These three girls basketball teams are halfway to a state championship and two wins away from punching their ticket to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Here’s a look at the storylines from all three remaining teams heading into Semistate Saturday.
Homestead to face the best of the best
Homestead (23-4) enters Semistate two wins away from their 3rd ever trip to the state finals and the first since their state championship in 2017.
Coach Rod Parker said in his team’s 51-34 win over McCutcheon that he was proud of his team’s defense, especially with Emma Reust and Carley Moellering defending freshman Lillian Graves who was held to 3-22 shooting.
In the second half offensively, Parker said his team moved the ball much better and showed maturity.
“Whitney (Ankenbruck) gave us a quick start to the game offensively, Gabby (Helsom) had some big baskets down the stretch, and I thought Myah (Epps) had a great second half highlighted by some very important baskets.” said Parker.
Ankenbruck had 12 points all from 3-point range, and Epps led the Spartans with 15 points. On Saturday, they’ll be heading to “The Region” in LaPorte, IN to take on a DAC school in Lake Central (24-4). This team has 5 players averaging at least 7.7 points per game led by senior forward Aniyah Bishop who is averaging 9.1 points and 5.1 boards. Junior guard Vanessa Wimberly leads Lake Central with 3.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game.
Parker said all 4 teams at this Semistate are very good with a variety of skillsets, but his team’s focus first and foremost is the 10am game against Lake Central. Noblesville who has played the toughest schedule in all of Indiana will play the noon tip-off game against Valparaiso, another DAC school.
“Lake Central is very good defensive basketball team and they have several players who can score consistently,” said Parker. “Therefore, we will need to be very efficient on offense, take off the basketball, and play very good defense for 32 minutes. The most important thing to winning a two game semi-state is to remain in the moment. I believe we will need to rely on our daily preparation throughout the season, ability to handle adversity, and we have to make timely plays on both ends of the court.”
Parker said despite the challenge ahead of them, he is proud of their work ethic and their continual improvements every day.
“They have bought in to our team goals and have developed a very good chemistry and cohesiveness that allows them to play together as a team,” said Parker. “I believe this particular group does a nice job utilizing each individual’s strengths to become the best team possible each night we take the court. They are a lot of fun to coach and I appreciate each one of them.”
Norwell Looking for 1st State Title Berth Since 1977
In Class 3A, Coach Eric Thornton and the NE8 champion Norwell Lady Knights (21-4) will play in their first Semistate game in three years, when the current seven seniors were just freshman. This time however, they won’t have to make a long drive to play in one as they’ll make the 30-minute drive west to Huntington North.
Throughout the season, we have mentioned Norwell facing the toughest schedule and the highest expectations this program has ever gone through. It’s been repeatedly stated by Thornton for a very specific reason: to be ready for this moment. They remembered that disappointment from a year ago, and got better from it.
“The loss gave us a purpose and freedom to pursue this year, not knowing what was going to happen,” said Thornton on last year’s regional loss. “We learned to use the loss as fuel to become tougher…we couldn’t have gotten here any other way.”
One of the players that has certainly learned from that loss is senior shooting guard Kennedy Fuelling, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the waning seconds of the regional game against Benton Central. At 1,593 career points, the Future Marian Knight achieved one of many goals set by the team for this season. Thornton said he is happy Fuelling reached the record, which showcases how much work she has put into this program from day 1.
“What impresses me most about Kennedy (Fuelling) breaking the record is that she had to do it against a really good schedule during a year where we’ve never had higher expectations,” said Thornton. “Kennedy is all about winning and being a great teammate, and her scoring record is a result of our entire team being so connected.”
That loss last season came to Hamilton Heights 44-40 at Bellmont. Now these two will meet in the Semistate round. Hamilton Heights (24-2) has been ranked as 3A’s number one team for the majority of the season and are led by Evansville commit Camryn Runner who is averaging over 27 points per game.
Thornton calls this team “skilled and athletic” that has a good player in Runner and another good player in Ella Hickok who has strong work ethic. Much like Norwell, Hamilton Heights is very experienced and has earned their right to play in this Semistate.
Thornton said Norwell’s keys to success Saturday will come through the basis of showing up and playing 4 hard working quarters. All season long, this team has found ways to win even when they haven’t went the way they wanted it to. Resilience is a huge key whenever you play in a 2-game Semistate against the best competition in the state.
Norwell and Hamilton Heights will play at 10am, followed by a noon tip-off between 2 Michiana area schools in NIC member Bremen (15-11) and NLC foe NorthWood (20-6).
Thornton said when his team gets onto the court in Huntington, he will remind his kids that the tougher teams win in this stage, and when it comes down to it, Thornton believes this team is.
Bishop Luers Eying for Chance at Winning State Title #7
The last remaining area team comes with the storied rich Bishop Luers Lady Knights (17-6) out of the SAC. Last season’s team was pretty young and their inexperience showcased areas of improvement. This season has shown the improvements that come with experience, being battle tested, and playing strong team basketball.
For the first time since 2013, Bishop Luers is halfway there of achieving their 7th state title. Coach Mark Pixley said his team has definitely been battle tested in this state tournament playing against quality teams like Bluffton, Whitko, and Lafayette Central Catholic. What stands out to him is the number of key performers leading the way. Whether it’s Annika Davis, Addie Shank, or Miley Wareing to name a few, this is a reflection of Luers’ depth that has proven to be advantageous in the 2A tournament.
Their performance in the state tournament has been recognized by the community as they have been supportive through this run.
“The girls are definitely feeling the love and support of the Luers fan base,” said Pixley. “It’s always fun when you see past players and parents out supporting the team during playoff time.”
On Saturday, Luers will be traveling to Cass County in the famous and storied rich Berry Bowl for their first Semistate game in 11 years. Standing in their way is Lapel (23-4) who lost 38-37 to Forest Park in last year’s 2A state finals. They are led by 2 exceptional players in sophomore forward Laniah Wills and senior point guard Maddy Poynter.
Wills has been averaging a double-double for the majority of this season and is coming off a 28-point performance against Eastbrook where she reached 1,000 points. Poynter, who is committed to Grace College, is coming off a 21-point performance in regionals with timely threes.
Pixley said knowing their size and athletic advantages especially from their two talented players, they must hold them in check Saturday morning.
“We will rely on our defense, which has been doing well all season only giving up 45 points a game” said Pixley. “The keys for us as always, Pushing the pace and using are depth, Second Chance points, 12 or less turnovers, and Make free throws. If we are lucky enough get to the second game, we will rely on are depth to carry us onto victory.”
Luers and Lapel will play the 10am game, followed by the noon game between a battle-tested Andrean (13-14) team and TRC member Lewis Cass (22-3) who is playing in their very first Semistate girls basketball game.
Pixley’s team will need to have two exceptional games if they want to be continuing their season and represent Northeast Indiana at Gainbridge FieldHouse. It’s fitting that one of the most successful girls basketball teams in IHSAA history gets to play in one of the most iconic basketball venues in the country: the Berry Bowl located in Logansport High School.
“The Berry Bowl gym has a lot of tradition,” said Pixley. So, it figures that Luers, a true blue blood of girls basketball in the state of Indiana, has to play there to get a chance to play next Saturday for its seventh chip.
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