Indian Creek senior center Faith Wiseman attempts a shot against Franklin this season.
Daily Journal file photo
Johnson County’s career 1,000-1,000 club in girls basketball still isn’t large enough to put a starting five on the floor.
Thanks to Faith Wiseman, that day is getting closer.
Indian Creek’s 6-foot-4 senior center, a starter since the opening tip of the 2020-21 season, is on track to soon become the fourth county girl to exceed the 1,000 milestone in both points and rebounds.
Wiseman’s career numbers now sit at 1,364 points and 990 rebounds entering tonight’s home game against South Putnam.
More concerned with team accomplishments than personal feats, Wiseman — who is signed to play collegiately at Indiana University — admits having two career totals requiring a comma became more intriguing to her as she grew older.
“I was always like, that would really be cool,” she said. “Once I got close (to 1,000 rebounds), you would go into the gyms thinking, ‘Now, if I get so many in this game…’”
The first local player to break such ground was former Indian Creek player Ally Lehman, a 2013 graduate who scored 1,928 points and grabbed 1,076 rebounds as a versatile wing on her way to becoming an Indiana All-Star.
She was eventually joined by Whiteland post player Mackenzie Blazek (1,536 points, 1,165 rebounds), who exhausted her prep basketball eligibility with the 2017-18 season and went on to the University of Illinois. Former Greenwood Christian standout Izzy Reed, a hard-nosed 5-8 guard, made her way in with 2,062 points and 1,349 rebounds. Reed, a 2021 GCA grad, is currently a junior playing at Indiana Wesleyan University.
Indications that Wiseman might make this one of her many basketball achievements came early and often.
In the fifth game of her varsity basketball career, she recorded her first double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the Braves’ 54-26 victory at Beech Grove. She performed the feat seven more times as a ninth-grader, 14 times as a sophomore and a whopping 19 for last season’s Class 3A semistate finalist.
Wiseman stands at 55 career double-doubles — including each of her last six games — going into tonight’s contest, which doubles as the team’s senior night. She won’t be opposed to snagging her 1,000th career rebound during what already promises to be a special few hours.
“That would be so cool, especially with all my family and friends there,” Wiseman said. “But obviously, once it’s achieved, you can focus on the main goals. I credit my teammates getting me the ball at the right moments when I’m open. Just having that confidence and trust in me.
“I appreciate the chemistry between us.”
Wiseman, who surely is among the county’s career leaders in blocked shots with 286 to date (Blazek, for the record, had 312) credits her father, the 6-foot-6 Eric, and former Indian Creek boys basketball standout Tim Abel with helping her work on her game.
“I work with Faith about twice a week for an hour and a half after her practices. We work on a lot of attributes of her game, but the three main ones would be footwork, being dominant and breaking down film,” Abel said. “Our biggest concentration has definitely been footwork and finishing strong at the rim.
“With her being 6-4 and me being 6-1, we often end out training sessions playing one-on-one just in the paint to work on her footwork and physicality. And no, I don’t take it lightly on her.”
The work is paying off. Wiseman is averaging career-best numbers this season in points (19.1), rebounds (11.4), assists (4.5) and blocked shots (3.3) per game.
Most importantly, Indian Creek is 82-18 during her four seasons entering tonight.
“It’s her determination. Her drive. It’s putting forth the effort, and Faith reads the ball better coming off the rim,” Indian Creek coach Brian Ferris said. “This season, she’s taking on that goal to reach 1,000 rebounds.
“A lot of those rebounds, she’s got two or three players hanging on her. Faith makes a difference, and you have to adjust accordingly if you’re going to play against her.”
