Legacy is a tough concept to break down. But the day after the state finals is always a good place to start.
For a coach, for individual players, for a collective of players, for the program, for the school, for the conference…whatever may be the recipient of definition to their legacy, the state finals provides such a unique opportunity to see legacies altered so much more than any other regular season or title game would provide.
Enter Bishop Luers and Norwell, both with different results on Saturday yet both altering and defining moments in the legacies of multiple people.
For Bishop Luers, the Class 2A state champions, the legacies built are four in my humble opinion. The first of which, and perhaps one of the most poignant is a state title for the Summit Athletic Conference. The last SAC state title in girls basketball was Homestead’s in 2017 and if you want to really look at the old school SAC, it was Concordia Lutheran’s 2012 triumph. Not to take anything away from Homestead’s beautiful run in 2017, but they hadn’t been a SAC school long and the reality is that the old heads didn’t look at them as such. We talk every year about iron sharpening iron in the SAC and tough regular seasons preparing teams, especially non-Class 4A teams, for the tournament. Yet, every year we fall short. Only South Side in 2013, has been a runner up as recently as that Concordia win. This is a victory for all of the SAC and the conference’s legacy as trying to be the best in Northern Indiana.
The Luers win also boosts coach Mark Pixley’s legacy. He has won 130 games in 10 seasons as Luers’ coach and his 20 wins this season are the most he has ever had. Until last season’s Sectional triumph, Pixley’s legacy was that he was a really solid coach and perhaps that title as the Homestead streak buster after Luers was the first SAC team to ever beat the Spartans after they joined the conference. But the title alluded him and after getting a taste last season, Pixley helped guide this team to a state title and now sits as one of the very few active area girls basketball coaches with a head coaching girls basketball state title in his back pocket. That list: Mark Pixley, Rod Parker, Mark Redding and Wayne Kreiger…not bad company.
A third legacy is that of this team. Although I am going to mention an individual player in the next paragraph, Luers was a team built on being a team. A respected area coach once told me that in coaching in this city, you have players that are there from the beginning and kids that come in during the journey like step kids in a marriage. Luers had that and it would be silly to pretend they didn’t, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy to mesh. Putting together upperclassmen like Shank with underclassmen like Karianne Gilman isn’t naturally easy so adding in transfers like Annika Davis and Kyndal Tyree isn’t going to be natural either. It takes a special group of players and coaches to make it work and that is part of why we don’t see a lot of teams from the city succeed to a state title level.
As far as an individual player, the title is a cap on the tremendous career of Addie Shank. Over her four years, she has become one of the more dominant post players we have seen in the area in a decade or two. Part of that comes in the fact that Shank is also good at putting the ball on the floor and making decisions, not just scoring at the rim and rebounding. In Bishop Luers’ storied history, Shank is the only player to ever score over 1,000 points and have over 800 rebounds in her career. Bishop Luers has had some greats, but in some aspects, Shank stands alone.
And then there is Norwell.
There is one legacy that stands above all others this season and, while not the perfect ending, getting Eric Thornton on the sidelines for a state title game is one of those things that just had to happen. Thornton is an incredible coach and the benchmark for how someone should develop and grow a program. Norwell girls basketball, from 6th graders through seniors, has the argument that is the best overall program in the area this year. Thornton is one of the best coaches and one of the best people in basketball in the state, let alone Northeast Indiana. He has 452 wins to his name over 27 seasons and his 23 wins this season matches a career high and his 11th season with 20 or more wins. Thornton is an all-time great and while we’d have loved to see him get his state title, we still need to give him his flowers as that all-time great.
The legacy of the Fuelling family took a great leap as well with Kennedy taking over as one of the area’s best players. Thornton told me when Kennedy was a freshman and I was interviewing him about the dominant senior class that season that she and her Class of 2024 teammates may end up being the best yet. A state title run with all of the expectations that were on her and her classmates makes a phenomenal ending for the all-time leading scorer in one of the area’s most storied programs. In the end of Saturday’s loss to Gibson Southern, the ball was in Fuelling’s hands down three and I can’t think of a current single player you’d want to have that ball in that moment more. Yes, she missed the shot and Norwell’s near 20 point comeback fell short, but to be that person to have that ball does mean something. Fuelling played the moment well, got the ball and created her own really good look for the last shot. It didn’t fall and that stings sure, but Fuelling’s legacy and that of her family and their play over the years is firmly secured with this run.
And both of those play into the legacy of the Norwell program. Since 2005, Norwell has won 12 sectional titles, three regionals and now a semi state. They are a constant champion or top team in the NE8 and previously in the NHC. No team or coach or player is every very comfortable playing against Norwell when the Knights come up on the schedule. Even if they are confident being the opposition, they are probably lying if they said they were comfortable down the floor from a Norwell team, especially at The Castle. And now Norwell has a state appearance in Class 3A to just help bolster a program who’s junior varsity team went 20-0 and who’s eighth and seventh grade teams also won NE8 titles like the varsity did. No program in Northeast Indiana is in as good of shape right now as Norwell’s girls.
Only one team in Northeast Indiana got to end this season with a win and it has been and will continue to be fun to celebrate the Knights of Bishop Luers. Legacies were built during that win and legacies built during Norwell’s loss are just as critical. Both teams represented Northeast Indiana, their own programs and their own conferences well. Here’s to seeing what happens next season.
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