2001 IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals

Class 4A Championship Results

BEN DAVIS KEEPS CLASS 4A CROWN

Sparked by a third quarter run, Ben Davis rolled to a 69-45 triumph over Fort Wayne Snider and claimed its second straight Class 4A state title on Saturday (March 3) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

With the victory, the Giants made it a clean sweep as all four of last year’s state champions successfully defended their titles.

Holding a 23-21 advantage at halftime, Ben Davis stepped up the defensive pressure in the third period behind a 23-3 run and never looked back. Seniors Ashley Allen and Shyra Ely paced the Giants in scoring with 20 and 19, respectively. Freshman Janese Banks added 12 points. Four players shared scoring honors for Fort Wayne Snider at seven points each.

Turnovers plagued Fort Wayne Snider during the contest. The Panthers committed 30 in the game and Ben Davis took advantage scoring 31 points off those miscues. Allen set a Class 4A record with nine steals in the game.

(Class 4A) Third-ranked Ben Davis completed a 27-2 year under 16th-year coach Stan Benge. Anchored by four-year starters Shyra Ely and Ashley Allen, the Giants finished 106-6 during their careers.

Eighth-ranked Fort Wayne Snider finished its runner-up year at 25-3 under coach Lamar Kilmer, who is retiring after 21 years leading the Panthers.

 

SHYRA ELY NAMED ROY MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD RECIPIENT

Shyra Ely of Ben Davis High School was selected as the recipient of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A Girls Basketball by the IHSAA Executive Committee.

A four-year starter, Ely led the Giants to two state titles and became the 16th girl in Indiana history to score 2,000 career points when she tallied 19 in the victory over Fort Wayne Snider. Ely finished her career with 2,004 points and 1,218 rebounds.

Ely in one of 10 national finalists for the Naismith Female Prep Player of the Year award and

She also has participated in volleyball and track, earning 10 varsity letters at Ben Davis. In track she has been a state finalist and in volleyball she was an all-Marion County selection as a senior.

Academically, Ely ranks in the top 15 percent of her senior class of 780 students with a 3.48 grade point average. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club and the school’s student council.

Ely has signed a basketball letter of intent with Tennessee and plans to major in pre-medicine.

Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Ben Davis High School in the name of Ely.

CLASS 4A POST-GAME QUOTES

fort wayne snider coach lamar kilmer

"I know we didn’t win the ballgame but I just want to say that it’s great to retire with a bunch of winners on my team. Ben Davis was simply a heck of a team. I knew we’d have trouble with their quickness and they just killed us on the boards. They have some tremendous athletes on the roster and they were definitely the best team we played all season."

"They seem to put a lot of pressure on us tonight and we just didn’t handle the press that well. But it was their overall full-court defense that made us take some difficult shots tonight."

fort wayne snider’S Suzanne Hayden

"We went against all the odds tonight and we’re really proud of our effort despite the so-called experts didn’t think we’d be here tonight. We played with a lot of heart and composure and I think we showed everyone that we deserved to be here. I was really proud of the way we played tonight."

fort wayne snider’S LYDIA HARRIS

"That was the best team we’ve ever played. Shyra (Ely) and Ashley (Allen) were tough and their just so athletic and they just crashed the boards. Ben Davis’ guards were also tough tonight from the perimeter hitting threes."

BEN DAVIS COACH STAN BENGE

"I’m not going to look nearly as smart next year without these three (Ely, Allen and Van Valin)."

(Referring to second half scoring spurt) "Once we got the first steal and bucket we got going. We missed a lot of shots early because we had adrenaline pumping."

(Difference from winning last year) "Both are different, but both feel great. We had a lot of pressure all year to repeat, but it feels real good right now."

BEN DAVIS’ ASHLEY ALLEN

(On her record nine steals) "We put more pressure on them in the second half and I got some easy steals."

BEN DAVIS’ SHYRA ELY

(On Snider’s 30 turnovers) "We figured putting pressure on them would cause turnovers. And if we got some steals we could run a little and convert some easy baskets."

 

CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP BOX SCORE

Fort Wayne Snider (25-3)

Name

Min.

FG

3FG

FT

R

A

F

S

TO

TP

Erin Heffner

31

2-2

0-0

3-6

6

1

3

1

6

7

Jasmine Fullove

23

2-7

0-0

3-6

3

0

4

1

2

7

Lydia Harris

31

2-6

1-3

1-3

3

6

3

2

6

6

Suzanne Hayden

28

3-10

1-4

0-1

1

2

1

2

9

7

Amy Hayden

24

3-5

1-2

0-0

4

1

1

1

5

7

Molly Hayden

10

0-0

0-0

2-2

2

0

1

1

1

2

Candace Jones

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Lorraine Every

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Megan Mattson

8

1-1

0-0

4-4

3

0

3

0

1

6

Mary Ann Gibson

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Lindsey Deason

1

1-2

1-1

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

3

Colleen Kennedy

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Team Total

160

14-33

4-10

13-22

24

10

16

8

30

45

Percentages

 

42.4

40.0

59.1

           

Team Rebounds: 8

Ben Davis (27-2)

Name

Min.

FG

3FG

FT

R

A

F

S

TO

TP

Kristin Van Valin

22

1-6

0-0

0-2

8

2

3

1

0

2

Shyra Ely

24

6-14

0-0

7-10

5

3

2

4

4

19

Amber Johnson

22

2-4

0-1

1-2

3

1

4

1

2

5

Ashley Allen

28

9-19

2-8

0-0

4

6

1

9

3

20

Megan Jones

22

2-6

1-5

0-0

7

4

2

1

1

5

Adrienne Jones

19

2-3

2-3

0-0

2

2

0

0

1

6

Jessica Fetterman

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Jennifer Poindexter

1

0-1

0-0

0-0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Janese Banks

17

4-9

0-2

4-5

2

0

3

3

2

12

Allie Holok

2

0-1

0-1

0-0

1

1

1

0

0

0

Kourtney Crawford

2

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

1

1

0

Team Totals

160

26-63

5-20

12-19

33

19

16

20

14

69

Percentages

 

41.3

25.0

63.2

           

Team Rebounds: 7

Score by Quarters:

Fort Wayne Snider

9

12

9

15

--

45

Ben Davis

11

12

26

20

--

69

Officials: Michael Waisnora, Donald Whitlow.

Attendance: 9,375 (Two-game session); 18,034 (Four-game total).