Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________
March 1, 2008
GREYHOUNDS
RUN AWAY WITH FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Carmel
Greyhounds defeated the defending champion South Bend Washington Panthers,
84-72, to claim the school’s first girls
basketball title. It was the school’s state-leading 89th IHSAA
championship in all sports including the 5A football and girls swimming and
diving crowned earned earlier this school year.
Balanced
scoring was the key to the Greyhound victory as they placed four players in
double figures. The teams mirrored each other in many statistical categories
but the Greyhounds (23-4) came out on top where it mattered most to end the
Panthers’ hopes for back-to-back titles.
The game
was back and forth with six lead changes and two ties in the first half as Carmel
led at the break, 43-39.
Although
the Panther’s press caused some Carmel turnovers, the six-point lead the
Greyhounds took into the fourth quarter was never relinquished. Carmel was led
in scoring by junior Chrissy Steffen who tied a 4A state
finals record with 31 points (Reicina Russell, Terre
Haute South, 2002). Senior Danielle Havel added a double-double with 16 points
and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior Ashlee Spearman and junior Lauren McRoberts each ended the evening with 14 points a piece.
The
Panthers were led by the state’s leading scorer junior Tyler Diggins with 25, four shy of her average, and fellow junior
Takoia Larry added 24. Larry and senior Shalana Murray finished with a team high nine rebounds
each.
The
Panthers, coached by Marilyn Coddens in her 14th
season, were making their third consecutive state finals appearance. They have
compiled a 137-14 record over the past six years. Carmel, led by fourth year
coach Scott Bowen, was making its second title game appearance and first since its
1995 state runner-up season.
Carmel’s
84 points tied South Bend Washington’s output from last year against
Columbus East for the most points in a 4A title game. This year’s 156 points
between the two teams set the record for points in a final game. The Panthers
attempted 25 three pointers in their effort to catch up in the second half,
setting a title game record as a team and an individual record with Diggins’ 11 attempts.
DANIELLE
HAVEL NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
Following
the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Danielle Havel of
Carmel 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.
Havel has
been a four-year starter for the Greyhounds and a thee
year All-Conference selection. Havel has also won a pair of letters on the
volleyball team.
She has
been a two year member of the Student Athletic Board, a part of Carmel’s
freshman and new student orientation programs and attended the IHSAA Leadership
Conference last summer.
Havel is set
to play college basketball at DePaul University in Chicago next year and plans
to major in sports management.
She is the
daughter of John and Melissa Havel of Carmel.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate
partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Carmel High School in the name of
Havel.
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
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 (
CLASS
4A POST-GAME QUOTES
Scott
Bowen, Carmel Head Coach
“I’m
so excited for our kids. It’s awesome watching them celebrate. It feels good for our seniors to get it
done. They’re a good team. Ashley Spearman was on fire, we have a lot of
confidence in her. What a great
effort. We wanted to play our best
basketball game this year and we did.”
Marilyn Coddens,
“We
played tentatively, our shots weren’t falling and we just didn’t
play our game. They took us right out of
it. They did a good job. Congratulations to them.”
“Their
defense pulled us further away from the basket offensively. Instead of attacking we were shooting
three’s that we should not have been shooting.”