When it comes to statistics, Indian Creek girls basketball player Ali Harris checks all of the boxes.
A versatile 5-foot-11 senior, Harris is able to score, rebound, pass and block shots. The Braves will need her to step up and do more of all of those things after graduating their top two scorers from last season.
Forming the nucleus for the 2019-20 squad are Harris, senior point guard Hannah Grider and 5-10 small forward Lauren Pendleton. Harris and Grider averaged 6.1 and 5.8 points a game last winter; Pendleton returns after missing most of her junior campaign with a right ACL injury.
Hannah Bramlett, a 5-8 junior move-in from Columbus North, and sophomore guard Emily Todor are also expected to play significant roles.
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Harris averaged 4.3 boards, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in helping Indian Creek finish 13-10 last winter. It marked the ninth winning season in the past 11 years for the Braves, who have won 66 percent of their games over that stretch.
“I think this season we’re really going to jell as a team. I’m looking for all of us to pass the ball well and get up and down the floor pretty well,” Harris said. “I will definitely be looking to pick up on the rebounds more, work in the post and guard bigger players.”
Pendleton, who sustained her injury the summer before her junior year, is determined to make up for lost time.
“That was, by far, going to be the best season of my high school career,” Pendleton said. “I have double the excitement because I didn’t get to play last year.”
Third-year coach Brian Ferris expects senior guards Tesa Alexander and Alyssa Pruitt to be solid additions to his rotation, as well as junior small forward Luci Woodrum and sophs Emily Bryant and Emilee Scott.
“Some people might look at it as a disadvantage because our main two scorers leave, but we look at the players we have and there’s not one focus,” Ferris said. “All five that we put on the floor are going to be able to put numbers up. It could be balanced scoring or one or two of them could get got on a given night.
“I think we’re going to be competitive. They’re perfectly fine with sharing the ball now. It’s just a matter of sometimes they have to realize it’s OK if they step up and be the one that night.”
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1. Besides your own, what’s your favorite gym to play in?
I really like Martinsville. I think it kind of has the same environment that our gym has. All the attention is on you in the middle. Like an old, historic gym.
2. Which nonconference opponent are you most looking forward to playing?
I’m really looking forward to hopefully playing Center Grove in the county tournament because some of my best friends go there and I wasn’t able to play against them last year because of my ACL injury.
3. If you could steal one skill from one of your teammates, what would it be?
I would steal Hannah Grider’s handles. Hannah’s handles, that’s what I would steal.
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Coach: Brian Ferris (third year)
Last season: 13-10, lost to Danville in Class 3A sectional semifinal
Key returnees: Hannah Grider, Ali Harris and Lauren Pendleton, seniors; Emily Todor, sophomore
Top newcomers: Tesa Alexander and Alyssa Pruitt, seniors; Hannah Bramlett and Luci Woodrum, juniors, Emily Bryant and Emilee Scott, sophomores
What to expect: Grider has been a mainstay since her freshman season and is back to run the offense. Harris and Pendleton are capable perimeter players, though their size will be needed down low after the graduation of All-County post Caitlyn Snyder. The Braves should benefit from playing five of their six games, not counting the Johnson County tournament, at home.
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