Boys Basketball Coordinator
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Shalana Murray (left) hugs
teammate Sherice White (right) after the Panthers’ victory. Photo by Natalie Evans |
INDIANAPOLIS
â??? The South Bend Washington Panthers finished as the runner-up in the
Class 4A girls basketball championship last year. They made sure to top
that on March 3 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Led by a record-setting 27-point, 17-rebound performance by
sophomore guard Skylar Diggins and 24 points from senior Ashley Varner,
coach Marilyn Coddensâ?? Panthers defeated Columbus East, 84-64, to claim
their first girls basketball championship in a game that saw 16 IHSAA
state finals records tied or broken.
â??Our kids were relentless â??? they were so focused,â? said Coddens.
Leading the focus was the team leader, Diggins, the 5â??9â? guard who
set a 4A state finals record with 17 boards â??? 10 of them offensive â???
more than anyone in the 10 years of class basketball championships in
Indiana. The super soph also set a 4A finals record with 28 attempted
field goals.
â??We vowed to ourselves that after the loss last year to Castle that
we were going to come back and play hard, and that we would be back and
we would be state champions,â? said Diggins. â??And our dream has come
true.â?
The win was South Bend Washingtonâ??s 28th straight as the Panthers finish the year 28-1 after a season-opening 63-58 loss to Fort Wayne South.
Washington jumped out to a 16-6 early lead, but the game did not
begin easily for Diggins. Struggling to find her jumper, Diggins missed
her first five shots. But the Panthers were still tied with Columbus
East 16-all at the end of the first period.
The Panthers had scored the first seven points of the game, feeding
the inside to Ashley Varner and fellow senior Katelyn Boocher. But the
Olympians scored 10 straight to close the quarter, led by Bethlynn
Rossâ?? six and Shelby Rossâ?? seven early points.
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McKayla Barber of Columbus
East catches her breath during a timeout. Photo by Natalie Evans |
Columbus
East was able to match the first basket of the second quarter but began
to lose pace after that, in large part due to Diggins. Still struggling
from the field, she got some advice from an older teammate.
â??Kate Boocher came to me and said, â??Skylar, go to the rack,â?? â?
Diggins said. â??So I listened and fed off that and once I started doing
that, I found my game.â?
The sophomoreâ??s game in the second quarter was nine points and five
offensive rebounds as the Panthers outscored East on an 18-4 run that
lasted until the 36-22 halftime score.
As if her second-quarter output wasnâ??t good enough, Diggins improved
with a third quarter that would qualify as a full game for most.
Diggins went for 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three
steals in the third period alone as her team built the lead up to 66-45
entering the fourth.
â??Her threes werenâ??t going down, and she let the game come to her,â? Coddens said.
A 17-6 run midway through the third pushed the lead to as many as
25, but Ross wasnâ??t content to watch her chance at a title slide by.
The East senior scored 12 points in the third to give her 20 to that
point, but the Olympiansâ?? shooting never allowed them back into the
game.
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Columbus East’s Shelby
Ross (left) focuses on the basket while Katelyn Boocher goes for the block. Photo by Natalie Evans |
As
time grew short, Columbus East struggled to find points, making just 4
of 17 shots in the fourth quarter while adding nine more turnovers to
their total. In the fourth quarter, Ross went 1 of 7.
With 2:55 left in the game and her team up by 27, Coddens put in her
five seniors, signifying that a title was clinched. But the 13th-year
coach knew well before the game that her team was on its way.
â??They were so focused all this week, even in the locker room before
we came out,â? said Coddens. â??It was such a different atmosphere from
last year. The coaches, we walked out and went â??Oh my God.â?? We knew
then it was over.â?
Diggins, proving her status as the stateâ??s top sophomore and
possibly the best player in the state, finished 10 of 28 from the field
for 27 points, adding the 17 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and
three blocks in 28 minutes. Varner was 10 of 13 for 24 points, and
junior guard Emily Phillips added 16 as the Panthers swiped 19 steals,
blocked 11 shots, and forced 25 turnovers.
Ross wrapped up with 5-of-19 shooting for 25 points, 11 rebounds,
five assists, and four steals as her Columbus East team managed eight
less field goals than turnovers. Center McKayla Barber finished with 11
rebounds and seven points.
The Panthers also set 4A records for most points scored by a team as
well as most points scored in a half (48) and quarter (30) in becoming
the first South Bend school to win a girls basketball championship.
â??Itâ??s just overwhelming â??? itâ??s so hard to explain,â? Varner gushed.
â??You think you have the words to explain it, but you really donâ??t.â?
Diggins concurred.
â??Itâ??s a feeling thatâ??s indescribable,â? she said. â??We worked so hard
to get to this point, and now that weâ??re here it hasnâ??t sunk in yet
that weâ??re state champions.
â??It means a lot for the city. There were about 4,000 or 5,000 fans
here wearing green supporting us, and that is a great atmosphere to
play around and a great community to be a part of.â?
SB Washingtonâ??s Boocher named Mental Attitude Award winner
Following
the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Katelyn
Boocher of South Bend Washington as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy
Mental Attitude Award. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAAâ??s
corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to South Bend
Washington in the name of Boocher.
The award, named in honor of the former IHSAA assistant commissioner
who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in
1976 until her retirement in 1999, 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.
Boocher ranks 15th her senior class of 291 students and
is a member of the National Honor Society and Students Against
Destructive Decisions. She has given her time tutoring fellow students,
coaching softball at the elementary and junior high level, and is a
volunteer office worker at her school.
Besides basketball, Boocher is a four-year letterwinner in
volleyball and expects to do the same in softball this spring. She
intends to play softball in college and will study either secondary
education at Akron or Bethel College. She also hopes to coach one day.
She is the daughter of Gerard and Susan Boocher of South Bend.
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