Phone:
317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
The second meeting
of the season between Lawrence North and
Top-ranked
Lawrence North (29-2) raced to a 19-2 lead after one quarter and were never threatened in a 50-29 victory over sixth-ranked
Lawrence
North also won the December 27 contest in the Hall of Fame Classic championship
game, a 56-55 double overtime decision.
It was the
second state championship for the
The
Wildcats owned a decided height advantage and had an intimidating presence with
7-0 sophomore center Greg Oden roaming the paint. Oden scored 13 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the
game to lead Lawrence North. Anthony Sargent added 11
points for the victors. For the game, LN converted nearly 56 percent of the
time from the field, while
The Eagles (25-4)
were making their third appearance in the state finals and the first since 1932
under 8th year coach Chris Benedict.
Stefan Routt Named
Winner of the Arthur L. Trester Award For Mental Attitude
Stefan
Routt of
Members of the IHSAA Executive Committee present
the award to the outstanding senior participant in each classification of the boys basketball state finals. The recipients of this award, who were
nominated by their principals and coaches, must excel in mental attitude,
scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in basketball.
Academically, Stefan ranks 25th in
his Senior class of 485 and is a member of the
National Honor Society. His collegiate
plans are uncertain, but he plans to major in BioChemistry. He is a Hall of Fame and Kiwanis Scholarship
winner, as well as Lawrence Township Character Award winner and has captured
honors as an Academic Top Thirty Student.
He has been on the High Honor Roll for seven semesters and the
Distinguished Honor Roll for four semesters.
He is editor of the school yearbook and active
as a member of the Spell Bowl Team. His
volunteer work includes being a Breast Cancer Walk Volunteer, Adopt-A-Family
for Christmas, Children’s Breakfast with Santa at RCI and the March of Dimes.
Stefan is the son of Deborah and Terry Routt of
Farm Bureau Insurance, IHSAA corporate partner,
presented a scholarship check for $1,000.00 to
New IHSAA Book, Play
On, Recaps 100 Years Of High School Sports in
The
exciting new book, Play On, celebrating 100 years of high
school sports in
Team Posters And Individual Action Photographs Available
Visit 20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s photographer and the
Own This Game On VHS Or DVD
If you’d
like a copy of this state championship game, the IHSAA will have it as well as
each of the other three contests (one game per video) available in VHS or DVD
formats as part of the IHSAA
Video Library collection. Phone in your order beginning Monday, March 29 to
317-846-6601 (M-F, 8-4 EST) and pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard
accepted). VHS copies are $35 each by mail, while DVD copies are $55 each by
mail. Please allow up to four weeks delivery.
For
t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s state finals
tournament or for any of our events, visit our friends at Morris, Inc.
State Finals Programs
Available
Couldn’t be
there for the state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official
program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in person at
the IHSAA Office (
Class 4A Championship
Game Quotes
“Our kids
have been so sharp all week. We got the
video out when we played before and we are just so much better than we were at
Christmas…I’m so tickled…and it showed on the floor. We found Greg (Oden)
so much easier and were so unselfish with the basketball. The last time we played, they shot and held
and did what they wanted to with the ball.
Tonight, our defense dictated the game.”
“Coming
into the game I was scared of them (
“You just
can’t believe how mentally tough these guys are. I thought (Mike) Conley and (Brandon) McPherson
played very well tonight. I like to do
certain things at the beginning of the year and change it once we get into
tourney mode.”
“The team
chemistry we have is special. Very unselfish. When you have a big man who passes the ball like Greg (Oden), that’s so special.”
“We knew
they would play hard. After having
played them before in overtime, we wanted to run more this time and that is
what we came out and did.”
“They
(Lawrence North) are obviously a very good basketball team. Lawrence North
played to their strengths early. They got us out of our game early in the game
and we had to play catch-up the rest of the night. They are too talented a team
to come back from behind on.”
“Defensively,
they were very aggressive and took our passing lanes away from us. We turned it
over too much and then they finished on the other end.”
“We have a
great group of kids that had an outstanding season. But Lawrence North was the
better team tonight – no question about it. We finished 25-4 and had a
tremendous season. We’ve battled all year. Nobody ever gave us a shot to get
here. We were kind of a Cinderella story.”