2002 IHSAA Class 2A
Hot-Shooting Southwestern
Wins First State Championship
Top-ranked Southwestern of
Hanover earned the first state championship in school history with a 70-64
victory over unranked Shenandoah in the Class 2A title game at Conseco Fieldhouse in
The Rebels (25-2) were led by
their top four scorers on the season and all finished in double figures,
including Catherine Graham’s 20 points. Brianna Howard finished with 19, Julie Brawner with 18 and Autumn Walker 11. The 70 points scored
by Southwestern was a Class 2A game record.
Fifth-year Southwestern coach
Donna Cheatham,
Southwestern led the game
from the outset extending its lead to as many as 12 points just before
halftime. Shenandoah managed to chip away at the lead cutting it to three
points with
The Rebels’ hot shooting kept
Shenandoah at bay throughout. Southwestern hit 24-for-43 from the field in the
game for a Class 2A record .558 field goal percentage.
Amanda Norris of Shenandoah
set a Class 2A scoring record with 30 points, which tied for the sixth best
scoring output ever in a state finals game. She also tallied seven assists,
another 2A game record. Teran Warner pulled down 13
rebounds for the Raiders tying the Class 2A mark.
It was a disappointing finish
for Shenandoah (22-4), which finished as the state runner-up for the second
year in a row and had its 15 game winning streak snapped. The Raiders lost to
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in the championship game a
year ago, which is vying for the Class 3A crown this season. Five players
returned from last year’s team. Shenandoah was coached by Todd Salkoski now in his sixth year.
Click for Final Box Score
Game Notes
Southwestern’s Brianna Howard Wins Roy Mental Attitude Award
Brianna Howard of
Academically, Howard ranks
seventh in a senior class of 88 students. She is undecided where to attend
college but is interested in pharmacy.
She is a three-year member of
the National Honor Society and currently serves as its secretary. She’s also
active in her church’s missionary society, its youth group and the choir.
The 5-8 senior forward owns
Southwestern career records in scoring and steals and is also an all-state
volleyball player for the Rebels.
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a $1,000 scholarship
to
Donna Cheatham First To Win Titles At Two Different Schools
Fifth-year Southwestern coach
Donna Cheatham earned the distinction of becoming the first coach in IHSAA
Girls Basketball history to win state titles at two different schools. While
the coach at Scottsburg from 1972-94, Cheatham had guided the Warriorettes to three state finals appearances in 1986, 1988
and winning it all in 1989.
Twenty Records Set In
Contest
Twenty Class 2A state finals
records were set or tied during the contest. The most notable of which were:
Most Points By An Individual
– 30 by Amanda Norris, Shenandoah.
Most Points Scored By A Team
– 70 by Southwestern.
Most Points Scored By Two Teams – 134 by Southwestern (70) and Shenandoah (64).
Most Rebounds By An
Individual – 13 by Teran Warner, Shenandoah.
Most Assists – 7
by Amanda Norris, Shenandoah; 7 by Heather Jackson, Southwestern.
Highest Field Goal Percentage -- .558 (24-43) by Southwestern.
Highest Field Goal Percentage By
Two Teams -- .489 by Southwestern
(24-43) and Shenandoah (23-53).
State Finals
Photographs and Team Posters
Visit the website of 20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s official photographer for its state championship
events. The company will display action photographs from this year’s Girls
Basketball State Finals during the week following the state finals that you may
purchase. Also for sale will be team posters commemorating your school’s path
to the state finals.
State Finals Programs
Available
Couldn’t be there for the
girls basketball state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official
state finals program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in person at the
IHSAA Office (
Quotes
Shenandoah Head Coach – Todd Salkoski
“Last year, I felt like the
luckiest coach on the face of the earth.
And today, I feel even luckier because these kids are coming back. We dug a hole early and Southwestern jumped
on us. They are a great team, but I’m
still proud of my kids. It could have
been over early, but they hung in there and played through a lot of adversity.”
“There is nothing we could
have done in a regular season game or practice to prepare our young girls for
this (game and atmosphere).”
“Our shooters just couldn’t
get into the flow today. I attribute the
difficulties to nerves. I think it’s
about the fieldhouse (Conseco
Fieldhouse) and playing in big games.”
“I have a great deal of
respect for Donna Cheetham and what she has
done. So much of the work she has put in
has allowed me to come along in a time that girls’ basketball is
flourishing. I feel honored to have
coached against her and would have felt twice as honored if we could have
gotten a win today. She has taken a
program from depths of obscurity to a state championship in five or six
years. I tip my hat to her, she has done a great job.”
“It was a physical game. We played hard, but just came up a little
short. The sad thing about it is that
this year we wanted to win it (state title) so badly. It (the loss) hurts very much.”
Shenandoah forward – Amanda Norris
“We knew we had to play our
hearts out to come back from the deficit.
We knew we had a height advantage and could take it to them in the
post. It seemed like the more confidence
my teammates had in me, then I gained more confidence in myself.”
Southwestern Head Coach – Donna Cheetham
“It was an exciting
game. It’s going to be hard to lose four
seniors that have dedicated themselves to the program. Every team that I’ve coached that has got to
this level has been full of excellent citizens and good people. This team is no exception.”
I think over the course of
the season this team has learned that things don’t always go your way, but you
must adjust and they’ve done that very well.
Our balanced scoring has helped all season. I attribute that to our team’s unselfish
play. That’s maturity. Lots of athletes in this day and age would
rather score 25 points and lose than score 4 points and win. Well, these girls would rather score zero
points and win. They have done
everything I’ve asked of them from day one.
We formed great relationships over the years and it breaks my heart to
know I will be losing four seniors.”
“In today’s game, we had
excellent start and we knew Shenandoah would come back. We were prepared mentally and my girls were
ready for the call.”
“I thank the Lord for giving
me what He has and for allowing me to have these young ladies to accomplish
this goal. They have found out that this
thing is all about “team.” If you are
unified, you will go along way and that’s what we’ve done.”
Southwestern Guard – Heather Jackson
“In the eighth grade, no one
came to our games. When coach (Cheatham)
came, she helped us believe. She has
taught us that we can play. Coach Cheatham
is a great lady. She has helped us
accomplish all of this.”
On the Patricia L. Roy Mental
Attitude Award – “I feel this award is a great honor and I want to thank all of
the people that made this possible. My
teammates have been behind me all along.
They have allowed me to achieve this because of their support. They all have great attitudes and make it
easy for everyone.”
The 11-0 run to begin the
game – “We did an excellent job getting out to the 11-0 start. And from there,
we never looked back. We knew how
important it was to get our crowd in the game.
All of the fans have been so supportive this season and they have really
helped us get fired up when we needed them the most.”