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Brownstown Central came out of the gate strong in Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game, as the Lady Braves made six of their first eight shots from the floor, but Fort Wayne Bishop Luers’ Miracle Woods was too much to handle in the post, and Bishop Luers won their record sixth state basketball championship, 59-46, at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

Woods scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and also pulled down 14 rebounds, to lead the Lady Knights, who outscored Brownstown Central 29-16 in the second half to seal the victory. Her 14 rebounds tied the 3A state championship game record. Senior guard Brierra Young, who struggled with foul trouble throughout the game, scored 17 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and collected 7 steals for Luers.

Guards Maria Allen and Sammie Bane scored 10 points apiece for Brownstown Central, which made its first appearance at the girls basketball state finals. The Lady Braves came out strong and ran to a 30-27 halftime lead, but were unable to withstand a 9-0, fourth quarter run as Bishop Luers pulled away. Brownstown Central finishes the season with a 23-6 record for head coach Karla Rieckers.

For Bishop Luers, the state championship was the first in girls basketball since 2006, when the Lady Knights won the Class 3A title over Evansville Memorial. Denny Renier’s team wraps up the season on an 11-game winning streak, with a record of 24-2 following last year’s state runner-up finish.

Brownstown Central’s Samantha Bane Named Mental Attitude Award Winner
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Samantha (Sammie) Bane of Brownstown Central High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class 2A 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.

Academically, Bane is the second-ranked student in her senior class. She was named Academic All-State Honorable Mention in basketball and volleyball and is a three-year member of the National Honor Society. She will attend Marshall University beginning next fall where she has a full scholarship to play volleyball.

Athletically, she expects to finish her high school career with 12 varsity letters (basketball, volleyball, track).

Bane is active in the Student Athletic Council, Braves Against Drugs (President), Letterman’s Club (President), Student Council and the Booster Club.

She is the daughter of William and Gina Bane of Brownstown.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Brownstown Central High School in the name of Bane.

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.

Class 2A State Championship Game Quotes

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Coach Denny Renier
“For anybody to win a state championship, it’s special.  For me, it is the first one, for these kids it’s the first one.  But every year it’s hard to get to state and then to win it.  We have 10 to 12 coaches in the program and they help develop these athletes. “

“We played well offensively in the first half, but we could not stop them.  We decided late in the first half to take the ball out of (Sammie) Bane’s hands.  Our guards (Catherine Barnett and Allison Butler) just did a fantastic job in executing that.  Brownstown Central’s offense really stalled when she didn’t have the ball.  There is no doubt that was the difference in the game.”

“Our players are tough kids.  They know how to finish games.  They have done it all year long.”

“Miracle (Woods) played an awesome game.  We thought we could really hurt them inside.  She couldn’t be stopped.”

Brownstown Central Coach Karla Rieckers
“We knew Luers was a very good team with a good pressure defense…that kind of came out in the second half causing us some costly turnovers and we just couldn’t get the ball to go in the basket.”

(On Luers Size) “We knew post play for them was going to be important and we worked on that.  When you don’t have the size to match that, you end up giving up some other things and that’s what happened.”

“Turnovers led to some easy buckets by them.”

(On scoring 16 points in 2nd half) “They face-guarded Sam [senior #20 Sammie Bane] and we couldn’t really get our offense started the way we wanted.  We are a team that likes to dribble drive and we do have some shooters from the outside.  When you are going in there against that size you get a little hesitant and we couldn’t get a foul drawn.”