Page 21 - 2016-17 Girls Basketball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

Lafayette Central Catholic wins Second Consecutive Title, First in Class 2A

Sophomore center Libby Bonner carried
Lafayette Central Catholic early, and Knights senior
standout Cameron Onken took over in the second
half. The lethal combination led the No. 4 Knights
past No. 3 Covenant Christian 56-43 in the 2A title
game.

It was the second-straight girls state title – and
third overall – for LCC, which won Class A titles in
both 2006 and 2015. Coach Craig DeVault’s squad
finished 25-5 and closed the season with 12 straight
wins.
Averaging 7.1 points per game, Bonner scored 14 of
her 16 points in the first half, helping the Knights to
a 13-point lead. Onken then scored 13 of her game-
high 21 points over the final two quarters, as LCC
built an 18-point lead and then held off a handful of
Covenant Christian charges. Bonner also grabbed a shots and didn’t score again until 1:12 remained.
game-high 13 rebounds, while Onken pulled down
nine. The Knights, who also got 12 points from Thompson,
hit four of their final six free throws to cement the
The lead grew to 18 points and was still at 15 (45- win.
30) entering the fourth quarter. The Warriors cut
the lead to 10 points three times, the last at 50-40 Under Coach Joe Smith, Covenant Christian was
with 4:54 to go on another trey from Luikart. But making its first appearance in the state finals. The
Covenant Christian missed seven of its final eight Warriors (23-6) got 15 points from Luikart and 14
from Rachel McLimore.
Jac-Cen-Del Eases By Argos for Class A Crown
Paced by a dominant second quarter and quick A crown. It was the second state finals appear-
start to the second half, Jac-Cen-Del eased past ance for the Eagles, who lost the 1978 title game.
Argos 57-39 to win the Class A girls state title. The Coach Scott Smith’s Eagles got 14 points and nine
No. 2 Eagles outscored the No. 6 Dragons 20-5 in rebounds from Simon, 12 points and four assists
the second half, opening up a 14-point lead, and from Jordan Day, and eight points apiece from Rosie
then scored the first seven points of the third to push Newhart and Mariah Day.
the lead to 21. In its first state finals appearance, Argos finished
After the margin grew to as many as 23 points, Argos 24-4 under Coach Gary Teel. The Dragons got 18
closed the third quarter on a 10-0 run to cut the lead points and six rebounds from Dunlap, and nine
to 42-30. A Courtney Dunlap basket brought the points from Valerie Rospopo.
Dragons within 44-34 early in the fourth, but Argos
missed its next five shots, going scoreless for more
than four minutes. The Eagles pushed the lead back
up to 16 (50-34) with 3:03 remaining and never
looked back.

Jac-Cen-Del (27-1) shot 8-14 from the floor in the
second quarter; Lilly Simon had eight points, while
Mariah Day scored her team’s final six points of the
half. Argos was just 2-14 from the floor in the second
quarter and missed 21 of its 26 first-half shots.
It was the second state championship in school his-
tory for Jac-Cen-Del and first in a girls sport joining
the boys basketball team which won the 2009 Class
IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport. Pure INDIANA! 21