Marquette Catholic Repeats as Class A State Champions
For the second-straight year, Marquette Catholic took advantage of cold shooting by Vincennes Rivet to claim the Class A state title.
Marquette, led by senior Sophia Nolan’s 26-point, 15-rebound performance, romped to a 57-36 win over Rivet to finish back-to-back state championship seasons. The Blazers of coach Katie Collignon, never trailed in the contest, leading by as many as 23 points to finish the season at 27-2.
Sophia Nolan hit 10-of-13 from the floor, including all four of her 3-point attempts. Her twin sister, Emma Nolan, added 12 points for the winners.
For coach Rick Marshall’s Patriots, it was another ice-cold shooting day. A year ago, in a 38-31 title-game loss to Marquette, Rivet hit only 8-of-46 (17 percent) from the floor. This time, Rivet shot 15-of-54 (28 percent), including 1-of-14 from 3-point range.
Kathryn Herman led Rivet with 11 points.
The loss kept the Patriots from completing an unbeaten season (29-1) and marked the sixth runner-up finish in seven appearances since 2009. Rivet won its lone state title to date in 2011.
Class A State Championship RecordsÂ
(Tied) Most 3FG Made: 7 by Marquette Catholic.
Grace Waggoner named Mental Attitude Award winner
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Grace Waggoner of Vincennes Rivet High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class A 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.
She ranks first in her class academically, is active in several school and community clubs including the Kiwanis Key Club, Rotary Interact Club, Vincennes Mayor’s Youth Council and Youth Leadership Knox County.
In addition to four years of basketball, she played four years with girls golf team qualifying for the state finals twice and has participated in track and field the last three years qualifying for the state meet each time.
She is the daughter of Charlie and Christy Waggoner of Vincennes and will play basketball at Indiana University where she will enroll in the Kelley School of Business.
The Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers, the presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Rivet High School in the name of Grace Waggoner. Since 1989, more than $840,000 in college scholarships have been presented to deserving high school athletes in Indiana.
The award is named in honor of the former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999.