Page 20 - 2020-21 Girls Basketball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review Last Year’s State Finals in Review
Lawrence North tops undefeated Northwestern for first state title Championship
After coming up short in last season’s Class 4A
state championship game, Lawrence North made
amends with a thrilling 59-56 victory over top-ranked
Northwestern at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats were led by junior guard
Jayla Smith, who drained five 3-pointers on her way
to 22 points as the program claimed its first girls
basketball title and finished with a 26-4 record.
Northwestern, which moved to 4A after winning the
last two 3A state championships, received a game-
high 25 points from senior guard Madison Layden
and 20 from senior center Kendall Bostic. The Tigers
completed the season with a 29-1 mark and were
107-9 during the Layden-Bostic era.
Lawrence North led nearly the entire way, building a
17-9 advantage after one quarter and leading 31-22
at halftime. Layden picked up her second foul at 2:48
of the opening stanza and had to take a seat before
eventually returning and leading Northwestern’s furi-
ous second-half rally.
The Tigers clawed back to tie it at 35-35 at 3:22 of
the third, but a Kalyn Ervin 3-pointer gave LN a lead
it wouldn’t relinquish. Northwestern got to within a
point at 51-50 at 3:55 of the final period, but Smith’s
triple provided her squad some breathing room.
After timeouts by both teams with 7.4 seconds left,
Northwestern had a chance to tie, but Layden’s short
turnaround in the lane was off the mark. The Tigers
fouled and Lawrence North point guard Kristian
Young made the first of two free throws with 2.0 left
to account for the final tally.
NorthWood ends 21-Year Championship Drought
A 21-year State Finals hiatus wasn’t enough to backup forward Abigail Ratts, but it was here the
slow NorthWood as it captured the Class 3A state Panthers began capitalizing at the free throw line.
girls basketball championship with a 37-29 victory Ratts led the Lions with 10 points. left and Brooklynn Jones hit two more in the final 30
over Salem at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The seventh-ranked Panthers capped their 28-3
season by making nine of 10 free throws in the
game’s final 1:47 to pull away. Through the first
three quarters, there had been five lead changes,
three ties and 14 occasions in which the point
spread was three or fewer points.
Forward Maddy Payne, a 6-1 senior, scored 13 of
her game-high 19 points in the second half to lead
NorthWood to its second state title, following the
1999 squad that cut the nets inside what was the
final girls finals played at Market Square Arena.
Salem, which took the hardwood ranked No. 1,
finished its season with a 25-4 record after making
the state finals for the first time in program history.
They were the first Salem team to compete in
an IHSAA state finals event since the 1930 boys
basketball team.
Leading 21-20 after three quarters, NorthWood
provided itself with some much-needed breathing
room by scoring the first five points of the final
stanza before Salem signaled timeout at the 4:14
mark. The Lions responded with a drive to the
hoop and layup by Karly Sweeney, but a Payne
basket in close pushed the lead back to six.
Salem managed to stay within four points on two
more occasions thanks to baskets by sophomore
20 IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport. Pure INDIANA!
Linton-Stockton Rolls to First Girls Basketball Crown
Linton-Stockton left little doubt in capturing the Class
2A championship in its first-ever finals appearance
with a record-setting, 70-28 triumph over unranked
Frankton.
The fourth-ranked Miners dazzled in the first half,
leading 47-16 at the break – a Class 2A game record
for points in one half.
At one point, after junior guard Vanessa Shafford hit
a field goal for a 39-11 advantage, L-S was shooting
70 percent from the field. Later in the half, the Miners
held a 33-point lead. Shafford outscored the Eagles
by herself with 19 points during the first two quarters.
Coach Jared Rehmel’s Miners (25-5) continued the
onslaught into the third quarter, taking a 55-21 lead
into the final eight minutes, then building to the final
margin of 42 points – a record for Class 2A.
Stafford finished with 26 points, Aubrey Burgess 19
and Haley Rose 13 for the winners.
Chloee Thomas led Frankton with 11 points and
11 rebounds. Coach Stephan Hamaker’s Eagles
finished 21-8.
Loogootee’s Late Free Throws help earn First State Championship
Junior Kalea Fleming hit two free throws with 1:07
seconds to help lift Loogootee to a 45-43 victory over
Pioneer to give the school its first-ever girls basket-
ball championship in the Class A title game.
Fleming’s free throws gave the Lions of coach Brian
Smith a 43-42 lead and Jones’s charity tosses
sandwiched a Pioneer free throw that provided the
final margin.
In a matchup of two first-time finalists, No. 1 Loogoo-
tee (27-2) captured its fourth-straight victory over a
ranked team and snapped No. 4 Pioneer’s 19-game
winning streak.
Pioneer led, 26-20, at halftime and 32-24 midway
through the third quarter, but made only two field
goals the rest of the game and none during the final
quarter.
Jones led Loogootee with 17 points, while Makenzie
VanHoy added 15.
For coach Jeff Brooke’s Panthers (25-3), Hailey
Cripe led with 13 points, while Madison Blickenstaff
netted 10.
IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport. Pure INDIANA! 21