Stan Benge had a good feeling. But not quite
this good.
In his 24th season as girls basketball coach at Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.), Benge came into the year with 438 wins and two state titles. Last year’s 24-2 team was one of its most talented but was upset in the state playoffs.
“We had everyone back and we were motivated,” he said.
The Giants responded in giant fashion, becoming the first girls team in Indiana history to win 30 games and go undefeated.
For it – and a thrilling 71-69 win over four-time consecutive state finalist Washington (South Bend) in the 4A title game before almost 14,000 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium – Davis earned the 2008-09 MaxPreps Girls Basketball Xcellent No. 1 spot.
The Giants celebrate after their giant 71-69 win over Washington.
Photo courtesy of Ben Davis HS/Debbie Davidson
Utlizing an unselfish brand of ball with tenacious defense, the Giants finished 30-0 to win its first mythical national champion.
“Our goal was to win the state title for sure,” Benge said. “But go undefeated? And win all the other awards? No way.”
The Giants had four legitimate Division I players in Penn State-bound Alex Bentley (team-best 15.7 points per game), Western Michigan-signee DeAirra Goss and juniors Dee Dee Williams and Jordan Huber, who have committed to Purdue and Ball State, respectively.
The best player on the team may eventually be 5-foot-9 sophomore Bria Goss, who scored 16 points in the title game including a buzzer-beater to win it.
“Everybody is already after her,” Benge said of Bria Goss.
But this team wasn’t about star power, the coach said. It was about a work ethic.
“Like one college coach said to me: “Very seldom see you a teams as talented as ours work as hard as they do.”
About the Rankings: MaxPreps already provides the most comprehensive high school sports ratings with the MaxPreps National Rankings presented by the National Guard, a computer model developed by Ned Freeman. This season was time to get the human element involved.
Ben Davis sophomore Bria Goss is star in the making.
Photo courtesy of Ben Davis HS/Debbie Davidson
Each Monday, Mitch Stephens ran down the top 25 girls basketball teams in the country – weighing record, quality wins and losses and other factors to determine the best of the best.
Here are the season-ending rankings.
1. Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 30-0. The 2001 Davis team was also undefeated at 28-0.
2. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 26-1. Skylar Diggins won MVP in back-to-back All-Star games last week.
3. Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 33-2. Finished on 27-game win streak.
4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 32-1. Returns just about everyone including arguably the nation’s top sophomore Kaleena Lewis.
5. Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio) 27-1. Won its fourth straight state title.
6. St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) 31-3. With no seniors, could be preseason No. 1 next season.
7. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 28-2. Tremedous four-year run ends for Irish.
8. Bolingbrook (Ill.) 25-4. Another team loaded with underclassmen including arguably country’s top freshmen Morgan Tuck.
9. Heritage Christian (Indianapolis, Ind.) 26-1. Led by McDonald’s All-American and Connecticut-bound Kelly Faris, Heritage Christian wons fourth straight state crown.
Kentwood celebrates Washington 4A state crown.
Photo by Juliann Tallino.
10. Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 33-2. Only losses to No. 8 Bolingbrook and No. 9 Heritage Christian.
11. Westbury Christian (Houston) 43-1. Almost doubled opponents score: 3,156-1,685.
12. Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) 28-1. Great balanced team, gave up just 42.7 points per game.
13. Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa) 30-1. Won first state title game behind Hollie Mershon, Erin Shields and Kerri Shields.
14. Cajon (San Bernardino, Calif.) 32-3. Great tandem of Cal-bound point guard Layshia Clarendon (20.4 ppg, 8.0 apg, 8.2 rpg) and Arkansas-bound post Darshae Burnside (17.5 ppg, 16.2 rpg).
15. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 31-3. First California team to win four straight large-division state titles.
16. Summit (Mansfield, Texas) 34-4. Didn’t allow more than 60 points all season.
17. Nimitz (Houston) 37-2. Brittney Griner may have missed McDonald’s All-American game but she did have 20 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks leading Blue to 79-77 win over White in WBCA All-American game.
18. Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, Pa.) 32-0. Won by average score of 66-34.5.
19. Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 24-4. Ended years of frustration with big 44-37 state-title win over upstart Monarch as Mark Bokenkamp had 18 points.
20. Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) 36-3. Led by McDonald’s National Player of the Year Kelsey Bone, who committed to South Carolina.
21. Detroit Country Day (Mich.) 26-1 (2-0) – Repeated as state Class B champion with 50-40 win over Central Catholic as Madison Williams, a 6-6 junior, had a triple double.
22. Fayetteville (Ark) 31-0. Remarkably consistent club didn’t score below 53 points all season.
23. Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh, Pa) 31-0. In the 4A state finals, the Blue Devils got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Madison Cable and 21 from Emily Miller to roll previous No. 15 Cardinal O’Hara.
24. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 25-3 (1-1). A cold second-half cost Riverdale Baptist the NHSI title, scoring just 12 points while squandering a 13-point deficit in a 44-42 defeat to Seton Keough.
25. St. Michael Academy (New York, N.Y.) 25-3. Janine Davis hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give St. Michael its first lead of the second half in a 62-58 win over two-time defending champion Murry Bergtram.
On the bubble (alphabetical)
Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.) 25-3; Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas) 32-4, Detroit Community (Detroit, Mich.) 22-0; East Lansing (Mich.) 26-1; Fargo South (Fargo, N.D.) 24-1; Highlands Ranch (Colo.) 24-3; Jones (Madison, Ala.) 33-3; Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) 24-2; Westlake (Atlanta) 27-2.
Past weeks: Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 20, Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 10, Feb. 17, Feb. 23. March 2. and March 9, March 16, March 23.
Click Here for final MaxPreps National Rankings presented by the National Guard.
Third-ranked Brea Olinda celebrates its huge Southern Section championship win over No. 4 Mater Dei.
Photo by Dirk Dewachter
