Brayden Thiele-Hahn opened his season with a school-record 52 points, and the Rossville junior headlines the honorees in this week’s IBCA Player of the Week program.
Norwell brothers Josh and Nick McBride, Charlestown senior Anthony Fresh, Angola sophomore Kendall VanderWal, Clinton Central senior Carly Davison and East Central sophomore Natalie Stenger joined Thiele-Hahn as Week 4 winners in the IBCA Player of the Week program for 2025-26.
Also, the Corydon Central boys, Plainfield boys and Maconaquah girls teams each was cited as an IBCA/Ballogy Team of the Week for respective performances during the week of Nov. 24-29 in the recognition program coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Players of the Week are recognized by IHSAA district – the McBride brothers and VanderWal for District 1, Thiele-Hahn and Davison for District 2, and Fresh and Stenger for District 3. Teams of the Week are cited at the discretion of the program coordinators, former Martinsville coach Kip Staggs for boys and former Brownsburg coach Debbie Smiley for girls. Players and teams are recognized based on all performances in a Monday through Saturday week.
Thiele-Hahn poured in 52 points with 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots as the Rossville boys defeated Delphi 77-48 in their season opener. The 6-2 guard hit 20-of-29 field goals, including a school-record-tying 10-of-18 3-pointers, plus 2-of-2 free throws to eclipse a nearly 54-year-old scoring standard. The old record was 50 points by Garry Kamstra when he sank 20-of-28 shots and 10-of-14 free throws on Jan. 8, 1972, coincidentally also against Delphi.
The McBride brothers shared honors for boys’ District 1. Josh McBride, a 6-1 sophomore guard, scored 23 points with seven rebounds and four assists as the Norwell boys nipped Fort Wayne Northrop 66-62 in their opener. Nick, a 6-0 junior guard, added 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists and one steal. Josh was 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, and 6-of-10 free throws. Nick was 7-of-13 from the floor, 4-of-6 from distance and 2-of-2 from the line.
Fresh totaled 32 points, five rebounds and two assists as the Charlestown boys outscored Jennings County 72-52 in their season opener. A 6-3 guard, Fresh connected on 11-of-15 shots, 3-of-6 3-pointers and 7-of-10 free throws for his game-high output.
VanderWal provided 34 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and five steals as the Angola girls (5-1) defeated Garrett 60-44 in their only game of the week. The 5-8 guard, a move-in from Marietta, Ohio, hit 16-of-20 shots and 2-of-3 3-pointers in her big game.
Davison scored 32 points with 10 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one blocked shot as the Clinton Central girls posted a 58-37 decision over Delphi. The 5-5 senior guard sank 14-of-17 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws en route to her game-high total.
Stenger averaged 23.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 steals in helping the Class 4A co-No. 9 East Central girls (7-0) go 2-0 for the week. The 5-8 guard opened with 29 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 62-50 victory over 3A No. 4 Greensburg. She then tallied 18 points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals as the Trojans topped 2A co-No. 19 South Ripley 55-44. For the week, Stenger converted 18-of-31 field goals, 4-of-11 3-pointers and 7-of-15 free throws.
Team of the Week honors went to Corydon Central and Plainfield for boys as well as Maconaquah for girls. The Corydon Central boys, coached by Joseph Hinton, beat Seymour 51-35 and Lanesville 79-31 in their first two games. The Class 4A No. 15 Plainfield boys, coached by Andy Weaver, knocked off 4A co-No. 11 Avon 79-64 and 4A No. 3 Noblesville 60-53 in their first two games. The Maconaquah girls (4-1), coached by Ray Davis, defeated North Miami 41-29 in their only game of the week.
This is the 18th season for the IBCA Player of the Week program. This is the second season for the IBCA Team of the Week program and the second season the Team of the Week program is presented by Ballogy, an IBCA corporate partner.
Coaches may nominate players and teams via buttons on the IBCA website (in.nhsbca.org). Coaches must be a current-year member for their players and/or team to be selected for a weekly award. Girls’ winners are chosen from now through Monday following the IHSAA girls’ State Finals. Boys’ winners are chosen from now through the Monday following the IHSAA boys’ State Finals.
2025-26 IBCA weekly honorees
Nov. 3-8 – District 1 girls: Laniah Davis, Marquette Catholic. District 2 girls: Kenzie Koch, Eastern Hancock. District 3 girls: Gracyn Gilliard, Center Grove. Teams of the Week (girls): North Knox, South Central (Elizabeth), Warsaw.
Nov. 10-15 – District 1 girls: Leah Shappell, Leo. District 2 girls: Adah Hupfer, Pendleton Heights. District 3 girls: Emily Parker, Boonville. Team of the Week (girls): Homestead.
Nov. 17-22 – District 1 girls: Sarah Thompson, Oregon-Davis. District 2 girls: Kennedy Holman, Hamilton Southeastern. District 3 girls: Mollie Ernstes, Jennings County. Teams of the Week (girls): Crown Point, LaPorte.
Nov. 24-29 – District 1 boys: Josh McBride and Nick McBride, Norwell. District 1 girls: Kendall VanderWal, Angola. District 2 boys: Brayden Thiele-Hahn, Rossville. District 2 girls: Carly Davison, Clinton Central. District 3 boys: Anthony Fresh, Charlestown. District 3 girls: Natalie Stenger, East Central. Teams of the Week (boys): Corydon Central, Plainfield. Team of the Week (girls): Maconaquah.