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IHSAA Class 2A State Championship
Parke Heritage 57, Westview 56
INDIANAPOLIS - Parke Heritage and Westview combined for a near-record breaking 18 3-pointers made inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but it was interior offense and defense that ultimately decided Saturday afternoon’s slugfest during the Class 2A boys basketball state championship.
With 8.4 seconds remaining and fourth-ranked Parke Heritage trailing 56-55, senior guard Treigh Schelsky penetrated the lane and pulled the Westview defense, leaving 6-foot-9 Isaac Pickel open for a go-ahead layup.
Seconds later, Pickel switched on defense and “walled up” against Westview junior Auston Schlabach, challenging his layup that rimmed out to secure the game’s final rebound and a first-ever state title for Parke Heritage, 57-56.
“Obviously, I’m 6-9. That gives people some problems,” Pickel said. “He drove. I walled up and felt like the ball sat on the rim for a couple of years, but I got the rebound, and I looked at the team, and everything is just a blessing from there.”
As the final horn sounded, four years of frustration ended for the Wolves (27-4), who had reached the semi-state each season before finally breaking through to reach the State Finals for the first time since 2021.
The modern-day Wolves found a way, building a quick 22-11 lead in the first half and rallying back from a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter while both teams combined to shoot .473 percent (18-for-38) from 3-point range, which set a new 2A state championship record.
Parke Heritage set a new 2A state record for highest field goal percentage (.590) and junior guard Brenden Goins (5-for-5 from 3-point) had the highest 3-point percentage for an individual.
Together, Parke Heritage and Westview posted the best combined field goal percentage (.543) in 2A State Finals history.
“I think it went about as close as I predicted all week. I thought this had the chance to be the best game of the day. That’s not to slight any of the other classes, but I knew how good both teams were,” Parke Heritage coach Rich Schlesky said.
“That’s some of the best 3-point shooting I’ve seen a team have in this building. It was actually kind of embarrassing how the shooting was, so a lot of credit to them. They could have folded early. They did a good job of getting back in the game.”
Parke Heritage jumped out fast, taking a 20-11 lead after the first quarter, capped by a 3-pointer from Goins, who finished with 17 points.
“I’ve said this all along, Brenden’s not a guy you want to play horse against because he can flat out shoot it when he gets a catch and shoot three,” Schelsky said. “Our guys did a good job finding him.”
The Westview Warriors (27-2) did an even better job regrouping with a 12-4 run to start the second quarter. A 3-pointer at the buzzer by senior Kaden Grau before halftime pulled the Warriors closer, 30-28.
“Their physicality, we lost track of their shooters a couple of times, and it looked like they could run away with it, but the type of guys that we have just continued to fight,” Westview coach Chandler Prible said. “Being undersized didn’t affect them in their fight, and that’s what I’m really proud of.”
Winners of 26 consecutive games, Westview, a guard-heavy team, battled back from beyond the arc, converting 6 of 15 from deep in the first half and went 12 of 26 overall.
Grau had a team-high 14 points with seven rebounds and shot 5 of 9 from the floor, while Schlabach had 13 points with eight assists.
Westview strung together a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter that gave the Warriors their first advantage in the game, 52-48, but with three ties and four lead changes, nothing was settled until the final 31.2 seconds.
“I think it’s kind of a testament to what we’ve been doing all season. We don’t quit, and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to try to win,” Grau said. “We had it there.”
The Warriors had the momentum after a Parke Heritage turnover with 40.8 seconds remaining, but pressure defense by junior Leyton McMullen on an inbound play forced Grau out of bounds and gave the Wolves possession.
“I couldn’t see if his foot was out of bounds or not. I thought that he had gotten pushed myself, but I honestly beat myself up because I had a couple of timeouts, and I thought he was going to be able to get out of there. I should have burned one,” Prible said. “That’s on me.”
Parke Heritage capitalized on their ensuing possession, as Treigh Schelsky drove the lane.
Schelsky had a game-high 17 points with three rebounds, two steals and five assists. His final dish to Pickel, who had five points and eight rebounds, put the game in Parke Heritage’s hands.
“The last play, our last offensive possession of the game is the epitome of Treigh Schelsky as a basketball player. He’s a winner,” Rich Schelsky said. “He doesn’t care if he scores or somebody else scores. He’s going to make the winning play. It’s kind of fitting that the state championship came down to that.”
Treigh Schelsky had one goal in mind – make a play.
As a water boy for the 2021 state runner-up Parke Heritage team, Schelsky knew it was time to live up to the program’s mantra, “knocking down the door.”
“I just told myself, go make a play. Like coach said, it wasn’t necessarily go score. It wasn’t anything else besides just go make a play,” Treigh Schelsky said. “I saw Isaac in a dunker spot, and I went to my right, got downhill and Grau helped over. That’s a play that I talked about in the past that I love making is getting downhill, beating my guy and dumping it off to Isaac.”
From there, Pickel went to work on both ends of the court.
“I had 100 percent confidence in Treigh to make a play, and when I saw my guy help over, I just wanted to make sure I was there,” Pickel said. “Usually, I end up dunking it. Would have been nice to dunk that one, but I think it was more important that I made it.”
Pickel switched over to contest Schlabach’s right-handed layup on Westview’s final possession and watched as the ball almost found the bottom of the net.
“He played 6-9. He walled up straight. He stayed vertical and made him finish over him,” Rich Schelsky said. “We thought that our length, specifically Isaac’s length, could bother him. We thought that him having to finish over Isaac’s length at some point in the game would be an issue, and thankfully, it was on the last play.”
Parke Heritage dominated the paint and out scored Westview 30-16, but the Warriors tallied 17 points off eight Wolves’ turnovers. Parke Heritage shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range at 50 percent.
“They were going to have to beat us from three. They almost did. At the end of the day, we got the stop when we needed to,” said Rich Schelsky, who owns a 169-58 record in eight seasons at Parke Heritage.
“This is such a surreal moment. When the buzzer went off, I really didn’t know what to think. There’s a lot of history. Since I was in junior high school, I’ve lived there even when I did not work there. I drove for 10 years to Western Boone every day to work there. This has been my home for most of my life. To know how passionate our community is and to watch this unfold, to watch the consolidation happen; to watch the ’21 team really bring the entire community together. Now, for it to culminate into this, I’m a really proud AD and coach right now. It means everything to our community for us to be coming back with a big trophy.”
Class 2A State Championship Records
Highest Field Goal Percentage: .590 (23-39) by Parke Heritage
Highest Combined Field Goal Percentage: .543 by Westview (21-42) and Parke Heritage (23-39)
Highest Combined 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: .473 by Westview (12-26) and Parke Heritage (6-12)
Highest 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 1.000 (5-5) Brenden Goins of Parke Heritage vs Westview
(This was the only 1.000 3-point shooting percentage - minimum 5 attempts - in any state championship game since the three-point field goal debuted in 1987)
Westview's Kaden Grau receives Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award
Members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Kaden Grau of Westview High School as the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award in Class 2A Boys Basketball.
The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Kaden is a four-year competitor in both basketball and tennis for the Warriors, demonstrating exceptional leadership and achievement in each sport. A two-year team captain in both programs, he has earned All-Conference and All-Area honors in basketball for the past two years and in tennis for the past three years. He captured sectional and regional championships in both sports and is a 1,000-point scorer for the Warriors basketball program.
Academically, Kaden ranks among the top students in his class, maintaining an outstanding 3.985 GPA. He is a three-year member of the National Honor Society and currently serves as Treasurer.
Kaden is the son of Karl and Gretchen Grau of Middlebury, Indiana, and plans to attend Hope College, where he will study Marketing and Digital Design. He is the second Warrior student-athlete to earn an IHSAA mental attitude award this school year joining classmate Noah Bontrager who was the boys cross country honoree last October.
The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, the presenting sponsors of the IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the general scholarship fund at Westview High School in the name of Kaden Grau.
The award is named in honor of the late Arthur L. Trester, who served as the first IHSAA Commissioner from 1929 to 1944 and was a guiding force after the Great Depression.
IHSAA’s Champion of Education Award, presented by Ivy Tech Community College
This award recognizes teachers and faculty who go above and beyond to challenge students to reach their full potential. As an organization that emphasizes keeping education at the forefront of high school athletics, the IHSAA is proud to shine a light on two honorees in this year’s class. On behalf of Ivy Tech Community College, presenting sponsors of the IHSAA Champion of Education Award, the IHSAA will award $250 to the classroom of each recipient.
Presenters: Dr. Marty Pollio, President of Ivy Tech Community College, & Dr. LeaAnn Crooks, Chancellor of Ivy Tech Terre Haute
Jeff Thompson teaches Mathematics at Parke Heritage High School and serves as an Assistant Basketball Coach for the Wolves. His dedication to his craft is evident in the countless hours he spends preparing lessons, ensuring every detail is thoughtfully considered to best serve his students. His classroom is not just a place to learn subject matter, but a space where students learn life lessons. Jeff also serves as a mentor to young teachers, sharing his experience, guidance, and support to help them grow professionally. Jeff's dedication, kindness, and leadership make him a cornerstone of the Parke Heritage community!
Tim Gonderman is a Mathematics teacher at Westview Jr.-Sr. High School. He’s an educator who believes every student can succeed and works tirelessly to make that belief a reality. He builds meaningful relationships with students and is a familiar face at athletic events and activities, showing his unwavering support. With a legacy that includes coaching multiple sports and serving as an athletic director, Mr. Gonderman continues to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of his students!