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South Bend St. Joseph closed out the first half on a 13-2 run and the No. 2 ranked Indians went on to beat the No. 1 North Harrison Lady Cats 57-49 to win the Class 3A girls basketball state title.

After Lilly Hatton’s three-point play gave the Lady Cats a 16-15 lead early in the second quarter, South Bend St. Joseph scored eight straight points, including a 3-pointer by Daly Sullivan to put the Indians ahead 23-16 with 3:46 to go in the first half.

The Indians outscored the Lady Cats 18-7 in the second quarter, and it was Grace Quinn’s three-point play with 11 seconds remaining in the second that gave South Bend St. Joseph a 28-18 halftime lead.

Sullivan made a lay-up and a 3-pointer early in third quarter to put the Indians ahead 33-20 – their largest lead of the game.

The Indians finished 26-2 in Sydney Smallbone’s first year as head coach. Smallbone, along with assistants Melissa Lechlitner and Kristin Dockery, played in the South Bend St. Joseph 2005 state championship team – the only other year the Indians won a state title in girls basketball.

The victory also made Smallbone the first to win a girls basketball state championship as both a player and a coach.

Sullivan scored 21 points to lead the Indians while Nicole Konieczny scored nine points and Abby O’Connor finished with eight points, eight rebounds and five assists.

North Harrison finished 27-3 while the Lady Cats finished runner-up in the finals for the second straight season with Missy Voyles as head coach.
Cali Nolot had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Cats and Hatton finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Class 3A State Championship Records
Most Combined Points in a Quarter: 43 by South Bend St. Joseph (22) and North Harrison (21) (4th quarter), 2017.

South Bend St. Joseph’s Killian Mountford named Mental Attitude Award winner
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Killian Mountford of South Bend St. Joseph High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A 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, she ranks 17th in her class, is a National Honor Society member, as well as Freshman Retreat Group Leader. She has been awarded two Scholastic Writing Silver Keys, and a Spanish Award in 11th grade for St. Joseph Honor Society.

When it comes to basketball, she has participated for four years for her high school. She has also participated in cross country for two years and tennis for four years at South Bend St. Joseph.

She is the daughter of Melissa Conboy and William Mountford. She is undecided on her study of choice but has been accepted at the United States Naval Academy.

The Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers, the presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to St. Joseph High School in the name of Killian Mountford. Since 1989, more than $840,000 in college scholarships have been presented to deserving high school athletes in Indiana.

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.