoring that has been so prevalent of late did not materialize against the Chargers. After the Spartans (20-6) needed overtime in the second semifinal to dispatch of Noblesville, the turnaround time was relatively short to prepare for the nightcap. Homestead was just 4-of-23 from three-point range against Carroll after hitting 7-of-12 against Noblesville.
Meanwhile, the Carroll offensive balance that has been a hallmark of the team all year showed out against the Spartans. Five girls scored eight or more points, with Saniya Jackson scoring a team-high 16 points, sister Nevaeh adding 14 points and Emily Parrett 11.
Carroll now moves on to the 4A North Semistate at LaPorte, where it will take on second-ranked Crown Point (23-1) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The first game at LaPorte will feature Norwell (23-5) against South Bend Washington (21-5) at noon.
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