Junior guard Audrey Annee, right, leads Center Grove with her 12.9 scoring average.
Daily Journal file photos
The building blocks of Center Grove’s third-longest win streak this century are many.
Depth. Competitiveness. Experience. An airtight defense. Patience offensively. Players more concerned with wins than their own statistics … the list goes on.
Foremost, however, is that the Trojans (16-4), who take a 12-game streak into tonight’s game at six-time Class 2A state champion (and one-time 3A titlist) Heritage Christian, are the definition of a starless sky, with six players averaging between 5.4 and 12.9 points per game.
“It’s great that we don’t have to depend on one player every night,” said senior point guard Ella Hobson, a three-year starter. “Everyone is involved, and we have good players off the bench, too.”
Junior shooting guard Audrey Annee is the team’s top scorer, followed by sophomore backup guard Lilly Bischoff (6.8) and junior forward Aubrie Booker (6.5). Hobson (6.2), who also leads the Trojans in assists (3.7) and steals (1.7) ranks slightly ahead of junior post Rachel Wirts (6.0) and senior guard Savanna Bischoff (5.4).
The 6-foot-3 Wirts is Center Grove’s leading rebounder at 5.5 a game; Booker, as well as both Bischoff sisters, grab three per contest.
Lilly Bischoff and a trio of seniors, Ali Wiesmann, Aina Williams and Lindsey Walker, are the primary backups.
Early on, the Trojans would have been content putting together a two-game win streak, much less 12.
Center Grove would win a game, lose a game, win a game, lose a game — all the way to a 4-4 record. The last two setbacks were against county foes Indian Creek, 48-38, and Franklin, 38-34.
After coming up short against the Grizzly Cubs for the sixth consecutive time, the Trojans began to heat up.
“I just think our girls after the 4-4 start decided they didn’t want their season to be that way,” sixth-year coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. “Just their camaraderie. They’re playing so well together, and they’re trusting each other more and more on and off the court.”
In terms of history made since 2000, this Center Grove squad finds itself in impressive company.
During the 2018-19 season, Stuckmeyer’s club won 18 consecutive games; former Trojans coach Joe Lentz saw his 2005-06 team rattle off 13 straight at one point.
A win this evening would tie what the Trojans of 17 years ago accomplished.
“Earlier in the season, after we lost to Indian Creek and Franklin, it really motivated us,” Hobson said. “We started to become more connected, and play better as a team after that.
“Now that we’re winning, we’re having a lot more fun on the court.”
Stuckmeyer has quietly put together a 107-42 record (.718), a mark that includes Class 4A sectional championships in 2018 and 2019. The 35.3 points his current team allows is lowest in his time at Center Grove, and, likely, in the program’s recent history.
Center Grove concludes the regular season at Greenwood on Tuesday. The Trojan then are part of the Bloomington South sectional, which includes three other programs with winning records — the host Panthers, Mooresville and Bloomington North.
No, these Trojans don’t feature the individual who will take over a game, if needed. They don’t have any four- or five-star player coveted by the blueblood college programs.
But an unselfish brand of hoops has been known to be successful, too.
“Maybe it makes us more difficult to play because we’re so balanced,” Stuckmeyer said. “I just like teams where everyone knows and accepts their role.
“When you can trust what you can do well, and trust your teammates to do what they do well, that starts to pay off and you get addicted to success.”
