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The story and result of Saturday’s opening contest of the 50th annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse between the 1A No. 2 Borden Braves and No. 6 Lafayette Central Catholic Knights could very well be written entirely on defense.

Both teams that have been known to run up the score on opponents – with Lafayette Central Catholic ranked No. 27 in the state with a 19.24 average margin of victory and Borden’s 16.15 mark following at No. 45 – pointed to showcasing a dynamic defense as a key point to creating separation in scoring.

The Braves’ junior guard Ava Wheeler leads her team with 16.9 points per game, an average that leads all players set to feature in Saturday’s 10:30 am ET matchup between the 1A schools. She is joined in committee by guard AJ Mallard (9.8 PPG), forward McKenna Mullen (8.8) and point guard Riley Rarick (8.1) – all from the Class of 2026 – in putting up shots.

“This past Saturday we won both of our games pretty easily, but that’s a credit to our team because I think in the championship, we had five kids in double figures for us,” Borden head coach Matt Vick said. “We’re pretty balanced scoring, but any given night we have five or six girls that can put up double digits for us.”

For the Knights, the primary focus is on staying sharp defensively to combat the Braves’ ability to efficiently pass the ball and take shots from all players in all areas of the court.

“We’re a defensive-minded team, our offense comes off our defensive pressure,” Lafayette Central Catholic head coach Craig DeVault said. “When we get to half-court offense, we’re stagnant a lot of times. They take pride in their defense, so that’s one thing that we’ll just work on every day until Saturday morning and hopefully execute our game plan and come out defensive minded.”

The Class 1A State Championship featuring Lafayette Central Catholic (25-4) and Borden (22-5) will stream via PPV on IHSAAtv.org this Saturday at 10:30 am ET / 9:30 CT!

Lafayette Central Catholic boasts a duo of high-scoring senior guards in Grace Bordenet and Carley Barrett, both of whom average just over 14 points per game individually. Beyond scoring, the flow and play-crafting on each side of the ball runs through the senior pair, with Barrett leading the team with 6.1 assists per game and 7.8 rebounds per game.

That tandem leading a high-scoring, defensively dynamic team rolled the Knights to a 53-50 overtime win over No. 1 Marquette Catholic in the semi-state championship on Feb. 22 and the 34th-highest offensive scoring average with 58.55 points per game on the season.

“I think what’s really useful is how we come out after half. We could have a really rough first half and still come out guns blazing, and a lot of teams come out laid back or just kind of gassed at that point,” Bordenet said. “We have the work, the conditioning to keep up in the second half, so I feel like that really helps us get going.”

A big part of Borden’s game comes from scouting its opponent and tailoring its strengths – in this case, defensively – to combat the strengths and take advantage of weaknesses.

“[Lafayette Central Catholic is] super athletic,” Vick said. “They’re quick. Every girl in their starting five can score. I think the thing that we have over them is we have some size. If we can just stay in front and alter some shots, I think our defense is pretty good, and I think we can control the game and take care of business. It’s going to be a dog fight regardless.”

For all of the on-court similarities in defensive-mindedness, Borden and Lafayette Central Catholic differ greatly in experience on Indiana’s biggest girls basketball stage.

Borden, after the boys made the state championship in 2013 and softball in 2016, is making its first trip to the finals contest in program history.

“[The support] means a lot. We have a small town, so whenever we have games, seeing everybody there is really exciting and makes us happy, I think because you don’t always see a bunch of people at girls’ games,” Wheeler said. “It definitely feels really good knowing that people want to come and support us.”

For Lafayette Central Catholic, Bordenet and Barrett both took part in the 2022 State Finals as freshmen when the Knights finished runner up to Tecumseh, 60-53. Having seniors who have had the state finals experience before helps to guide younger members of the team toward confidence going into Saturday.

“It’s the last game, so you might as well play your heart out and don’t give up,” Barrett said. “Just leave it all on the floor, you can’t have any regrets. You might be nervous going into it, but you’ve got to know it’s the last one. You just have to play your hardest.”

As is with every state championship game, the focus for both teams is on the court, minimizing background noise and leaning on how the team has trained to perform all season.

“To me, the biggest thing is we’ve just got to take it as another game,” Vick said. “Yes, the stakes are high. Yes, there’s going to be a ton of people there. We’re playing in a huge arena, but honestly, it’s still 32 minutes long. Each kid gets five fouls. So, it’s the exact same thing. It’s a huge moment, but we can’t let the huge moment get to us.”