IHSAA Girls Basketball
1995-96 State Finals in
Review
Center Grove became the 15th school in the 21-year
history of the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament to win
the championship when it defeated Valparaiso 55-44 Feb. 24, 1996
at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Coached by Joe Lentz,
the Trojans finished 25-2 and on a 16-game winning streak. Valparaiso,
coached by Greg Kirby, closed at 23-4.
It was the third IHSAA state championship overall
for Center Grove. The Trojans won IHSAA softball championships
in 1986 and 1995. Venus Harmeyer, a starting guard, also was the
starting second baseman on Center Grove's 1995 softball champions.
With no seniors in the starting lineup, Center Grove
led at every quarter stop. Freshman guard Emily Butler topped
the Trojans with 15 points. Juniors Jennifer Martin and Liz Stansberry
added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Center Sarrah Stricklett,
Valparaiso's only senior, paced the Vikings with 21 points and
nine rebounds.
Center Grove advanced to the finals with a 72-47
triumph over two-time state champion Kokomo in the semifinals
as Harmeyer scored 20 points. Valparaiso moved on by topping Princeton
50-38 as Stricklett scored 16 points.
Butler was named the tournament MVP by the Associated
Press. She's the first freshman to be honored since the award
was initiated in 1978. Other members of the all-tourney team were
Martin, Harmeyer and Stansberry of Center Grove, along with Stricklett.
Stricklett also was named by the IHSAA Executive
Committee as the 1996 recipient of the Mental Attitude Award in
Girls Basketball. She ranks in the top 25 percent of Valparaiso's
senior class and will attend Valparaiso University on a basketball
scholarship. A three-sport athlete, Stricklett was Valparaiso's
MVP in volleyball this past fall. In track, she was the Duneland
Conference high jump champion in 1995.
Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate sponsor of all IHSAA
tournaments, awarded a $1,000 scholarship in Stricklett's name
to Valparaiso High School.
Stricklett is the second Valparaiso athlete honored
with the Mental Attitude Award in girls basketball. Cindy Willis
was the recipient in 1982.
Attendance for the 1996 state finals was 12,622 for
the morning session and 12,804 for championship game. Total attendance
was 25,426.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BOX SCORE
Valparaiso (44)
| Player | FG | 3FG | FT | R | A | PF | TP |
| Bell | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Shurr | 2-7 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Turek | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| J. Gray | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Stricklett | 8-17 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 21 |
| Jackovich | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Casbon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cunningham | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Gray | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diaz | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cummins | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Parker | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | 18-43 | 0-3 | 8-14 | 28 | 8 | 15 | 44 |
Team Rebounds: 10
Center Grove (55)
| Player | FG | 3FG | FT | R | A | PF | TP |
| Butler | 7-9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| Harmeyer | 2-4 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Martin | 5-12 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Stansberry | 5-11 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| L. Eckart | 4-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Allen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mills | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Poe | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Johnson | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Eckart | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barnhorst | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Atkerson | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 24-50 | 4-6 | 3-9 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 55 |
Team Rebounds: 5
Score by Quarters:
| Valparaiso | 14 | 5 | 11 | 14 | - | 44 |
| Center Grove | 15 | 12 | 10 | 18 | - | 55 |
Officials: David Kavanaugh, Steve Kvachkoff, Kent Smith
Attendance: 12,804
Erica Cory, a junior at New Castle, won the second
annual IHSAA-Farm Bureau Insurance 3-Point Shootout by hitting
14 treys in the final round. Megan Newcomer, a senior at NorthWood,
was second with 10. Jackie Campbell, a freshman from Chesterton,
was third with seven successful shots., while Switzerland County
senior Shasta May made five.
Cory, who was representing the Blue River Valley
Sectional, qualified for the finals by hitting 17 three-pointers
in the afternoon semifinals among all shooters from the Southport
Semi-State area. She edged Roncalli's Sarah Hurrle, who swished
16. Campbell hit 14 to win the Lafayette Semi-State title. Newcomer's
13 was tops in the Fort Wayne Semi-State field and May's 10 led
the Seymour Semi-State area.
At every level of the competition, shooters had the opportunity to shoot five balls each at five different stations around the three-point arc within a 60-second period. The state finals field included 67 competitors.