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Tretter's late bucket helps Forest Park repeat as 2A state champions
For Forest Park senior Amber Tretter, there couldn’t have been a better way to end her high school career.
Tretter, a 6-1 senior, converted a lay-up with :09 left to give the Rangers a thrilling, 38-37 win over Lapel in the Class 2A state championship game.
Tretter’s basket allowed Forest Park to hold off a furious Lapel comeback as the Bulldogs trailed, 31-23, after three quarters, but rallied for a 37-36 lead after a Madelyn Poynter 3-pointer with :19 left. The win was only secured when Poynter’s 3-pointer at the buzzer fell off. The game finished after seeing 10 lead-changes and two ties.
The victory for the No. 2-ranked Rangers (26-3) gave them and coach Tony Hasenour their second-straight 2A championship.
Tretter led the way with 13 points and 12 rebounds. And, oh, she was also named the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner.
“I had thought the hardest thing to do was win a state championship, but I was wrong,” Hasenour to the throng on hand at Gainbridge Fieldhouse right after the contest. “The hardest thing is to come back and win a state championship again.”
Through three quarters, it didn’t appear even that was true as the Rangers came back from a cold-shooting first half and a 16-14 deficit to take the eight-point lead into the final quarter. In that third quarter, Forest Park hit 6-of-11 from the floor and held a 10-3 rebounding advantage.
Lapel, however, didn’t get to the final game because it shied away from a challenge. Coach Zach Newby’s squad lost seven games during the regular season and the unranked Bulldogs topped the No. 4 (Andrean) and No. 3 (Central Noble) teams in the semi-state.
Junior Madelyn Poynter led Lapel’s comeback as she scored nine of her game-high 15 points in the final quarter. Poynter hit two free throws with :49 left to pull the Bulldogs within 36-34, then hit a clutch 3-pointer with :19 left to give Lapel a 37-36 lead.
Forest Park called timeout and set up a play for Tretter. She took a pass on the block from Gabey Gray and hit a lay-up for the one-point lead.
“We decided we’re going to run our best set,” Hasenour said of the play the team calls “Logan.” We’ve used it several times, but it’s never been a game-winner.”
After the basket, Lapel called timeout and planned to have Deannaya Haseman shoot the final shot. The ball, however, ended up with Poynter and her final shot fell off.
“We were all ‘no, no, no … YES!!!’” Hasenour said of the final shot.
“That’s a position you want to be in,” Lapel coach Zach Newby said of having the last shot. “Sometimes, you make it; sometimes, you don’t.”
“I really thought it would go in,” Poynter said.
Added Haseman: “From my perspective, it looked great, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
“This was a game either team could have won,” Hasenour said, “but we just had one more play in us.”
Lydia Betz led the winners with 15 points, matching Poynter’s total.
Class 2A State Championship Records
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Amber Tretter of Forest Park receives Roy Mental Attitude Award
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Amber Tretter of Forest Park High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class 2A Girls Basketball.
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.
Tretter is the second consecutive Rangers player to win this award joining Grace Fleck from last year’s 2A game.
Tretter is expected to graduate as Valedictorian of her graduating class this spring and serves as secretary of Forest Park’s branch of the National Honor Society. Amber plays a diverse role in her community and is noted as having, “an outstanding contribution to the life, mission and ministry” through the Christ the King Parish.
She is a four-year member of the basketball team and the track and field team and also spent three years with marching band.
She is the daughter of Matt and Heather Tretter of Ferdinand, Indiana and plans to attend Miami University to pursue a career in Architecture.
The Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers, the presenting sponsors of the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the general scholarship fund at Forest Park High School in the name of Amber Tretter.
The award is named in honor of the late former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999.