Girls basketball: All-County team

Tim Abel was an All-County guard as an Indian Creek senior seven years ago, and he went on to play college basketball at Cincinnati Christian and Huntington. He’s still got game — so the two inches or so that he gives up to Faith Wiseman don’t necessarily matter all that much when the two go at it on the court.

Those one-on-one battles, the ones that take place far away from the spotlight, have helped Wiseman to be at her best when the stands are full and the pressure is on.

“When we get in the gym, we work really hard but we also talk through a lot of things,” Wiseman said. “(Abel) helped me understand a lot of the little details about the game. And then of course we play one on one against each other, and he is a really good basketball player, too. Puts a lot of pressure on me and keeps pushing me.”

Already one of the best players in the state, Wiseman was pushed to an even higher level this winter. She’s ranked among the top 100 seniors in the country, and she’ll suit up for the Indiana All-Stars in June before heading to play for a nationally-ranked Indiana University squad.

She’s also the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year for a second consective season, having shared the honor with Creek classmate Lauren Foster a year ago.

Despite facing double and triple teams all season long, Wiseman was nothing short of dominant during her senior campaign. She led the Braves with 18.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots per game while also averaging 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals, leading the team to a 21-5 record and a Class 3A sectional championship.

She took her dominance to the extreme in late January; Wiseman posted a quadruple-double (18 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks) in a rout of South Putnam and then delivered a 28-point, 24-rebound performance in the sectional opener against Brown County a week later.

“Every year she’s gotten better, and she went to another level this year,” Indian Creek coach Brian Ferris said.

Wiseman said that the graduation of starters Abby Fleetwood and Savannah Hall from last year’s semistate finalist pushed her to work harder with Abel during the offseason.

That work clearly paid off.

“We just started working to be more aggressive and finish better around the rim,” said Wiseman, who finished her high school career with 1,456 points, 1,072 rebounds, 324 assists, 174 steals and 322 blocks. “Just kind of everything, and I felt like that really helped my game improve.”

What’s scary is that Wiseman likely isn’t done improving or growing as a player. She’ll continue to work with Abel on improving her agility, since she knows she’ll need to be able to defend multiple positions — and doing so in the Big Ten will be a bit tougher than doing it in the Western Indiana Conference.

Wiseman plans to head to Bloomington right after the Indiana All-Stars finish their run of exhibition games in June, and she’s eager to hit the ground running there.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I’m ready for the future and the next steps, and I’m just super excited to play for coach (Teri) Moren and her staff. They’re just such a good program … the atmosphere there is crazy, exciting, and the fans are insane, so it’ll be fun to get on campus and start getting ready for the future.”

At the same time, she’s proud of what she was able to accomplish with her Indian Creek teammates.

“They’re just amazing and they’re really fun girls to play with, and I couldn’t have done anything without them,” Wiseman said. “And of course we didn’t go as far as we wanted to in the season, but we still won four sectionals and had a good four seasons.”

Now it’s on to the next four.

ALL-COUNTY TEAM

The 2023-24 All-County team for girls basketball:

Audrey Annee, Center Grove senior: Named an Indiana All-Star after leading the Trojans in scoring with 13.2 points per game, including 28 in a county tournament win over Indian Creek … Will play college ball at Army.

Lilly Bischoff, Center Grove junior: Averaging 11.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and team highs of 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals while running the point for a 27-win Trojan squad … Earned Indiana Junior All-Star honors.

Aubrie Booker, Center Grove senior: Did a little bit of everything for the semistate finalist Trojans, contributing 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game while also serving as the team’s defensive stopper.

Lauren Foster, Indian Creek senior: Taylor signee averaged 16.4 points, 5.5 assists and 2.6 steals, shooting 58% from the field and 92% on free throws … Finished her career with 1,781 points, sixth all-time among county girls.

Lauren Klem, Franklin senior: Mid-State Conference player of the year … Averaged 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.1 steals while leading Grizzly Cubs to third regional crown in four years … A four-time All-County pick.

Faith Wiseman, Indian Creek senior: Indiana University recruit earned a spot on the Indiana All-Star team after averaging 18.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.9 blocks for sectional champion Braves.

Honorable mention

Sukhman Bains, Whiteland; Erica Buening, Franklin; Sophia Dyer, Whiteland; Emma Gardner, Greenwood; Bre Gault, Indian Creek; Ava Grant, Center Grove; Gwen Higdon, Whiteland; Annaleece Jackson, GCA; Keyara Johnson, Greenwood; Scarlett Kimbrell, Franklin; Ayla Lollar, Indian Creek; Charlee Mayo, Greenwood; Isabelle Reynolds, Greenwood; Samantha Roadruck, Whiteland; Lexi Sichting, Indian Creek; Kenna Streeval, Edinburgh; Carly VonDielingen, Whiteland; Sydney Waldron, GCA; Rachel Wirts, Center Grove; Brooklyn York, Franklin