Phone:
317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress,
Commissioner
Washington
senior center Luke Zeller swished a half-court shot at the overtime horn to
give his team a 74-72 triumph over Plymouth in the IHSAA Class 3A championship game
in front of a sellout crowd of 18,345 at Conseco Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis.
Pilgrims’
senior guard Geoff Scheetz nailed a record five treys for 15 points in the
contest. The previous standard was four
treys by Brian Bell of Muncie Southside in 2001.
Washington’s Luke Zeller
wins the Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude
Zeller is a 2005 McDonald’s All-American who has
led coach Dave Omer’s Hatchets to a 26-2 record and their first trip to the
IHSAA state championship game since 1942.
He is a finalist for the Morgan Wooten Award as the McDonald’s National
High School Player of the Year based on character, scholarship and community
leadership/involvement.
Zeller earned All-Tournament honors at the Hall
of Fame Classic in
In the classroom, Zeller is the Valedictorian of
his senior class of 164 with a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average and
he will graduate with an Academic Honors Diploma. The All-American Scholar annually
participates in the Dr. Suess “Read Across America” in elementary schools. He is a member of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes and he is a volunteer for the Camp Illiana Habitat for Humanity.
“Luke truly embodies the values of being a
student-athlete by his mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic
ability,” said
Members of the IHSAA Executive Committee present
the Trester Award to the outstanding senior participant in each classification
of the boys’ basketball state finals.
The recipients of this award, who were nominated by their principals and
coaches, must excel in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic
ability in basketball. The award is
named for Arthur L. Trester, who served as the first commissioner of the IHSAA
from 1929-44.
Farm Bureau Insurance, IHSAA corporate partner,
presented a scholarship check for $1,000.00 to
IHSAA Book, Play On,
Recaps 100 Years Of High School Sports in
The
exciting book, Play On, celebrating 100 years of
high school sports in
Team Posters And
Individual Action Photographs Available
Visit 20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s
photographer and the
Own This Game On VHS Or
DVD
If you’d
like a copy of this state championship game, the IHSAA will have it as well as
each of the other three contests (one game per video) available in VHS or DVD
formats as part of the IHSAA
Video Library collection. Phone in your order beginning Monday, March 28 to
317-846-6601 (M-F, 8-4 EST) and pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard
accepted). VHS copies are $35 each by mail, while DVD copies are $55 each by
mail. Please allow up to four weeks delivery.
For
t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s state finals tournament
or for any of our events, visit our friends at Morris, Inc.
State Finals Programs
Available
Couldn’t be
there for the state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official program
while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in person at the IHSAA
Office (
Class 3A Championship
Game Quotes
Plymouth Coach Jack Edison
“Some of
you people are from the south and you know this Washington team, so up until
this week for us Plymouth people, you’re familiar with what they did tonight
and not surprised by it. When you get a player like Luke Zeller you really have
to be happy for him. He not only plays like he did tonight but for you
northerners that don’t know him, he’s a better person even yet than he played
tonight.”
“He
(Zeller) might have played his game of the year tonight but what do champions
do on championship night? They rise to the occasion like that. I’m just
fortunate to be around a group that kind of hung around in there with them. And
then you get to know Dave Omer and no one could be more deserving for him to
end up his career this way.”
“We were as
concerned with his (Zeller) passing tonight as we were with his shooting.”
On the
lay-up by Randy Davis that gave
“That was
the third option, but just so you don’t think Randy went off on his own, I did
kind of grab him before he went out of the huddle to try to keep the third
option primary in his mind. Benge and Sheetz were the first two options.”
“We
expected them to lob the ball to him (Zeller) and then anybody who got it, take
them out of their rhythm. He gets it curling across the middle of the floor
going to his left….I don’t think he shot it left-handed, but he probably could
have…….did we make him earn it, I thought so.”
On the
question, “Is this the greatest shot in
….yeah…in
this situation, it had to be under a second when it cut lose.
On what to
tell the kids-
“Maybe your
dads or grandpas don’t say much, but you know…you know. You know they know, you
know when you do something neat for them they have that look in their eye and that
kind of says it and they don’t have to say cheap stuff like “You tried your
hardest and you gave your best.” I may say something to them, but some of you
are going to have to help me because I have no clue what it will be.”
“
“It’s a
situation where it doesn’t sink in for awhile.
We came to the huddle and I told them we had to make a play with no more
than one dribble. We had time for one
dribble but I didn’t want somebody just catching the ball and wheeling it down
the floor in a “Hail Mary” type fashion.
After they saw our set and called timeout, Luke (Zeller) said get me the
ball and I’ll score. I said OK. It was a Christian Laettner-type play’, he
caught the ball, made a quick, reverse dribble…right down the middle. Luke is a great shooter. He’s always been a great shooter. Him (Zeller) making the basket doesn’t
surprise me, it was the time he had in which to make it that was the most
surprising.”
“I think my
son said it best. This makes up for all
the years of frustration in trying to get here.
We have been beaten on shots like that, maybe not exactly like that but
last-second shots, made turnovers at the end of the game to lose sectionals,
and the bottom line is we have not been good enough to get out of our sectional
the last few years with
(On
Zeller’s shot)
“He said
God told him he was going to make it. I
said, I wish you had told God to tell me.”
(On his
retirement)
“I don’t
think me going out (retirement) had anything to do with the way we played. I made that decision a year ago. I have a lot of respect for everyone of these
kids because of the attitude they have had in the past. We are as good of a team, maybe not the best
individuals, but we are as good of a team as there is in southern
Luke Zeller
“It was a
situation where I didn’t want anybody else on the team to have that shot on
their shoulders. Win or lose I wanted to
have it. If it was missed, I wanted it
to be on me and the same thing if it was hit.
Isaac (Stoll) and (
(On the
Randy Davis lay-up before Zeller’s heroics)
“The
up-and-under shot was very impressive.
It was also very depressing. He
(Randy Davis) made a very impressive shot.
They are a great team. After they
hit that shot there was 1.8 seconds and I knew what I was going to have to do.”
(On coach
Omer’s last game)
“It’s the
perfect ending. I told someone that it’s
like the AMEN on a great season. It’s a
great way to go out.”