According to a very reliable source, three more players have committed to Franklin College.  Emily Parkman (6'0 F) of Peru, Heather Caudill (5'7 G) of McCutcheon, and Linsey Roberson (5'8 G/F) of Roncalli have all made their intentions known to join the Cubs next fall. 
   
Also, during the announcements of the first session of the Top 40, it was revealed that 5'8 Vincennes guard Jennifer Rath is headed to Vincennes University and 5'3 Evansville North guard Chasity Williams will be playing for Lincoln Memorial next season.

Lots of season-ending honors by media and other organizations are popping  up in cyberspace and in print:
   
The Times recently announced Hebron senior Lauren Bechtold as its 2002 Player of the Year for taking her team to the state finals and a near state championship win.  Bechtold averaged 19.3 points, 8.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game her senior season.  The Times also announced its All-Area Team with bios and interesting comments from fellow honorees.  The All-Area Team is composed of junior Lyndee Arnold of Highland, frosh Shanee' Butler of Horace Mann, sophomore Julie DeMuth of Highland, junior Amanda DeVries of Kankakee Valley, senior Jamie Gutowski of Andrean, senior Rayna Hare of East Chicago Central, senior Brianne Harwood of North Newton, senior Michelle Jones of Gary West Side, senior Brooke McAfee of Valparaiso, senior Leslie Tyburski of Hammond Gavit, and senior Alex Webster of Crown Point.
   
The Lake County Star recently named its 2002 Girls All-Defense Team.  First Team members were Alex Webster of Crown Point, Kelly Boyd of North Judson, Kelly Compton of Valparaiso, Lauren Bechtold of Hebron and Lyndee Arnold of Highland.  The Defense Bench consisted of Brooke McAfee of Valparaiso, Brianne Harwood of North Newton and Cassie Pruzin of Crown Point.
  
The Michigan City News-Dispatch named New Prairie senior Meghan Pilarski as its 2002 Player of the year.  Pilarski averaged 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game her senior season.  The News-Dispatch also named Sara Koselke of LaCrosse, Katie Beckman of LaPorte, Alison Kessler of New Prairie, Macara Hostetler of New Prairie, and Amanda Loving of Chesterton to its All-Area Girls Basketball Team.
    
The South Bend Tribune All-Star Game was played last Thursday, and New Prairie senior Meghan Pilarski was named MVP of the All-Area Team, while Amanda Lechlitner of Penn was named  the MVP of the All-Metro Team.  The All-Area Team won 95-58.
   
The Crawfordsville Journal Review has named Fountain Central senior Candace Dark as its Player of the Year.  Dark averaged 21.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 5.0 steals per game this past season.  She is joined on the All-Area First Team by junior Krystal Parker of North Putnam, senior Brigett Branson of Turkey Run, senior Britney Froedge of Crawfordsville and junior Brittany Lee of North Montgomery.
   
The Vincennes Sun-Commercial has selected Vincennes senior Jennifer Rath as its Player of the Year.  Rath averaged 19.6 points per game for her career.  Also selected to the VSC All-Area Team were Katie Stuckey of Vincennes Lincoln, Jill Hughes of North Knox, Chelsea Gugliotta of North Knox and Ashley Worland of South Knox.

Several online sources  have some great photos from the state finals a week ago.  We hope to get ours up over the next couple of weeks.
   
Southern Indiana High School Basketball
Central  Indiana Sports
The Madison Courier (2A)

According to the parent of a St. Joseph's College player, head coach Lynn Plett has resigned his position with the Pumas program.  Plett has been at St. Joe's for the past eight years and guided his team to a 9-18 record this season.

Some excitement for Indiana college teams over the weekend.
   
Three Indiana teams were seeded Sunday in the NCAA bracketing process.  Purdue received the highest seed at No. 2 in the Mideast Regional, while Indiana is seeded at No. 9 in the East Regional and Notre Dame at No. 7 in the Midwest Regional. (You can get a printable copy of the NCAA brackets here.)  Two other Indiana colleges, Ball State and Valparaiso, received bids in the National Invitational Tournament.  Ball State will host Louisville, while Valparaiso travels to the University of Michigan, both on Wednesday, March 13.  If you live anywhere within decent driving distance of the Muncie area, that BSU v. Louisville game should be a great one to get out and see.  
   
DePauw University has earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Final Four in Terre Haute by knocking off two higher-seeded opponents over the weekend.  Former NWI produce Katie Imborek (Lake Central/Hammond Gavit) scored a career-high 20 points in the Final Four qualifier, while Huntington North produce Sarah MacKay led the Tigers with 21.  This is the first time the DePauw has made it to the Final Four, which will be held in Terre Haute at Rose-Hulman on March 15 and 16.

Notre Dame frosh Jackie Batteast (South Bend Washington) was recently named the Big East Rookie of the Year.  The highly-regarded forward was also named as the only freshman finalist for the 2002 Division I Kodak All-American Basketball Team.  The team will be announced on March 28.  More in coverage on the Notre Dame women's basketball website.
   
Valparaiso freshman Katie Boone (Center Grove) was the only Crusader named to the Mid-Continent Conference All-Tournament Team over the weekend.  Boone averaged 

The season officially ended on Sunday with the crowning of the 2001-02 IHSAA State Champions - 1A North Vermillion, 2A Southwestern (Hanover), 3A Ft. Wayne Bishop Luers, and 4A Terre Haute South Vigo.  You've probably already read all of the online coverage play-by-play of the games (we've updated links on our Scores & Recaps page through today), but as we do every year, here is our own take on the day's events.
    
Fire and ice.  For those of you who are up in our corner of the state, you know what the weather was like Saturday morning.  We woke up at 5:00 a.m. to nearly a half foot of falling snow and a lot of hesitation about heading to Indy for the state finals.  We love high school girls basketball, but we also like the idea of being grandparents someday.  After talking it over, we decided we'd give it a try by checking the road conditions on I-65.  Those conditions were definitely not great, but passable with slow-going care and caution on slick and icy coverage down to Rensselaer.  (Did anybody see a snow plow or salt truck at all during that stretch on the highway?  We didn't.)  The fire and passion the Hebron faithful have for their Hawks definitely did not keep them away.  Driving 2-1/2 hours to attend the earliest game of the day (set for 9:35 a.m. local time), this tiny blue-collar community wouldn't even have let a 24-inch blinding blizzard keep them from supporting their hometown heroes.  With a town population of just about 3,600, we think it would be safe to say that at least three-quarters of the entire town made up the red and black sea in attendance at Conseco Saturday morning.
      
Sign of the times.  Anyone that entered Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday encountered new attendance rules that were not in place last year.  With the recent drastic changes in life as we know it, all those who sought entry to the arena were subject to a cursory search before being allowed in. With the same security procedures taking place in a number of venues, such as airports and other events where large numbers of people are present, no one seemed bothered in the least. The rules for the media were stepped up this year as well.  As the end of the first game neared, Conseco officials informed photographers near the floor that absolutely no one would be allowed on the floor after the game for getting those trophy shots, etc. They even went so far as to bring out a restraining rope on the baseline to keep us off the floor.   The floor access restriction and rope were relaxed as the day went on when more than a few photographers who had covered the state finals for years made their opinions known.  Just a few moments of down-to-earth reality on a day filled with high-flying basketball dreams.
    

Where are you when we need ya, man?  Answer: On the floor, but out of uniform.  Longtime respected girls basketball official Mike Waisnora of Crown Point was honored by the IHSAA at center court in between the third and fourth quarters of the 1A game with the 2002 Outstanding Official Award for 26 years of excellence in girls basketball officiating.  After Mike received his award together with a hearty round of applause from the Hebron contingent, a lone voice from the Hawks crowd called out, "Mike, get  your stripes on man. We need you out there!"  By the end of the third, Hebron's aggressive man-to-man saw two of its starters with four fouls and one other with two, while North Vermillion's uncharacteristic zone defense had only two players with more than one foul.  As it was, Mike couldn't suit up for a girls state finals even if he wanted to.   By IHSAA rules, he has already reached his career limit of three state finals assignments.
   
What if...  Much has been (curiously) made in the papers of the decision by Hebron coach Jerry Bechtold to not go to his daughter Lauren for the last shot in the game.  With just three ticks left on the clock and down by one, Coach B made the decision to use Lauren as a decoy, knowing that the Falcon defense wouldn't ever let his daughter see the ball, let alone touch it, on the final play of the game.  (This story kind of reminds me of the scene in the state finals of "Hoosiers" when Gene Hackman tells his team that Jimmy Chitwood would be the decoy on the last play of the game and they all disagree with him. But this wasn't Hollywood.)  As it turned out, no one would ever know if that was the right decision or not.  It became a moot point when the ball was stolen by North Vermillion on the Hebron inbounds pass, thereby leaving everyone to wonder what if?  But the "what if" that should be asked is, "what if the ball had gotten into Hebron's hands on the inbounds play," not whether or not the plan devised by the coach for the last shot was the right one.  Does anyone really think that North Vermillion would have allowed the ball to end up in Lauren's hands on an inbounds pass?  Not likely, and then time would have run out with no shot taken, and the burning question would have been, "Why didn't Coach go to someone other than Lauren when he knew she'd be covered like bees on honey?"  Don't agonize over this one, Hebron.  No player on your team could have made the game-winning shot without possession.  It was a great effort on a memorable day.  That should be the lasting impression you take with you from Saturday, not any "what ifs" zeroed in on by the media.

Showing appreciation.  Of all the games on Saturday, the 1A game was probably the only one that was still up for grabs during the final minute, which made for the most exciting finish of the day.  Coaches, when conversely leading by a large margin in a game of this magnitude, like to substitute their starters, especially seniors, one at a time so each can be recognized by their hometown fans.  Players, on the other hand, and especially seniors, don't want it to end and would prefer to stay on the floor until the last buzzer.  Neither coach nor player got what they wanted in this game.  Although Hebron fans did get a chance to recognize their biggest Hawk hero Lauren Bechtold before the game was over, it was not under circumstances coach, player or fans liked at all.  The 5'4 senior dynamo was forced off the floor with just :01 on the clock after she picked up her fifth foul in the game to stop a breakaway layup by North Vermillion's Sherri Norman.  That fifth foul came long after Bechtold received her fourth foul less than 30 seconds into the third quarter, which limited the usually high-energy, aggressive guard to cautious play for the last half of the game.
   

Carrying the load.  Although Shenandoah was not able to get over the Southwestern triple-hump of Catherine Graham (20 points), Brianna Howard (19 points) and Julie Brawner (18 points), Raider junior Amanda Norris had the most dominating offensive performance during the early session.  The 5'11 forward accounted for nearly 70% of the Raiders' 64-point offense, scoring 30 points and assisting on 15 more, not to mention four steals for good measure.
   
En fuego.  The 2A game was the most accurate shooting game of the day.  Southwestern shot a sizzling 56% from the field, while Shenandoah shot a very respectable 43%.  The hottest player of the game was Rebel junior Catherine Graham, who was 6-7 from the field, including 3-4 from three-point, and 5-6 from the free throw line.  Don't be surprised if you see Norris and the gritty Graham on the Junior All-Stars squad this summer.  Both impressed and are definitely gamers.
      
Coaching firsts.  Two novel coaching firsts were achieved on Saturday.  In the 2A game, Southwestern coach Donna Cheatham became the first coach to win state championships at the helm of two different programs.  Cheatham took home the hardware back in 1989 when she guided Scottsburg to a championship win under the one-class system.   Cheatham also has the distinction of being the winningest coach in girls basketball history with a record of 458 wins and 116 losses over a 27-year career.  Ft. Wayne Luers coach Teri Rosinski is the first former Miss Basketball ever to win a state championship as a head coach.  Rosinski was the leading scorer and mental attitude winner for her Norwell team at the Final Four in 1977.  But her team never made it past the early session that year, losing to Mt. Vernon (Fortville) by three points.  This year's trip to the state finals had to be a sweet and triumphant return for the first-year Luers coach.
   
Multi-tasking.  The Big Ten Tournament was held at Conseco over the weekend, with a day off on Saturday to make allowances for the IHSAA State Finals.  A number of Big Ten and other Indiana-based coaches made the most of the opportunity, attending the state finals to check out the rising talent there that day.  We chatted briefly with Ball State head coach Tracy Roller, who was comparing notes with former BSU coaching associate Marsha Frese, now an assistant for sister Brenda Oldfield at Minnesota.  Both programs are enjoying unprecedented success in their respective programs, although the Badgers were ousted early in the Big Ten Tourney.  Ball State, co-MAC Conference season champions, will begin conference tournament play today and Roller is optimistic.  The Cardinals will be battling for an NCAA berth, most likely only achievable with a conference tournament championship.
   

Let's get physical.  As it usually happens at this level, the referees let a lot of physical play go for several reasons.  First of all, the philosophy should be that the players decide the outcome of a championship game, and not the officiating.  Second, 8,000+ fans don't travel all the way to Indy to see a free-throw contest.  Third, the state finals is on a time schedule without a whole lot of leeway for long, drawn out games, especially if one of those games should go into overtime.  After all, these games were broadcast live around the state and the programming had to stay within a certain time slot.  For the most part, the lack of whistles was not a factor in any of the games (although Hebron fans might have strong opinions otherwise).  But the 3A game had to be the most physical game of the day, with the 4A game a close runner-up.  None of the physical play seemed to be mean-spirited on the part of any team, but with the heightened tensions and a state title at stake, the play did seem to get out of hand at some points.  A (re-)broken nose and a few body slams were all within the flow of the 3A game.  That, combined with 53 total turnovers and a less than stellar shooting night for both teams (15-44 for Gibson Southern and 19-48 for Luers), made the 3A final a grind-it-out game for players, coaches and spectators.
   
Lasting impressions.  During the awards presentation after the 3A game, I noticed these four young ladies watching with tears as the Gibson Southern girls were awarded their second place medals and trophy.  Although you don't see her tears in this photo, the second one from the left simply could not stop tearing for several minutes, truly feeling the pain of the girls she most likely idolized throughout the season.  There is no doubt that there were plenty of young girls in the arena on Saturday who took away lasting impressions from the day's events, some who will carry those memories for years to come.  I don't know if most high school girls who play the game know just how much of an influence they are on the young girls whose eyes and ears follow their every move and word.
    
What is it?  There were a lot of great school mascots at the state finals on Saturday, including a great species symmetry between the red Hawk of Hebron and the blue Falcon of North Vermillion. (Would have loved to see them go bird-on-bird at halftime.)  But at least one mascot raised a question in this reporter's wandering mind. It wasn't exactly the burning question of the day, but still one of those odd moments within the greater scope of events that kind of stuck with me.  With the name of the 3A Gibson Southern team being the Titans, I can't really believe that I was the only one at Conseco trying to put a species identity to the GS cheering mascot, a brown, yogi-bear looking kind of creature with horns... or maybe ears.  (Sorry the picture is so small, but I was afraid to get any closer. ;-)  Perhaps one of the great mysteries of the Indiana high school girls basketball tournament this season.

Belle of the Ball.  If the state finals is the Big Dance, then Terre Haute South's Reicina Russell was the Belle of the Ball.  If high school basketball is a girls game, then Russell didn't belong there because she was a woman among girls.  And if anyone was partying in Indianapolis on Saturday, it was Russell who had a coming-out party of her own.  The 6'6 center simply owned the paint in the 4A final and made it look, oh so easy on the way to breaking three 4A state finals records in points (31), blocked shots (7) and field goals made (14).  (Don't forget to toss in 15 rebounds either.)  Russell was the reason the Braves took home a title on Saturday, as she was the single mismatch on the floor in the game.   The Wildcats of South Bend Riley more than held their own everywhere else, but they didn't have an answer for the 6'6 Russell, who scored 20 of South's 30 first-half points.  Riley's tallest player, Crystal Norman at 6'1, was part of a triple-team on Russell throughout the second half that cut her offensive production nearly in half (11 points), but with all the attention down low, the South guards were now wide open to finish the job.

Small victories.  The frustration on the faces of the Riley players was evident throughout the game.  Slashing guards Crystal Norman and Suntana Granderson, who were used to having their way in drives to the hole throughout the season, had to make major adjustments with Russell's long arms in between them and the basket.  After having shots swatted away in the first half, both guards were able to get past the towering Sequoia with some major moves, which even MJ would have been proud of.
      
A friend in need.  Terre Haute South's second most powerful weapon, senior Melanie Boeglin, was struggling in the first half, picking up three fouls, committing three turnovers and missing three shots for zero points by the time her team headed into the locker room at the half.  When the team emerged and began warmups, Boeglin still could not find her comfort zone, as just about every long shot she put up was missing its mark.  Teammate Reicina Russell, seeing her good friend's frustration, came over, put her arm around the senior and gave her a short pep talk.  Boeglin nodded her head, went out to the far right corner and promptly drained a long shot.  The body language spoke for itself as she headed back to the bench, and in the second half Boeglin regrouped for a very solid performance, hitting one of two shots from the field and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points, 6 assists and 5 steals in the game.
      
One is the loneliest number.  Much has been said about the officiating in Saturday's games, especially by those who believe that their teams could have received more beneficial calls; but I haven't heard one mention about the fact that there was only one female official involved in Saturday's games.  That official, Judy Phillips, worked the 4A final.  Her regular season partner, Kelly Dennis, was sitting next to me on the floor, taking pictures of the officials in the game.  (She said she didn't know why she was chosen to take the pictures, since game spectators have told her on more than one occasion that she's blind and can't see a thing. ;-)  Dennis mentioned that there were only three female officials that worked the entire tournament series this year, and Phillips' lone assignment at the state finals was representative of the fact that there are simply not enough female officials who stick with the game.  (It takes nine-plus years to get a state assignment.)  Don't be surprised to see a future feature on the RRR that will give high school girls all the information they need to become IHSAA licensed officials.  This would be a great outlet for those players who may not have the skills to play the game at the next level, but who love the sport and would like to stay involved.  The IHSAA is crying for new officials, and coaches would be doing everyone a favor by encouraging their headiest players to give officiating a try.
   

Attendance.  The state finals attendance at Conseco was not the greatest this year.  Although each team brought a big hometown contingent, very, very few of them stayed after or came early to watch any games other than their own. The black curtains were drawn on the upper deck and the only section that seemed completely filled was the lower and upper levels of the Terre Haute South section in the evening game.  Even though class sports has created new opportunities for teams and players across the spectrum, personally I really miss the all-day event of one-class basketball.  Under the old format, there was much to talk about in between sessions -- the early performances and how the intensity of the morning games, whether high or low, would impact the evening game, etc.   There really isn't a whole lot of continuity to the day for the casual fan attending the state finals anymore, and it would be great if the IHSAA could find a way to integrate the state finals into a full-day event instead of a single game event for each class.  Is a two-class system in the future?  If it is, I don't think many would object, and maybe we could get back to a state finals format that would be more interesting for fans of the game who don't have a stake in the outcome.
   
Inspiration or distraction?  Because the boys sectional championship finals were scheduled for the same night as the girls state finals, any school with a team at Conseco on Saturday had its sectional final moved to Monday.  Of the eight schools at the finals on Saturday, five -- Terre Haute South, Ft. Wayne Luers, Gibson Southern, Shenandoah and Hebron -- had boys teams in the sectional final game.  Results from Monday?  Three lost, two won.

New IHSAA Sports Information Director Jerry Baker is doing an outstanding job in making information accessible to everyone on the IHSAA website.  For the first time this year, complete tournament notes, box scores, play-by-play scripts and play analyses are available online.  If you want to get the complete details from any of the four games on Saturday, go to the IHSAA Girls Basketball page.

We took over 200 pictures on Saturday, some good, some not so good.  We hope to have most of them available over the next couple of weeks.  

According to a media handout from the Indianapolis Star at the state finals, the following is the timeline for all Indiana All-Stars activities:
  

The South Bend Tribune All-Star Classic is tomorrow night, and they have a slew of articles related to the event:
  
Metro, Area All-Stars to clash at Bethel
Judson's Boyd Area's center of attention
Metro has visions of Granderson
Sun sets on Shanna Zolman era
North Judson's Brown plans to keep it simple
First-year Adams coach a 'basketball junkie'
ALL-AREA TEAM
Area Underclassmen
ALL-METRO TEAM
Metro Underclassmen

The Indianapolis Star has announced Cathedral senior Sharika Webb as its City Player of the Year.  She is joined on the City First Team by teammate Jessica Wright, Heritage Christian sophomore Cassie Freeman, Indianapolis Tech sophomore Crystal Jones and Indianapolis Manual junior Brandi Carter.

The Wabash Plain Dealer is reporting that Northfield junior forward Jessica Mast has been named the Wabash County Player of the Year.  Joining Mast on the All-County First Team are Northfield point guard Lindsey Guenin, Manchester's Heather Terflinger, Wabash's Jenny Dawes and Southwood's Denae Gibson.

The Shelby County Player of the Year is Jessica Scherer of Triton Central.  She captures the honor for the third straight year in a row.  Joining Scherer on the Shelby County First Team are two of her teammates, senior Kristy Gates and junior Audra Blackford, as well as Shelbyville junior Katie Douglas and Shelbyville sophomore Gretchen Haehl.  Triton Central coach Larry Pringle was named the Shelby County Coach of the Year.  The Shelbyville News also named its top players of the year.
   
Scherer captures 3rd MVP title
Best of the best named to all-county
TC’s Pringle voted coach of the year
The Shelbyville News names top players

The Jeffersonville Evening News has named New Washington senior Sonya Wahl as its Player of the Year for the second year in a row.  The 6'1 center averaged 23.1 points per game on a team that lost three significant starters and gained a new coach in Michelle Ricks.  The article states that Wahl is has verbally committed to the University of Southern Indiana.  The Jeffersonville News also named its All-Clark County First Team, which besides Wahl consists of Providence senior guard Katie Coulter, Jeffersonville junior forward Lauren Stewart, Borden junior guard Jessica Johnson, Clarksville sophomore Candace Bain, and Jeffersonville senior center Andrea Holbrook.  

Several former Hoosier high school players were honored by the MAC Conference early this week.  Miami's Heather Cusick (Kokomo) was named the MAC Player of the Year, and also MAC First Team.  The junior averaged 17.6 points, 5.8 assists, 2.9 steals and 2.5 3-point field goals per game, ranking among the MAC's top two in each category. Toledo's Courtney Risinger (Terre Haute South) was named to the Second Team.  Ball State freshman Kate Endress (Evansville Memorial) was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.  More on the MAC website.
     

Also, first year Ball State head coach Tracy Roller (Crown Point) was named the MAC Coach of the Year, according to the Muncie Star Press.  Roller led her team to its most successful season in school history, which included the MAC West Division Conference title.

Valparaiso University freshman Katie Boone (Center Grove) was named the Mid-Continent Conference Newcomer of the Year last week, while teammates Jeanette Gray (Valparaiso) and Amber Schober (Plainfield) were named Second Team All-Conference.  MCC champion Valparaiso head coach Keith Freeman was named Coach of the Year.  Unfortunately, the Crusaders fell short in what would have been the program's first ever NCAA bid in a loss to Oakland in the championship of the MCC Tournament yesterday.

The IU Hoosiers, along with starters Jenny DeMuth (Highland) and Jill Chapman (Blackford), secured a berth in the upcoming NCAA Women's Tournament by knocking off all the favorites on the way to the Big Ten Title Monday evening.  An inspiration for the Hoosiers was head coach Kathi Bennett, who was on the sidelines coaching despite being hampered by a heavy "halo" brace keeping her neck vertebrae in place after an auto accident last month.
   
IU puts on dancing shoes - Hoosier Times
Winning means everything to Indiana - Hoosier Times
Going Dancing... - IU women's basketball website

For all of you AAU coaches out there dealing with the new school team classifications, the