Live from Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

[sjducky]

The morning session has ended and Indiana's 1A and 2A champions have been crowned in back-to-back overtime games.

They've done a pretty good job with turning the Colts' stadium into a basketball arena ... the court is elevated and set in the middle of the field. Each endzone's area is curtained off, as is the top level, giving it a much more intimate feel. Fans from all four of this morning's teams created a loud, passionate stadium that lent to a great atmosphere for the AM games.

2A: Make it a four-peat for Heritage Christian, 60-58 in OT over Oak Hill.

Despite early foul trouble for UConn-bound Kelly Faris, the Eagles stuck close to Oak Hill (also the Eagles) and the two teams battled point-for-point at the end. A little stalling by HC worked the final 1:38 down to 7.8 seconds and senior Claire Freeman scored with three seconds remaining in OT on a bank jumper for the win.

Faris, who played six minutes in the first half, finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while senior Emily Anderson led HC with 14 points. Liz Stratman added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Freeman finished with 11.

Junior Courtney Moses led OH with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while junior Ashley Pickering had 20 points and seven rebounds.

1A: Fort Wayne Canterbury edged Vincennes Rivet, 72-66, for its second 1A title in as many years.

Rivet, a school with 93 students in its first appearance in the state championship, had a nine-point lead with 5:12 to go in the game, but couldn't hold on as FWC sophomore Becky Pedro single-handedly scored FWC's final five points to tie the game.

Her sister, senior Megan Pedro, scored seven of the Cavaliers' 10 points in the overtime. Junior Tabitha Gerardot, who fouled out with 25 seconds remaining in the fourth, led FWC with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Cassie Kreiger also scored 18; Becky Pedro finished with 15 and Megan Pedro with 14.

[sjducky]

On the docket for the evening session:

6 p.m. ET: 3A title between Fort Wayne Elmhurst and Owen Valley

40 minutes after 3A is complete, South Bend Washington and Ben Davis will tip for the 4A title. I'll try to update a couple times a quarter, so feel free to follow along here if you're near a computer. :)

[bballz]

I can help too. :0) Hopefully, we can have two more overtime games this evening. ;)

[sjducky]

I can help too. :0) Hopefully, we can have two more overtime games this evening. ;)

I wouldn't mind it, although all the newspaper folks would.

The crowds from the morning were one thing, but the fans of FW Elmhurst and Owen Valley are another ... loud and rowdy (or maybe that's just this one guy right behind me...). Either way, they're definitely getting into it.

I'm also seeing early signs of purple and green, meaning Ben Davis and South Bend Washington fans, respectively, are starting to fill some seats. From the crowds so far today, I expect the house to fill up tonight for the late game.

[bballz]

I agree...it's gonna get rowdy tonight.

[sjducky]

3A final: Fort Wayne Elmhurst 62, Owen Valley 59

FWE had a nine-point lead after one quarter and the Trojans looked like they would run away with the game, but OV battled back and tied the game in the third quarter. OV and FWE matched in the fourth until the final two minutes, when FWE surged to a six-point lead. OV junior Sam Cooper hit a three in the final 10 seconds but without any timeouts remaining, FWE grabbed the win.

FW Elmhurst senior Lecretia Smith led the Trojans with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Owen Valley senior Heather Gonser led the Patriots with 21 points.

Countdown to 4A is on... 25 minutes (as of edit).

[bballz]

Elmhurst 62 - Owen Valley 59 in the first game. Is there another game after this??? :)

[sjducky]

SBW band on the baseline to my left (and closer, thus louder) and BD pep band on the right baseline.

Lots of purple in the BD section ... including a good chunk of students which it's good to see out in force, since some BD staff told me this morning that the team doesn't have much of a following among classmates.

And actually, the SBW student section looks much smaller, although SBW had a three-hour-plus drive compared to about 20 minutes for BD kids.

[sjducky]

Might as well use the media timeout for media...

at 319 in the first quarter, it's seven all. A fast-paced game thus far, Alex Bentley has four for BD. Karis Phillips hit a big three to open the game for SBW, while Skylar Diggins has two and Jasmine Watson also has two.

It's moving quick and that's how both teams normally like it. It'll be interesting to see how it develops...

With a Diggins three and Phillips driving for a layup, it's a 5-0 run for SBW in 1:17.

End of one: SBW 16, BD 15. Bentley has six and Bria Goss has five; Jas. Watson has six, Diggins and Phillips both with five. Everyone's running, there are some sloppy passes and it seems like both Diggins and Bentley are trying to put everything/one on their shoulders, although in different ways.

[sjducky]

Q2 media...

at 3:40, it's Ben Davis 31, South Bend Washington 21. The Giants are on a 16-5 run this quarter, led by six from Bentley, who is perfecting her follow-through on her jumper. She has a lot of help from her BD teammates, as at least six Giants have scored thus far in the game. Bentley leading with 12.

Diggins is doing her part, but SBW's shaky ball-handling today isn't helping any and leading to turnovers, partly from BD's press (speaking of, another at 333)...

Halftime: Ben Davis 35, SB Washington 25 (20-9 second quarter)
Ben Davis' depth ... anyone can be a weapon ... and their power pressure are taking care of SBWashington right now. Diggins is being double-teamed when she has the ball, but her teammates are struggling with taking care of it when they have it.

Bentley leads all scorers with 14 points, but six other Giants have scored at least a basket. SBW has 10 turnovers; Diggins leads the Panthers with nine points. It's dead split at 15 rebounds a piece.

Ben Davis is also shooting 55 percent, helping its cause, while SBW is 38 percent from the floor and just 7-of-13 from the line.

[sjducky]

38-30 Ben Davis with 4:59 to go in the third. Skylar's trying, but two more missed FTs by SBW isn't helping.

Q3 media TO ...

Skylar's picking up the ballhandler and making her work ... a Diggins steal, an offensive foul on BD and a BD foul on a Bentley missed three on one end, two FTs by Diggins and two by Jas. Watson make it 38-34 at the 3:44 mark. Two minutes without a score for BD; Phillips had her left knee taped up .. too many dives on the floor and I think it started bleeding, but she's back.

2:31; BD 30-second TO. It's 44-36 BD; Takoia Larry has fouled out for SBW, while Bentley is now on the bench with four fouls for BD.


End three: BD 54, SBW 44
Diggins has 19 points but, as I said, she can't do it all on her own. BD has pulled the lead to 12 twice in the final minute of the third, but SBW is in the double-bonus already and Skylar hit two FTs with 7.7 to get it back to 10.

Attendance is 13,449 for the evening session; 3A and 4A ... day's 21,522. Most of those 13K are still here, I promise.

[sjducky]

5:02 to go in the game and Ben Davis is up 60-50 with Bria Goss about to go to the line after a timeout. Rakeesha Lane has fouled out for SBW on an offensive foul call and Mo Scott was going a little crazy about it. Skylar almost looks defeated ... she's letting a teammate do the timeout pep talk.

3:11 on the block and Ben Davis just called a timeout. It's down to single digits again, 63-54, but Diggins just chucked up a three that barely caught the front edge of the rim before falling short. With two starters fouled out, SBW and Diggins will have to do something special for this comeback to happen.

At 2:43, Bentley just fouled out on a call when she shoved Karis Phillips to the ground at the start of an in-bounds play. Wow. Phillips made both shots, then Shareita Patton stole the ball from BD, raced down for a looping layup and was fouled on the bucket. It's 65-59 with 2:28 to go and the closest it's been since the third quarter.

67-65 BD with 1:26. I hope they call a TO soon so I can describe the madness.

It was tied at 69 with 45 on the clock, but BD ran down the time and sophomore Bria Goss hit a crazy Claire Freeman-like bank layup/jumper to put Ben Davis ahead at 71-69. SBW called a TO with 1.4 for a full-court play to tie/win ... the game, the 4A title and a national championship...


71-69 Ben Davis final. Sophomore Bria Goss made an acrobatic shot that eventually won the game...Diggins' long three at the buzzer fell three feet short.

[bballz]

I am back home now in my cozy confines and first thing I would like to do is say it was great to meet you.

Wow! How about those games today at Lucas Oil Stadium? You couldn't have asked for anything else. I think BD showed the size and speed and proved they had more horses than SBW. Diggins did what she could, but 8 for 21 and 1 for 7 from 3 could not get the job done.

[sjducky]

bballz -- It was great to meet you, too! Thanks for saying hi when you ended up randomly sitting down next to me. :)

Folks, there will be a story up tomorrow on the site, so stay tuned for that ... but I have to say I'm a believer (cue oldies rock). Indiana basketball is ... stellar.

A quick "by the numbers" for you:
-- Four: games
-- Two: overtimes
-- 13: total points giving the edge in four games
-- 29: Stellar Skylar Diggins' point output for the final (non-all-star) game of her HS career
-- 29: Also the total number of lead changes in the four games
-- 13,449: Paid attendance for just the second session, headlined by the Ben Davis - South Bend Washington showdown.
-- 21,522: The record crowd for the entire day (two sessions) of girls (and only girls!) basketball at Lucas Oil Stadium

An incredible experience for the fans, the players, the coaches and even the media. I'm not sure I've ever seen such an incredible day of basketball where the intensity was so high through every minute of each game. With the raised floor and the curtained endzones giving the NFL's Indianapolis Colts' stadium a cozy feel, it was a great environment. Sure, it's different than Canseco Fieldhouse (which housed the Big Ten womens semifinals today), but that makes it even more special of an experience for those involved.


For those interested in a little visual feel of the atmosphere and game, one of the photographers from the Indy Star put together a video/slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/bz84fq