Phone: 317-846-6601
Fax: 317-575-4244 Website:
www.ihsaa.org
_____________________________________________________________________________
March 4, 2006
FORT WAYNE BISHOP LUERS WINS RECORD FIFTH STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Fort Wayne
Bishop Luers had a strong performance in a 65-54 showing
over Evansville Memorial in the Class 3A State Championship. The victory gave the Knights a record fifth
state championship, two better than any other school with all coming since 1999. Bishop Luers also participated
in a record sixth girls’ basketball championship game.
It was the
second state title for fifth year coach Teri Rosinski,
who had guided the Knights to the 3A title in 2002 and a runner-up finish in
2004.
The Knights
(24-4) came out strong in the first quarter behind Vini
Dawson’s 10 points and outscored Evansville Memorial 24-10 to the first break. With that showing, Bishop Luers
tied a Class 3A state record for most points in a quarter.
After
trailing 34-19 at the half, Memorial managed to trim the deficit to 10 at the
third quarter break at 49-39. The Tigers chipped it to seven just five seconds
into the final eight minutes on a three-pointer by senior Courtney Reising, but that was as close as Memorial would get the
rest of the way.
Bishop Luers, which finished with 17 straight victories, was led
by freshman Kelsey Wyss who scored 21 points and pulled
down eight rebounds and sophomore Amanda Pedro’s double-double of 13 points and
14 rebounds. Pedro’s classmate MarKee Martin also had
14 rebounds in the contest, while adding seven points, and seven assists. Pedro
and Martin’s rebounding efforts tied the Class 3A record for most in a game. Dawson
was the only other Knight who reached double figures finishing with 14.
Evansville
Memorial was led by senior FahKara Malone’s 20
points, five assists, eight rebounds and a 3A record seven steals. Sophomore
Chelsea Falkenstein also had 12 points and 12
rebounds for the Tigers who were making their first appearance in the state
finals. The Tigers were coached by Bruce
Dockery, completing his 19th season with a 23-5 record.
JENNIFER BALBACH NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
Evansville
Memorial senior forward Jennifer Balbach is the
2005-06 Girls Basketball Class 3A recipient of the Patricia L. Roy Mental
Attitude Award.
Balbach helped coach Bruce Dockery’s Tigers to a 23-5
record and the school’s first-ever trip to the IHSAA
state finals. She is a four-time Academic All-City selection who has
played on three sectional and city-champion teams, two regional winners, and
two conference title squads.
The
versatile Balbach will graduate with 10 varsity
letters—four each in cross country and track and two in basketball. She
is a three-time state qualifier in track and a four-time semi-state qualifier
in cross country, earning all-conference honors in both.
Balbach ranks ninth in her senior class with a 5.85
cumulative grade point average on a 6.0 scale. She is a student council
representative who is active in the Snowflake Alcohol & Drug Education
Program for seventh and eighth-grade students and the Tigers in Drug Education
high school program.
“Jennifer
is active academically as well as serving as a role model and mentor to younger
students,” said Memorial principal Gerry Adams. “While others celebrated
our semi-state championship last Saturday evening, she returned to be part of
the Snowflake overnight retreat. That is a good example of both her value
system and her dedication.”
Balbach, the daughter of Ken and Julia Balbach, is active as an Easter Seals volunteer and a youth
minister at St. Theresa Church. She plans to study pharmacy at Purdue or
business at Indiana University.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA corporate partner, presented a $1,000.00
scholarship to Evansville Memorial High School in the name of Jennifer Balbach. Since 1989, more than $512,000 in college
scholarships have been presented by Indiana Farm
Bureau Insurance to deserving high school students in the state.
Award
recipients, nominated by their principals and coaches, must excel in mental
attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability in basketball.
A
member of the IHSAA Executive Staff beginning in 1972, Ms. Roy was responsible
for girls basketball from the inception of the
tournament series in 1976 until her retirement in 1999. Regarded both
statewide and nationally as a pioneer in girls athletics, Roy served on the
IHSAA Executive Staff longer than anyone in the history of the Association.
VSN MEANS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Visit our
friends at Visual Sports Network, the IHSAA’s official photographer for all state championship
events and one of the leading action photographers in the
CHAMPIONSHIP MERCHANDISE STILL AVAILABLE
For
t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s 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
souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in
person at the IHSAA Office (
POST-GAME QUOTES
Teri Rosinski,
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Coach
(Opening
comments)
“These
kids have risen to the challenge all season. All the credit goes to these
young ladies. Their competitive spirit and never say die attitude is
unparallel. These kids just can’t be stopped. Winning the state
championship was a total team effort.”
“They
(Luers) just didn’t have an answer for our kids
rebounding. It was all heart and desire from our kids. Sarah Freiburger, MarKee Martin, Amanda
Pedro all did a great job of rebounding. What can I say? It was all
heart and desire.”
“They
(Memorial) have some outstanding players. We knew that Memorial would
come out fired up and take it right to us and it definitely got a little close
in the second half. It was just a matter of keeping our composure and I
think just continue to execute our offense and do what we had done all
season. We are truly a team. That’s the story of our season…you
just you just can’t focus on stopping one person.”
“We
learned so much from our last defeat against (Lima Bath, Ohio), our girls
turned it around right then. We asked ourselves what we needed to do to
be a championship team so this doesn’t happen again. We challenged them
and they rose to the occasion.”
#32
Vini Dawson
“Winning
the state championship is really special. This is my second trip here
(State Finals) and it’s much better the second time around.”
Bruce Dockery, Evansville Memorial
Coach
“We
just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first quarter. We came out in
the second half and played the way we have all year.”
“We
normally get off to a good start in a game, but we didn’t do a good job on the
boards and didn’t shoot the basketball well in the first quarter. Fort
Wayne Luers, on the other hand, shot the ball well
and hit the boards hard. Our kids fought back hard in the second half,
but we dug ourselves too big of a hole.”
“In
the second half, they hit free throws and we were working real hard on
defense. We would get some big traps, but then leave someone open and
they would take advantage of that. Fort Wayne did a tremendous job of
protecting the lead.”
“It’s
a real tribute to these ladies, they didn’t quit and they worked hard on
defense. We’re a good shooting team; unfortunately we didn’t do it this
game. We can’t dwell on that. I’m just excited what our team did
this year to get here.”
(On FahKara Malone)
“FahKara is a special young lady and an outstanding basketball
player. She did a nice job today although they keyed on her. As
well as she played today, unfortunately everybody didn’t see the real FahKara Malone. She can definitely play at a higher
level. I’m proud of her effort.”