Junior Audrey Annee should again play a prominent role for Center Grove this season.
Daily Journal file photo
Familiarity can breed contempt. It can also breed some pretty damn good basketball teams.
Kevin Stuckmeyer is hoping for the latter this winter.
With every rotation player of consequence back from last year’s team, Center Grove heads into this season with high hopes coming off of an uneven 13-10 effort. And why not? The sophomores and juniors that spent much of last season trying to get used to one another are now juniors and seniors who have logged plenty of minutes together.
“We’re a lot more like my first year here,” Stuckmeyer said. “We have some depth and some experience of players that you can trust to play now that they’ve been in the system.”
“Everybody knows their roles this year,” senior guard Hobson added. “There’s not any one main person; we all do our own thing, we all have the thing we have to do for the team, and I think we’re doing a really good job of working together and making that happen.”
The Trojans don’t have one established star, but they have several players capable of being the go-to girl on a given night. Five returning girls averaged between 6.2 and 9.3 points last winter, and each has shown the ability to score big at times. The tricky part for Center Grove has been getting that scoring from enough players on a more consistent basis — the team scored just 45.4 points per game last season.
Stuckmeyer and his girls are hopeful that with essentially the entire roster back, including six players who logged starter’s minutes, a greater understanding of one another will lead to a better offensive flow.
“My hope is that it’s not pulling teeth to score,” the coach said. “The problem is we haven’t been very efficient — but the hope is that with the experience and the continuity and understanding roles for a couple of years … I think that should help.”
“Our offense and defense are running a lot more smooth because everyone knows where they need to be and how the offense works,” junior guard Audrey Annee said. “Everyone understands each other as far as what they can do skill-wise, so it’s improved confidence in shooters and drivers.”
Center Grove might have its share of both. Annee (31 for 83) and senior Savanna Bischoff (50 for 146) offer proven outside shooting ability, while Hobson and junior Aubrie Booker have shown the ability to penetrate and score. Add in junior post player Rachel Wirts (6.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), and the Trojans have a number of ways to get the ball in the basket.
If they can do that, the other end of the floor should take care of itself. Center Grove has consistently had one of the state’s stingiest defenses under Stuckmeyer — none of his five teams here has allowed more than 40.1 points per game — so even managing to score closer to 50 a game on offense (a mark the Trojans haven’t hit since the 2017-18 season) would likely translate into a lot of wins.
Potentially helping matters is the fact that Center Grove’s schedule looks a bit different in its first full year of independence. The only former MIC opponents still on the schedule are Carmel and Warren Central; the holes have been filled with the likes of Cathedral, Columbus North and Heritage Christian.
Some different looks, to be sure, but the Trojans seem to be growing secure enough in their own identity that they don’t really care who’s lining up against them.
“We just have to take care of that night,” Annee said.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
Coach: Kevin Stuckmeyer
Last season: 13-10, lost to Franklin in Class 4A sectional semifinal
Key returnees: Savanna Bischoff, Ella Hobson, Emily Karr, Lindsey Walker and Aina Williams, seniors; Audrey Annee, Aubrie Booker and Rachel Wirts, juniors; Lilly Bischoff, sophomore
Top newcomers: Ali Wiesmann, senior; Brooklyn Brown, sophomore
Outlook: Stopping teams from scoring has never been a problem for the Trojans under Stuckmeyer; they’ve never allowed more than 40.1 points a game in any of his five seasons. What has held Center Grove back has been consistent offensive production — the team reached the 50-point mark just five times in 23 games last season, and it’s only hit the 65-point mark once in its last 65 games. The hope is that with all of the key pieces returning from a year ago, the offense will flow better and lead to higher output. The Trojans have plenty of capable scorers — Annee, Booker, Hobson, Wirts and Savanna Bischoff have all shown flashes at some point — but being able to put the ball in the basket more regularly would be a welcome change. The schedule looks different but remains among the state’s toughest, meaning Center Grove should be well prepared for whatever it might see come tournament time.
