FOUR GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS CROWNED

In front of an enthusiastic crowd that totaled 17,320 for the day, four champions were crowned for the 2002 girls basketball season on Saturday, March 2^nd at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. In class A, North Vermillion sneaked by Hebron, 45-42, in one of the day’s most exciting matchups for their first-ever state title. In 2A, Southwestern (Hanover), led by the state’s all-time winningest girls basketball coach, Donna Cheatham, had their hands full with a determined Shenandoah team, but managed a 70-64 victory, giving Cheatum her second state title. In 3A, it was all Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, 51-37, as the Knights captured their fourth consecutive state title, their first in 3A under new head coach Teri Rosinski, 51-37 over Gibson Southern. And in 4A, Terre Haute South rode a 31 point, 15 rebound effort from junior Reicina Russell to a convincing 63-42 win over South Bend Riley.

A total of thirty-one girls basketball state finals records were either tied or broken during the day’s play, including twenty in the class 2A title game between Southwestern (Hanover) and Shenandoah.

For stories and box scores, click on GirlsBasketballFinals

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 (9150 N. Meridian Street in Indianapolis) or $4.50 by mail (postage included). To order, send a check for $4.50 made payable to the IHSAA, a note with your return address and brief description of your request and mail to: IHSAA Programs, PO Box 40650, Indianapolis, IN 46240-0650. Sorry, no credit cards. To further inquire, e-mail Assistant Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org.

2002 PATRICIA L. ROY MENTAL AWARD WINNERS

CLASS	NAME	SCHOOL
A	Lauren Bechtold	Hebron
2A	Brianna Howard	Southwestern
3A	Jamie Elpers	Gibson Southern
4A	Darci Rector	Terre Haute South

BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNEY MOVES TO REGIONALS

TWO LATE REGIONAL SITE CHANGES

Some of the big guys fell by the wayside early on in the 2002 IHSAA Boys State Basketball Tournament. Class 4-A lost four of its top-ten teams, including number-three Ben Davis, number-six North Central (Indpls), number-seven Warsaw and number ten Columbia City….Class 3A saw number-two Brebeuf Jesuit take a tumble in sectional play, along with number-nine Boonville and number–ten Tippecanoe Valley…..number-one and undefeated Cass never really got started in 2A. In fact, five of the top-seven teams in that class, including Eastern (Bloomfield), North Knox, Winchester and Southmont, lost in sectional play. And in Class A, number-five Loogootee, number-six Caston, number-eight Argos and number-nine Bloomfield are already on the sidelines.

Former state champions still alive in this year’s tourney include New Albany (1973), Pike (1998, 2001), Bloomington North (1997), Harding (2001), Lebanon (1912, 1917, 1918), Gary Roosevelt (1968, 1991), Lafayette Central Catholic (1998, 2000), and Tecumseh (1999).

This week’s schedule has Regional action at 16 sites across the state on Saturday, with game times of 10:00 a.m., Noon and 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $6.00 per session, $9.00 for a season ticket.

NOTE: A pair of Class A regional site changes have been made. The Tri-Central Regional moves to Tipton. The Caston Regional moves to Culver Community.

For a complete look at Saturday’s lineup, click on BoysRegionalPairings

AP BOYS BASKETBALL POLL --- 02/26/02 --- FINAL REGULAR SEASON

CLASS 4A

	School	Record	Regional	Opponent
1	New Albany	23-1	Seymour	Castle
2	Indpls Pike	21-3	Lawrence Central	Indianapolis Arlington
3	Indpls Ben Davis	21-3	Out
4	Bloomington North	23-2	Seymour	Martinsville
5	DeKalb	21-1	Marion	Anderson
6	Indpls North Central	18-4	Out
7	Warsaw	21-3	Out
8	Elkhart Memorial	20-2	Michigan City	S.B. Washington
9	S.B.Washington	21-3	Michgan City	Elkhart Memorial
10	Columbia City	19-3	Out

CLASS 3A

	School	Record	Regional	Opponent
1	Bellmont	21-1	NorthWood	S.B. LaSalle
2	Indpls Brebeuf	19-4	Out
3	Benton Central	20-3	Kankakee Valley	Gary Roosevelt
4	Fort Wayne Harding	20-4	NorthWood	Leo
5	Lebanon	20-3	Shelbyville	Indianapolis Chatard
6	Gary Roosevelt	18-6	Kankakee Valley	Benton Central
7	Gibson Southern	22-3	Washington	Jasper
8	Hammond Noll	20-4	Kankakee Valley	Plymouth
9	Boonville	15-6	Out
10	Tippecanoe Valley	17-4	Out

CLASS 2A

	School	Record	Regional	Opponent
1	Cass	20-1	Out
2	Eastern (Bloomfield)	19-4	Out
3	Speedway	18-4	Speedway	Covington
4	North Knox	19-5	Out
5	Winchester	17-4	Out
6	Muncie Burris	19-3	Mississinewa	Shenandoah
7	Southmont	16-5	Out
8	Bluffton	21-3	Mississinewa	Taylor
9	Paoli	19-5	Southridge	Crawford County
10	Crawford County	19-4	Southridge	Paoli

CLASS A

	School	Record	Regional	Opponent
1	Lafayette Catholic	20-5	Tri-Central	Blue River Valley
2	Rossville	19-4	Tri-Central	Lakeview Christian
3	Barr-Reeve	21-4	Loogootee	Tecumseh
4	So. Central (Elizabeth)	21-4	Loogootee	Madison-Shawe
5	Loogootee	15-7	Out
6	Caston	18-5	Out
7	Blue River Valley	18-4	Tri-Central	Laf. Central Catholic
8	Argos	17-5	Out
9	Bloomfield	15-8	Out
10	Tecumseh	18-6	Loogootee	Barr-Reeve

All-Time Regional Leaders	No.	Last
Kokomo	32	1997
Marion	30	1994
Lafayette Jefferson	27	1996
Anderson	26	1996
Logansport	25	1974
Muncie Central	22	1994
Richmond	19	1992
Evansville Central	18	1992
Connersville	17	1989
New Castle	17	2000
Washington	17	1983
Bedford	16	1974
Rushville	16	1979
Jeffersonville	15	2000
New Albany	15	1997

REGIONAL ACTION UP NEXT FOR GIRLS GYMNASTICS

The 30^th annual state gymnastics championship moves ahead to the regional round of the tournament this Saturday at Columbus East, Harrison (West Lafayette), Muncie Central and Valparaiso. Times will be determined by the host school. Tickets are $5.00. The three teams which compiled the highest scores at each sectional site advance to the regional to compete as a team. The top six individual performers in each event and the all around, along with those who score higher than last year’s sixth place finisher will advance to regional competition as individuals.

Because of a weather delay, the state’s number-one squad, Chesterton, looking for its third state title and second in a row, had to wait until Monday night to earn the right to advance to the regionals. The Trojans managed a 111.70 – 108.75 margin over Merrillville and qualified twelve competitors for the finals.

For complete sectional results, log on to GirlsGymnasticsSectionals

FINAL INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASTICS COACHES' POLL

Rank	School	Rank	School
1	Chesterton	10	Ft. Wayne Snider
2	Merrillville	11	Wawasee
3	Valparaiso	12	Bloomington South
4	F.W. Dwenger	13	Plainfield
5	New Castle	14	Ft. Wayne Northrop
6	Pike	15	Carmel
7	Columbus East	16	Noblesville
8	Portage	17	Connersville
9	Center Grove	18	McCutcheon

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, March 9: Boys Basketball Regionals

Saturday, March 9: Girls Gymnastics Regionals

Saturday, March 16: Boys Basketball Semi-States

Saturday, March 16: Girls Gymnastics Finals

Saturday, March 23: Boys Basketball Finals

MILESTONES

Jeff Fisher, boys head basketball coach at Taylor, hit the 100-win milestone on Feb. 22 when his Titans defeated Madison-Grant, 56-52.

On Feb. 22, A.J. Graves became the all-time single-game scoring leader at White River Valley when he pumped in 40 against Washington in the Wolverines 68-60 victory, thus breaking the old mark of 39 held by his brother, Andrew.

Derrick Graham set a South Bend Washington career scoring mark on Feb. 22, scoring 19 points against Northridge, giving him a career total of 1,576, nudging Cedric Moodie to the second spot in the record book.

Tom Kessinger became the Elwood school record holder for points in a season when his 41 point effort versus Westfield on Feb. 22 moved his season total to 627.

New Albany’s boys team, number-one in the state in the final polls, set a school record for regular season victories when Jim Shannon’s club finished 21-1 after closing out the season on Feb. 22 with an 85-67 victory at Evansville Bosse.

South Bend Washington’s Derrick Graham became the Panthers’ all-time leading scorer on Feb. 22, surpassing Cedric Moodie. Graham has also been named a McDonald’s All-American.

New Prairie tied the school record for wins in a season by its boys basketball team on Feb. 22 against Glenn, when Harry Beebe’s team notched its 15^th victory, 52-46. They lost their sectional opener to Northridge 65-56.

Jr. Wayne Denger of Lebanon reached the 1,000 point career mark on Feb. 26 in the Tigers’ opening round game of the sectional against Westfield, joining his older brother, Jess, as 1,000 point contributors at the school.

IHSAA OVERTIME

After 11 seasons at the helm of the girls basketball program at Northwestern, Jeff Hoover has stepped down. His Tigers were 22-3 this season and his career mark 134-96.

Mary Miles, Art Phenis and Jerry Powers were inducted into the Union County High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 22 during halftime of the boys basketball game against Tri-High.

Decatur Central Assistant Athletic Director and girls head basketball coach, Jill Meerman, has been chosen to serve on the USA Basketball Cadet and Youth Committee. She will be part of a group responsible for selecting 48 girls, 17 or younger, to participate in a youth development basketball festival in June at the Colorado Springs, Colorado Olympic Training Center.

Jimtown wrestling coach, Mark Kerrn, has resigned his position, but will remain at the school as an assistant football coach .

West Noble girls head basketball coach, Becky Younce, and her husband Randy, an assistant, have resigned their positions with the Chargers and have opted to retire after 17 years in various capacities at the school.

Longtime Crown Point head baseball coach, Ed Sherry, stepped down from that position on Feb. 25

The Madison County Historical Society has submitted a proposal asking to lease the Anderson Wigwam’s former band and choir rooms to his organization to house its collection of memorabilia dating back some 75 years.

Indiana’s 1998 Miss Basketball, Kelly Komara from Lake Central, has been named the 2002 Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

After twenty years behind the whistle, referee Chip Sweet of Jasonville is hanging it up. He will continue in his position as head baseball coach at Shakamak.

Larry Schellenberg has resigned after four seasons as boys head basketball coach at Floyd Central. He will remain at the school as a junior high counselor.

Jacqueline Batteast, a 2001 graduate of South Bend Washington and among the top-50 career girls basketball scoring leaders and now a student at Notre Dame, has been named Big East Conference Freshman of the Year