Page 20 - 2019-20 Girls Basketball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

Hamilton Southeastern Tops Lawrence North for First Girls Basketball State
Top-ranked Hamilton Southeastern opened the fourth Jayla Smith and Katie Davidson each had 15 points
quarter with a 13-2 run, then used perfect free throw to lead coach Chris Giffin’s Wildcats.
shooting in the final 2:31 to score a 55-44 win over
Lawrence North in a contest featuring two teams
making their first-ever appearances in the Class 4A
state championship game.
Sydney Parrish scored 30 points and hauled down
10 rebounds to lead the winners. The 6-2 junior hit
7-for-7 from the free throw line in the contest, includ-
ing all four attempts in the final 1:02 to ice the game.
Coach Chris Huppenthal’s Royals finish the season
at 27-1, with their only loss coming to Ryle of Ken-
tucky on Dec. 1, 2018.
The Royals took control early with a 15-2 run span-
ning the first and second quarters to open up an 18-8
lead. Lawrence North, however, closed the half with
a 14-2 spurt to grab a 22-20 halftime advantage. The
third quarter featured four lead changes and left LN
(22-7) up, 35-34.
In the final quarter, Hamilton Southeastern’s Tayah
Irvin converted a three-point play to tie the game at
37-37 before Malea Jackson hit her only field goal of
the game, a 3-pointer, a minute later to give HSE the
lead for good.
All told, HSE hit 15-of-16 from the line, including
8-for-8 in the final 2:31. The Wildcats hit only 5-of-9
from the free throw line and were outrebounded,
30-17.

Northwestern Rolls to Repeat 3A State Crown
Northwestern’s dynamic duo of Kendall Bostic and
Madison Layden combined for 44 points to lead
the Tigers to their second-straight Class 3A title
with a 61-39 win over Benton Central.
The Tigers of coach Kathie Layden were never
headed and were never threatened in the contest
to finish 27-3 this season. That follows up a 29-1
mark of a year ago.
Bostic finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds,
while Layden had 19 points, including 10-of-12
from the free throw line.
The contest marked the first time since 1995 (and
third time overall) that schools from the same
conference (in this case, the Hoosier Conference)
met for a state title. The two teams, however,
didn’t meet in the regular season.
For coach Layden, the victory gives her five state
titles in her career. She won three with Tri-Central
from 2003-05. The five state titles ranks her
second in state history behind Heritage Christian’s
Rick Risinger, who has seven.
The Bison, who were denied a state title in their
third opportunity (1989, 2011), were led by Audrey
Strawsma’s 11 points. Coach David Baxter’s
squad finishes 26-5.
20 IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport. Pure INDIANA!