Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.

9150 North Meridian Street, Box 40650, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240-0650

Phone: 317-846-6601    Fax: 317-575-4244    Website: www.ihsaa.org

Blake Ress, Commissioner

_________________________________________________________________________

March 1, 2008

 

FORT WAYNE CANTERBURY WINS FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

A strong second half performance by Fort Wayne Canterbury led the Cavaliers past University, 36-32, to claim the Class A state championship, the school’s first in a girls sport.

 

Both teams displayed an up-tempo style of play in the first quarter, as University jumped to a 6-0 lead early in the game.  The Trailblazers led by as many as seven before Canterbury cut the lead to three to end the first quarter at 9-6. A steal and fast break lay up by senior guard Aubrey Holle gave Canterbury their first lead with 4:23 left in the second quarter.  University stole the momentum back though and took a 16-15 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

 

Trailing 30-25 at the end of the third quarter, University managed to hold Canterbury scoreless until 2:18 remained in the game but still trailed 31-29. With :56 remaining, Canterbury’s Cassie Kreiger hit a free throw, her second rimmed out but was rebounded by fellow sophomore forward Tabitha Gerardot who put it back up to make the lead 34-29.  A quick three pointer by University junior Ieysha Walker pulled the Trailblazers within two at 34-32, but Gerardot and Kreiger both hit a free throw to seal the game in the final seconds.

 

Canterbury, led by 10th year head coach Scott Kreiger, finished the season 21-5, winning their final 14 games. Gerardot led all scorers with 16 points, while she grabbed 17 rebounds to break the Class A state finals rebounding record by two.  Aubrey Holle added six points and three steals, freshman Becky Pedro also chipped in with six points, six rebounds, and three steals. Kreiger tallied all three of her points from the line and also had three steals.

 

Bill Thornburgh, in his fifth year at the helm for University, led his team to a final record of 20-7.  Walker led the way with 10 points and six rebounds, sophomore guard Bria Sneed added nine points and four steals, and junior Katie Adlam collected six points, nine boards, and three steals.

 

Fort Wayne Canterbury set a new state record for fewest points allowed, beating the old record of 36.  Both teams combined to set a new Class A record for most combined steals, with 28 between them, beating the old record by one. 

 

 

AUBREY HOLLE NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER

Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Aubrey Holle of Canterbury High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award.

 

The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by her principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.

 

Holle is a four-year starter on the Cavaliers varsity team and has served as team captain the last three seasons.  She is the school’s record holder in assists and steals.

 

She is a student council representative and is serving as vice president at this time. She also is member of the Key Club and is the sports editor for her school newspaper.

 

Holle is undecided on her college choice but plans to study chemistry and/or biology on the pre-medicine route and hopes to continue playing basketball and possibly soccer as well.

 

She is the daughter of Doug and Camille Holle of Fort Wayne.

 

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Canterbury High School in the name of Holle.

 

The award is named in honor of the former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999.

 

 

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 Midwest. VSN, which was on site Saturday, has captured hundreds of images from this year’s State Finals and will have them ready for viewing and purchase beginning Monday.

 

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 (9150 N. Meridian Street in Indianapolis) or $5.00 by mail (postage included). To order, have your Visa or MasterCard ready and call us at 317-846-6601 during business hours (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. EST).

 

 

CLASS A POST-GAME QUOTES

 

Scott Kreiger, Fort Wayne Canterbury Head Coach

 

“Well it sure wasn’t a work of art, I’ll tell you that.  I think playing here, in this arena, in front of this crowd with everything that was at stake was kind of tough on kids.  The thing we talked about before we took the floor was we do it with defense.”

 

“We had a horrible shooting practice yesterday and I was concerned it would be that way today and it was.  But defense carried us through.  It was clearly the difference today.”

 

(on the slow start)

“It’s a long game with lots of runs and flows.  We knew once the ball started going in everything was going to be fine.  Defensively, we were doing good things out there.”

 

(on leadership of sophomore Tabitha Gerardot and her State record 17 rebounds)

“She’s been a double-double kid since she got healthy at Christmas.  She works her tail off.  She did not have a good offensive day but good players make things happen.”

 

“There was a point in late January where we were not a good defensive team.  Then we put a lot of emphasis on it and things began to change.”

 

(on Mental Attitude Award winner, senior Aubrey Holle)

“She’s a great student, a great leader and great in the community.  She’s a 1000 point scorer at our school and one of the finest kids you’ll ever meet.  It was a privilege to coach her.”

 

 

 

 

Bill Thornburgh, University Head Coach

 

 “We just couldn’t make a shot.  We played pretty good defense but (Tabitha) Gerardot was the only one that did anything against us.  We wanted to key on her, but she had a couple of stretches where she scored some big points.”

 

“We played with basically the same five girls the second half.  When you don’t make baskets, it’s tough to win games.  We got off to a nice start at 9-2, but they settled in and made a nice run.  They had only four fouls called on them the whole game.”

 

“We’ve played well since our Christmas tourney and we had a great run in the tournament.  I’m not upset, we were here at Conseco and 90+ schools were not.  For our school it’s a great opportunity.  A lot of people didn’t even know we had athletics.”

 

“At halftime, we talked about if we just could hit some shots we could win the game.  We got back into the game in the third quarter, but at the end we just had some defensive breakdowns and they had some big offensive rebounds.”

 

“I’m upset about the loss, but I’m not too upset overall.  It was a great accomplishment just to make it here.  We only lose one senior off of this year’s roster.  It’s disappointing to lose when you don’t play your best.”