Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________
March 24, 2007
TIGERS ROAR TO TITLE IN
DOUBLE OVERTIME THRILLER
In only the
third double-overtime championship game in state finals history, the
Northwestern Tigers defeated the Winchester Golden Eagles, 78-74, to capture
the 2A boys basketball title. The Tigers overcame a 13-point deficit, four
starters fouling out and a buzzer beater at the end of regulation to capture
the first state championship in any sport for the school.
Junior
Zavier Sanders led the Tigers with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Mark
Alexander added 17 points and fellow senior Cameron Richardson had 10.
Northwestern finished the season at 25-2, winners of their final 15 contests.
The Golden
Eagles were making only their second appearance in the state finals. They
finished runner-up to Westview in the 2000 Class 2A championship contest.
Northwestern
struggled to keep up with
According
to Northwestern’s third year coach Jim Gish, “we loosened up and
began to play ball in the second quarter,” creating six
There were
three ties and three lead changes in the first overtime while Northwestern led
throughout the second overtime.
Sanders and
Richardson each scored five points in the second overtime.
THAD
LAUDENBACHER NAMED TRESTER AWARD RECIPIENT
Following
the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Thad Laudenbacher of
The award
is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was
nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental
attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Laudenbacher
is a two-year middle school mentor for the D.A.R.E program and an elementary
school mentor for the IHSAA’s Ambassadors Cross-Age mentoring program.
He is
completing the Indiana Academic Honors Diploma this spring and plans to study
Elementary Education at
Athletically,
he was named to the All-County basketball team, the All-Regional team and was
selected the winner of the Mental Attitude Award for the 2007 Randolph County
Boys Basketball Tournament.
He is the
son of Steve and Tonya Fouse and the late Craig Laudenbacher.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a
$1,000 scholarship to
The award
is named in honor of Arthur L. Trester, the IHSAA’s first commissioner
who served the Association from 1929-44.
VSN MEANS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Visit our
friends at Visual Sports Network, the
IHSAA’s official photographer for all state championship events and one
of the leading action photographers in the
CHAMPIONSHIP MERCHANDISE STILL AVAILABLE
For t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s 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
souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in
person at the IHSAA Office (
POST-GAME
QUOTES
Jim Gish, Northwestern Head Coach
“The
one thing we discussed throughout this is the opportunity to play at this level
comes once a year. A game like this, I give
“We
were down and continued to fight back. The young men I work with are very
intelligent, mature people. The kids in foul trouble took care of
themselves.”
“Our
forte is to not to get off to a good start. We usually spot 8 to 10 points and
then start playing. Today showed me the way we do things are alright.”
“Zavier
Sanders will find a way to get open. It’s simply will and desire.
He’s been blessed with talent.”
“They
played the game hard and they played the right way. They attacked the basket,
they have athletes and dribble penetration is difficult to defend. We changed defenses
and I think that was the key that really made them start thinking. I think we
had them confused.”
Chip
Mehaffey, Winchester Head Coach
“I’m proud of our team and effort. We learned a lot about perseverance and
dealing with adversity.”
“Northwestern probably played a little more intelligently than we
did. We got caught up in the moment a
lot and took shots that we don’t normally take. We also turned the ball over a few too many
times. We didn’t execute against
their pressure in the first half very well.
But we did fine in the second.”
“The lessons we learn from situations like we experienced today
will help us deal with adversity throughout life. This team is like a “Band of
Brothers”. I’ve never had a
team that is as close as this one. The
guys will always have somebody to lean on whenever they need it, including
their head coach.”
“I thought we were in good shape up five late in regulation, but
forced the action. We had our shot to
win it but gave up the lead.”
“We’ve not been a good ball handling team all year. The turnovers definitely hurt us tonight, but
our defense has kept us in games all year and tonight. I’ve never known a team that has so
many more turnovers than assists and is as successful as we were. I really don’t know how we went
22-5.”
(on Northwestern’s Zavier Sanders)
“He’s
awesome, a super player. We have the
utmost respect for him. We played behind
him and didn’t want to front him because he’s as good as anyone in the
state at getting to the basket to get rebounds.”
“We
are not guaranteed to be back next year.
There are no guarantees in life.
We didn’t come here with the mentality that if we don’t get
it this year there is always next year.”