By Dave Krider
MaxPreps.com
Saturday’s Indiana state basketball championships produced some of the most crowd-pleasing games since the sponsoring IHSAA installed an unpopular class system 10 years ago.
The Class 4A game drew a crowd of 18,305 to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and provided a scintillating finish as unranked Brownsburg nipped Marion, 40-39. Though it was an uncharacteristically low-scoring contest, the last two baskets won’t soon be forgotten. Scott Wood, a talented 6-foot-5 junior who had missed his first seven shots, drilled a 3-pointer to give Marion a 39-38 lead. Only 2.1 seconds remained.
After three nerve-wracking timeouts, Austin Fish threw a long, in-bounds pass, which was touched by Marion’s Jay Edwards and fell to the floor. Brownsburg’s Gordon Hayward, who had been held to eight points, scooped up the ball and shot from close range. The ball rolled around the rim and fell through at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs their first state title. Hayward, a Butler University recruit who has a 4.2 GPA, later was named winner of the coveted Trester Award for mental attitude. Julian Mavunga, also 6-8, led the champs with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Indiana’s Class 2A finale also produced a thriller as Fort Wayne Bishop Luers edged Winchester, 69-67, for its first state championship. DeShaun Thomas, 6-7, who is one of the nation’s top five sophomores, led four underclassmen in double figures with 20 points. Junior point guard Lawrence Barrett added 18. Winchester, state runner-up for the second straight year, received a game-high 37 points from brilliant 6-5 junior guard Tyler Koch, who drilled 15-of-24 shots from the field. Koch is a big-time shooter and should be heavily recruited.
The 3A game was not close, but it was impressive because Washington’s twin towers played a phenomenal game. Tyler Zeller, a 7-footer headed for the University of North Carolina, stated his case to be named Mr. Basketball (His brother, Luke, now at Notre Dame, won the same honor four years ago.) by breaking the all-time title-game record with 43 points during an 84-60 rout of Fort Wayne Harding. He shot 14-for-22 from the field and 15-for-18 from the free throw line and also had 16 rebounds. The record had been 40 points by Carmel’s Dave Shepherd in 1970. Seth Coy, a 6-11 unsigned senior, added 20 points and 16 rebounds. The big guys truly were poetry in motion.
Lost in Indiana’s snow-delayed regional action was Rushville’s wild 105-101, four-overtime victory against Danville. It was the seventh-highest scoring game in the 98 years of the state tournament. The record of 228 points was set in 1999 when North Newton outlasted River Forest, 116-112, in double-overtime. Rushville senior guard Kyle Morgan broke his own school record with a 52-point explosion. Travis Carroll paced Danville with 38 points and 18 rebounds.
More Boys Basketball Notes
* College recruiters already are checking their maps and trying to find Haines, Alaska. The Glacier Bears unleashed a sophomore sensation – 6-0 guard Kyle Fossman – during the state tournament and he took them all the way to their first Class 3A title with a 41-30 victory over Anchorage Heritage Christian. Fossman averaged 27.3 points in the tourney with a high game of 39. He shot 61 percent overall and made 9-of-18 from 3-point range. Italian foreign exchange student Amedeo Cornacchione, a 6-5 junior, grabbed 15 rebounds in the title game.
* Turning to Kentucky – which still clings to a one-class tournament – Maysville Mason County (34-4) won its second title with a 57-48 victory over Covington Holmes before a crowd of 17,663 at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Darius Miller, a 6-7 University of Kentucky recruit, sparked the champs with 24 points and was named MVP.
* Jersey City St. Anthony defeated Newark Science Park, 69-36, before a crowd of 5,383 to win the New Jersey Tournament of Champions and lock up the national championship. Senior guard Mike Rosario, a Rutgers recruit, led St. Anthony with 21 points. Coach Bob Hurley’s Friars compiled a dominating 86-4 record the past three years and were a perfect 32-0 this year. Hurley now has coached five unbeaten teams and three national champions.
* Jrue Holiday, a 6-4 guard, has been named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Holiday averaged 25.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.4 blocks as a senior for Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.). He also led the Vikings to Division IV state titles as a junior and senior.
* Al-Farouq Aminu has been named Mr. Georgia Basketball. The 6-9 Wake Forest recruit averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds and 2.7 assists as a senior while sparking Norcross to its second Class AAAAA state title in the past three years…Montgomery St. Jude star JaMychal Green has been chosen as Mr. Basketball in Alabama. The 6-9 University of Alabama recruit scored over 2,500 points and paced the Pirates to a pair of Class 1A state titles during his four-year career.
* Randy Davis has made a commitment to Ball State University. The 5-11 senior guard scored 1,515 points during his four-year career at Plymouth, Ind….The University of Colorado has received a commitment from 6-4 senior guard Ebuka Anyaorah, who averaged 26 points and 8.3 rebounds this year for North Gwinnett in Suwanee, Ga.
* Ohio’s No. 1 junior, 6-10, 220-pound Garrick Sherman, has made a commitment to Michigan State University. Sherman averaged 23 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks this year at Kenton, Ohio…Pepperdine University has received a commitment from 6-10 senior Corbin Moore, who averaged 15.8 points and 12.7 rebounds this year at Los Alamitos, Calif.
* Retired Plymouth (Ind.) coach Jack Edison has been named the 2007 Boys Basketball National High School Coach of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association. He compiled a 545-251 record with two state titles in 34 years…Bob Steiner has resigned after 11 years as head coach at DeSmet in St. Louis, Mo. Steiner’s team won the Class 4A state title in 1999 and twice took state runner-up honors.
Girls Basketball Notes
* Brittany Rayburn has been named Indiana’s Miss Basketball. The 6-0 Attica senior guard placed second in the state with a 28.7 scoring average, while also averaging 8.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. She has a 3.9 GPA and has signed with Purdue University… Midfield’s Courtney Jones has been selected as Alabama’s Miss Basketball. The 6-2 standout paced the Patriots to the Class 4A state title each of the past two years and also has been named Midfield’s homecoming queen….Anne Marie Armstrong has been chosen as Miss. Georgia Basketball. The 6-2 junior averaged 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists for Class AA state champion Norcross Wesleyan.
* Cheyenne Curley-Payne is quicker than greased lightning on a basketball court. The 5-5 junior guard, who stars for Eastlake (Chula Vista, Calif.), set a national record this year by making an incredible 328 steals for an 11.3 average. The record previously had been 295 by Deborah Cherry of Roanoke, N.C., during the 2001-02 season. She also averaged an impressive 8.7 assists (13th in the nation this year), 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. It’s no wonder she finished with eight quadruple-doubles and 15 triple-doubles.
Softball Notes
* In California, Junior Julia Rice struck out a career-high 21 batters as Oak Park nipped Ventura St. Bonaventure, 1-0, in eight innings. Rice, who allowed just two hits, struck out 19 twice last year. Oak Park had only one hit, but it was a game-winning RBI single by Sarah Rosenberg with two outs in the eighth…West Jordan Copper Hills junior Linnea Ketcher set a Utah state record by collecting 10 consecutive hits.
* Venice has won its first 17 games in Florida. Junior right-hander Stephanie Sullivan already has set a school record with 160 strikeouts, including a record-tying 18 during a 3-0 victory over Port Charlotte. She struck out the first nine batters and finished with a one-hitter. Sullivan, who has a 14-0 record, now is tied with her pitching coach, Stacey Preece, who also struck out 18 in 1991.
* Turning to Virginia, Kendra Knight fired a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts as Salem edged First Colonial, 1-0, in a Virginia Beach showdown. Sarah Gray singled in the lone run during the fourth inning…In Arizona, Tucson Sunnyside sophomore Stella Pinon fanned 16 during a two-hit, 1-0 victory over talented Scottsdale Horizon. Claudia Nunez singled in the game’s lone run during the third inning.
Baseball Notes
* University of Arizona signee Shaun Cooper belted two home runs on back-to-back days. The senior shortstop drove in a total of seven runs as Catalina (Tucson, Ariz.) defeated Harrah (Okla.), 7-3, and lost to Charles Page (Sand Springs, Okla.), 6-5…Midlothian (Texas) has stolen 66 bases in its first 16 games. Junior shortstop Justin Ray is the leading thief with 15 steals.
* Major League scouts already are aiming their radar guns at Trevor Bauer, a standout junior pitcher from Hart (Newhall, Calif.). The 6-1 right-hander, who struck out 16 against West Torrance, has a fastball which touches 92 miles per hour. So far he has compiled a 4-0 record with 38 strikeouts in 21.3 innings and a 0.32 ERA.
* Rick Davis notched his 500th coaching victory when Hoover (Ala.) defeated Madison Academy, 9-8…John Goulding won his 300th game as James Logan (Union City, Calif.) defeated Fremont Washington, 15-8.
Track Notes
* Mike Conley now is playing basketball with the Memphis Grizzlies, but his younger brother, Jordan, is following in their father’s decorated track footsteps. Jordan, a sophomore at Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.), won the Hoosier State Relays long jump with a 22-9 effort. His best indoor effort this year was 23-1 and he leaped 23-6 1/.2 in the regional as a freshman. Mike Conley Senior, of course, won the Olympic triple jump in 1992.
* The 57th annual Texas Southern Relays produced nine national 2008 bests. Texan Blake Shaw (Houston Cypress Falls) had one of the most impressive performances when he placed second in the university division 800-meter dash with a superb clocking of 1:49.41. He will attend the University of Southern California in the fall…At the Proviso West Invitational (Hillside, Ill.), Kevin Havel of Hersey (Arlington Heights, Ill.) captured the 1600-meter run in an outstanding 4:12.62.
* Rachel Laurent of Vanderbilt Catholic (Houma, La.) cleared 14-feet in the pole vault during the Nollie Arcement Relays for the No. 2 outdoor effort in USA history…Jordan Hasay continues to set records for Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo, Calif.). The junior sensation shattered a 13-year-old meet record when she won the 3000-meter run in 9:30.38 during the Easter Relays at Santa Barbara City College.
* Premier 400-meter specialist Nadonnia Rodrigues has signed with the University of South Carolina. A senior at Boys & Girls (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Rodrigues set the New York state indoor record in the 400 (52.83) this winter at the Pepsi Hall of Fame Classic, with her time ranking No. 4 in USA history.
Football Notes
* Team USA suffered a 24-14 loss to Team Japan during the Global Challenge Bowl in Kawasaki, Japan. The hosts ran up a 24-0 lead before the Americans scored twice in the second half. The U.S. touchdowns were by Akeem Satterfield (Erie Prep, Erie, Pa.) on a one-yard run and by AuBura Taylor (Santa Rita, Tucson, Ariz.), who snared a 15-yard pass from Daniel Nicholas (Canyon del Oro, Tucson, Ariz.). Satterfield also caught a two-point conversion pass. Nicholas completed 16-of-23 passes for 179 yards with just one interception. Marquese Wheaton (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, Ariz.) caught five passes for 81 yards and led the defense with seven tackles and one interception.
* The University of West Virginia has received a commitment from Tajh Boyd, a junior quarterback from Phoebus in Hampton, Va. The 6-1, 195-pounder passed for 2,046 yards and 25 touchdowns last fall.
Hockey Notes
* In Tennessee, Hendersonville Pope John Paul II overcame the loss of high-scoring Daniel Adams (broken hand) to repeat as Predators Cup state champion with an 8-2 victory over Knoxville Metro. Forwards Ben Lafrancois and Steve Lewandowski scored two goals each, with Capt. Jack Bradshaw adding a goal and three assists. The Knights (25-1-1) outscored playoff opponents by an overwhelming 60-9 margin while becoming the first two-time champion in the tourney’s eight-year history.
* Turning to Rhode Island, Cumberland defeated Pawtucket St. Raphael, 5-3, to win the Division II state title. Senior Kyle McLaughlin lit the fire with three goals and an assist. He had three assists in an opening 8-2 triumph as the Clippers swept the two-game series and was named MVP.
Tennis Notes
* Second-seeded Dennis Nevolo (Gurnee, Ill.) defeated top-seeded Bradley Klahn (Poway, Calif.), 6-4, 6-3, to win the boys 18 championship during the USTA Spring Nationals in blustery Mobile, Ala. The University of Illinois recruit won all seven matches in straight sets. Nevolo and Evan King (Chicago, Ill.) lost the doubles title to Klahn and Steve Johnson (Orange, Calif.), 7-5, 6-1.
* Sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 15-year-old from Upper Saddle River, N.J., captured the girls 18 crown with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over No. 2 seed Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.). Embree had won their last three meetings. Unseeded Grace Min (age 13) of Lawrenceville, Ga. and Lauren Herring (age 14) of Greenville, N.C. won the girls 18 doubles by beating the 1-2-3 seeds. They topped No. 2 Kathryn Talbert and Keri Wong in the marathon finale, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
Potpourri
* Christiana Gray, a 6-6 junior volleyball standout from Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.), has made a commitment to Duke University. She is the daughter of former NBA player Stuart Gray.
