The Center Grove Trojans celebrate their win over Franklin in Saturday’s semistate semifinal at Southport Fieldhouse.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
For the folks who are dead set against introducing a shot clock to Indiana high school basketball, Center Grove’s two Class 4A semistate games Saturday at Southport Fieldhouse could serve as pretty compelling evidence.
The second-ranked Trojans engaged in a pair of beautifully fierce defensive battles, stifling Franklin in a 45-33 semifinal victory before falling prey to a similar swarm in the championship game and suffering a 53-40 setback against No. 1 Lawrence Central.
“We couldn’t find ways to get buckets,” Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said after the loss. “We couldn’t get into some of our sets or actions because of their ball pressure.”
Center Grove (27-2) looked to be in control of a low-scoring affair after back-to-back 3-pointers from Lilly Bischoff and Audrey Annee built a 24-15 advantage with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter. The Bears, though, ratcheted up their defensive pressure and quickly got back into the game. A three-point play by Lola Lampley stopped the Trojan run, and a subsequent 10-0 spurt by the Bears, capped by a Lampley putback, put Lawrence Central back on top at 28-26.
Losing point guard Bischoff, who went down with cramps at the 3:14 mark of the third and sat for most of the remaining time, didn’t help Center Grove’s cause when it came to withstanding the Bears’ suffocating D and regaining the momentum.
“We couldn’t get that stop to get it going back the other way,” Stuckmeyer said, “and then obviously Lilly’s our one that kind of breaks that pressure and gets downhill when they’re up in us.”
The Trojans were briefly able to calm the waters when Annee nailed a 3 just before the third-quarter horn to put them ahead 29-28 going into the fourth. Lawrence Central, though, carried the day from there.
Jaylah Lampley gave the Bears the lead for good with a post make to start the period, and her and-one with 5:46 left stretched the gap to 36-30. Center Grove got as close as 40-37 on a Booker 3-pointer with 3:37 left, but Lola Lampley answered with a layup at the other end and the Bears were able to close it out largely by getting defensive stops and then converting free throws.
Point guard Laila Abdurraqib kept Lawrence Central (29-1) in command down the stretch, scoring 14 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter and finishing the night 14 of 16 from the foul line. Booker scored 10 points in defeat for the Trojans, who also got eight apiece from Annee, Bischoff and Ava Grant.
“They kind of just kept turning the corner and getting open shots, and we didn’t stop it,” Annee said of the Bears’ closing push.
The defensive intensity was suffocating from the outset, with the Bears using their superior length and athleticism to limit the Trojans’ offensive options. Seldom was a Center Grove player given a clear look at the basket or an open passing lane, and its lone first-quarter points came on contested driving layups by Bischoff and Annee.
Down 6-4 after the opening period, the Trojans finally managed a couple of open looks in the second quarter and converted both. Bischoff hit a 3-pointer to put Center Grove on top for the first time, and after Jaylah Lampley knocked down a trey at the other end a minute and a half later, Ava Grant responded with one to give the Trojans a 10-9 edge.
The Bears scored the next two baskets and appeared set to take a three-point lead into the half, but Aubrie Booker drove the lane and converted a three-point play with 0.4 seconds on the clock to tie it at 13-13.
It proved somewhat fitting that the Trojans made it to the final by neutralizing Franklin’s offense in the semifinal game as effectively as Lawrence Central did Center Grove’s.
Quality looks at the basket weren’t quite as hard to come by in the semi, but after two more free-flowing games during the regular season, the third meeting between the Trojans and Grizzly Cubs did more closely resemble their drag-out battles of years past.
A 12-3 surge that started with Booker’s buzzer-beating layup at the end of the first quarter put Center Grove in control at 19-13 with 3:45 remaining in the half. Lauren Klem hit from deep to get Franklin (24-4) back within three, but consecutive putback buckets from Ava Grant and Rachel Wirts stretched the Trojan advantage back to 23-16 heading into the intermission.
Scarlett Kimbrell, who finished with a game-high 16 points for Franklin, opened the second half with a long 3 to cut the deficit to four before Center Grove punched back with what proved to be a defining 9-0 run. Grant made a pair of driving layups to start the blitz, followed by Annee hitting a 3-pointer with 4:05 to go in the third. Another Grant layup off a Bischoff steal made it a 32-19 game and prompted a Grizzly Cub timeout.
Having a week to prepare for the rubber match helped the Trojans solidify a defensive game plan.
“We were able to make adjustments to our defense, getting high on shooters and taking away the skip passes,” Annee said, “and I think the small adjustments made a big difference in the game. They weren’t able to just skip it and shoot.”
Two more deep 3s from Kimbrell helped Franklin creep back to within seven late in the third quarter, but the Trojans slowed the momentum with three free throws and eventually broke the Grizzly Cubs’ backs when Bischoff drove the lane for an and-one that fouled Franklin senior Erica Buening. That sequence put Center Grove up 40-29 with 3:16 remaining, and Stuckmeyer’s crew closed out a 20th consecutive victory from there.
Grant led the Trojans with 14 points in the semifinal win, followed by Bischoff with 12 and Booker and Wirts with eight each.
Both Franklin and Center Grove say goodbye to decorated senior classes, with the Grizzly Cubs losing all five starters and 10 players in all. Buening, Kimbrell and Klem were all four-year starters who finish their careers with a 92-15 record.
“The Class of ‘24 is a special group,” Franklin coach Mike Armstrong said. “I told them in the locker room after the game, ‘I know that you’re hurting right now, it hurts right now, but it doesn’t diminish the other things that we’ve accomplished over the last four years.’ Four sectionals, three regionals, a state finals appearance … just a really special group, and I’m just sorry it didn’t work out better.”
Stuckmeyer, meanwhile, bids farewell to a trio of multi-year starters in Annee, Booker and Wirts.
“Words can’t describe those three,” the coach said. “They are champions in every sense of the word; they are what I’d call All-American girls in every sense of the word. They’re the pride of Center Grove. They’re the pride of Center Grove girls basketball. Their legacy is going to be so long-lasting. I could give you a 14-page newspaper about those three.”
Annee, who will play her college basketball at Army, wasn’t quite ready to process the legacy part just minutes after a career-ending defeat, but she was able to smile through the tears when asked about her time with her Trojan teammates.
“They’re my best friends,” she said. “We’ve all had so much fun together.”
