GREENFIELD — Apparently, nice girls finish first, at least in the case of Valparaiso senior Lauren Hutton.

“She’s just the nicest person,” said Hutton’s track coach, Jim McCall. “You could poll all the athletes on who they respect the most, and they would say Lauren because she’s so nice.”

She’s not dainty, though, especially when it comes to sports.

In basketball, Hutton has been a bulldog defensively, as she displayed Sunday during the 16th annual North-South Indiana All-Star Classic at Greenfield-Central High School.

And, when the game was over, so ended Hutton’s feisty on-court demeanor.

“I’m competitive, but not to the point where I have a bad attitude or disrespect other people,” Hutton said. “After you’re done with the game, you should just be friends with your opponents and not hold any grudges.”

Hutton’s statistics (9.0 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game and 4.0 assists per game) don’t stand out — they aren’t even really above average — but the Viking has still sparkled for the Green and White.

And the state’s coaches have noticed, selecting her to the Top 40 Workout and this elite all-star affair just east of Indianapolis.

“I’m not a flashy player, but I do the little things and I know the game well,” Hutton said.

Yeah, Merrillville’s Julie DeMuth, who roomed with Hutton over the weekend and played with her on the North team, has had a normal senior season.

Um, not exactly.

Just a year ago, she was named Post-Tribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year ... for Highland.

Then came the transfer to Merrillville, her mother Judy’s departure to Bloomington for work and her decision to stay with her father, Dave, an assistant principal.

Then came a college choice, either Ball State or Indiana, where her older sis, Jenny, was one of the Big Ten’s top players.

Julie selected the Cardinals over the Hoosiers, and with the Pirates, led Merrillville to its first Duneland Conference championship since 1988.

“It was a big learning experience, this past year,” Julie — also an all-area volleyball player — said. “There were some high points and some low points, but it’s helped me grow more.

“You just have to look at the big picture and just move on.”

Julie is more than ready to move on. She can’t wait for the college experience.

“I’m excited just to get away from high school,” she said. “It’s time for me to go.”

Remember me?

That’s what the South’s Kristin Drabyn was wondering.

As a freshman, Drabyn helped guide LaPorte to a stunning ride into the Warsaw Semistate. Drabyn transferred to Avon after her father, Steve, took the school’s girls basketball head coach position prior to her sophomore season.

As a senior, Drabyn, whose brother Steve plays at Belmont, averaged 16.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 5.1 apg, numbers good enough to earn her a scholarship to Maryland-Baltimore County.

And numbers the Slicers certainly could have used in the last three years.

Justin Breen can be reached at 648-3122 or by e-mail at jbreen@post-trib.com