By Rich Torres, Special to IHSAA.org
INDIANAPOLIS – Inspired by their past and built to withstand, the Lawrence North Wildcats “chopped wood” all week, and on Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, they were ready for the 50th annual IHSAA girls’ basketball State Finals.
Unranked with eight losses prior to their third state finals appearance in program history, the Class 4A Wildcats (19-8) overcame a pair of first half deficits and pulled ahead big in the third quarter before fending off the fifth-ranked Warsaw Tigers late to win, 65-59.
“Our eight losses were all to top 20 teams throughout the year in the state, and we played a very challenging schedule, so we never blinked on those. We just took those learning lessons and continued to chop wood and apply it,” Lawrence North coach Stephen Thomas said. “That’s what got us to that point and won us a state championship. I couldn’t be happier.”
Lawrence North last captured the 4A state title in 2020 and finished 4A runner-up in 2019 before etching the program’s name into the history books in front a record 18,040 in attendance – the most since 2009 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We’ve haven’t been back to this stage since 2020, and being a senior, being a part of this group to bring it back to the school and bring LN our second girls basketball championship, it means so much to me. I’ve waited for this moment since I put on the uniform, since I first saw LN play,” Lawrence North senior Jamaya Thomas said.
The Wildcats pounced on the Tigers (26-2) to start, establishing leads of 10-4 and 14-10 in the first quarter. However, early foul trouble for Thomas, a 6-foot-1 Northern Kentucky commit, gave the Tigers an opportunity to respond.
Thomas earned her second foul with 2 minutes left in the first quarter and Lawrence North ahead 16-11. From there, the Tigers led by senior Brooke Winchester, a Ball State recruit, put together an 8-0 run to turn the tide, 19-16, by the end of the quarter.
Winchester led the Tigers with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Thomas returned in the second quarter and capped a 15-3 Lawrence North run before halftime that halted a pair of lead changes and put the Wildcats in control, 35-27.
“I’ve had foul trouble all year. Coach Thomas just tells me it’s O.K. Some of the calls aren’t going to go your way. You can’t control the whistle. I can only control what I can do to stay in the game, and that’s what we’ve been working on,” Jamaya Thomas said. “We persevered through this game.”
Thomas and the Wildcats defense dictated Warsaw’s shooting efficiency by holding the Tigers to 3 of 9 from 3-point range in the first half and 4 of 14 after three quarters. The Tigers averaged 41 percent from behind the arc this season.
“Run them off the three. You live by the three, but you eventually have to die by the three, so we just ran them off the 3-point line, had our hands out, played good defense and guarded,” Jamaya Thomas said. “That’s what our gameplan was.”
Lawrence North led Warsaw by as many as 18 points in the third quarter following a 12-3 run before the Tigers regrouped and chipped away in the fourth. Prior to their comeback attempt, the Tigers struggled from the field, shooting 12 of 34 (35 percent).
“Between Kya Hurt and Ke’Adriah Butler, I’m biased, but those are the two best in the backcourt in the state. They’ve guarded incredible guards throughout the entire year, and they just continue to answer the call,” Stephen Thomas said.
For the game, Lawrence North out rebounded Warsaw 36-29, but four consecutive 3-pointers by the Tigers made it a three-possession game, 56-49, with 5:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw went 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the fourth to finish 9 of 22 overall (40 percent) and cut the deficit to six points or less in the final minute after trailing 60-49. Both teams combined for 17 3-pointers which marked the most in State Finals history at any classification level since the shot was introduced into the tournament.
A 3-pointer by senior Brooke Zartman, a Miami (Ohio) commit, who finished with 12 points, trimmed the margin 60-54. An and-1 converted by junior Joslyn Bricker (13 points) with 31.4 left cut Lawrence North’s lead to 60-57.
“I told them before the game. We may or may not win this game, but regardless, it doesn’t change our value as a child of Christ. It doesn’t change your value, and that’s what this is all about. I’m going back so proud of this group because their value has not changed,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said.
“I’m blessed. To be able to coach this amazing group, I can only hope I made them a fraction better like they made me. Because they made me a better coach, a better husband, a better person, a better father. They showed me how to love,” Krebs said. “I had a front row seat to watch these young ladies perform for 27, 28 games this year. How blessed am I?”
The Wildcats won the war in the paint 30-18 and in second chance shots 15-1 while shooting 41 percent compared to the Tigers’ 37 percent (18 of 48), but the game was sealed from the foul line.
Butler pushed her game-high and team-high points total to 20 by burying four clutch free throws in the final 25.1.
“We’ve been hammering free throws all postseason. We’ve missed some. We’ve missed some. We’ve missed some. We worked on them, and it came to help us down the stretch and winning and sealing that game,” Stephen Thomas said.
“Huge free throws. Ke’Adriah Butler has been phenomenal for us all season, and I’m blessed to be able to have her again as a senior next year.”
Butler was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Junior Kalea Bentley added 12 points for the Wildcats on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point distance. Junior Naja Winston had nine points and 14 rebounds, while senior Kya Hurt, an Illinois State commit, had a team-high seven assists and five points.
Before Butler sank her final two free throws to put Lawrence North up 64-59 with 9.3 remaining, Jamaya Thomas offered one request.
“I said, ‘Put’em in for me, baby!’ I really wanted this championship, and she was on the line. She had an opportunity to help me, and that’s what we’ve done all season. Help each other,” Jamaya Thomas said. “The back-to-back 2019-2020 that really paved the way for us, and that’s really what we wanted. It really encouraged us, and it really pushed us and gave us hope that we could do this, too.”
Class 4A State Championship Records
Most Combined 3FG Made: 17 by Warsaw (9) and Lawrence North (8)
Warsaw’s Abbey Peterson earns Roy Mental Attitude Award
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Abbey Peterson of Warsaw Community High School as the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner in Class 4A Girls Basketball.
The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by her principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Abbey has a 4.06 GPA while being a member of Key Club and the National Honor Society. She also is a four-year golf player and a two-time All-State player in that sport. Abbey also is an Academic All-State honoree.
She is the daughter of Brian and Tracy Peterson of Winona Lake, IN, and plans to attend either Charleston Southern University or Southeastern University to play golf and pursue a career in Dentistry.
The Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers, the presenting sponsors of the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the general scholarship fund at Warsaw Community High School in the name of Abbey Peterson.
The award is named in honor of the late former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls’ basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999