INDIANAPOLIS – Dreams will become reality for eight girls basketball teams Saturday at the 40th annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals. For the first time since 2007 (Wawasee, 3A) Kosciusko County will be represented in a championship contest as Tippecanoe Valley will face Princeton in the class 3A championship game.

Here is a title tilt primer for that showdown at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Pregame Information

5:00 p.m. Gates Open
5:38 p.m. Warm-ups
6:01 p.m. National Anthem
6:03 p.m. Team Introductions
6:07 p.m. Tip-off

The Teams

No. 4 Princeton Lady Tigers (29-1)

No. 9 Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings (25-2)

How They Got Here

Princeton comes into the 3A title game riding a 25-game winning streak with its last and only loss coming on November 28 to Bedford North Lawrence. The Lady Tigers swept through the Mount Vernon (Posey) Sectional, winning three games by an average of 26 points per game. After downing Big Eight Conference foe Jasper in the opening round of the Jasper Regional, Princeton disposed of Rushville 53-34 in the title. Princeton officially punched its ticket to state with a 77-38 dismantling of Indianapolis Chatard in the Richmond Semi-state.

Tippecanoe Valley enters the contest on a 12-game winning streak with its last loss coming to NorthWood on January 13. Valley avenged that loss in the semi-finals of the Wawasee Sectional with a 64-60 overtime victory before upending conference rival Whitko in the title game. The Lady Vikings went to overtime in both of their Bellmont Regional wins over Muncie Central and Norwell to claim its first-ever regional title. A rematch with Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester was the focal point of the Warsaw Semi-state last Saturday as Valley defeated the Zebras for the second time this season, 60-45.

Sizing Up Princeton

The Lady Tigers are led by one of the state’s most prolific scorers in Jackie Young. The junior is a scoring machine and is committed to play at the University of Notre Dame following her senior campaign. Young is tied for the top scoring mark in the state by averaging 32.1 points per game and became the state’s single season scoring leader with her 43-point effort in the semi-state against Chatard.

In that game Young eclipsed Abby Conklin’s record of 956 points to total 967 points so far this season. The junior has recorded 18 double-doubles and two triple-double this season. Young has also eclipsed the 40-point threshold in a game seven times this season and has accumulated 2,254 points in her career (13th all-time).

Young’s scoring ability has helped the Lady Tigers become the ninth-highest scoring offense in the state, averaging 68.17 points per game. Princeton is also fourth in average margin of victory (27.23).

In addition to Young’s scoring prowess, she leads her team in rebounding (10.6 boards per game), assists (5.8 per game) and steals (3.1 per game).

When Young is not doing the scoring damage for Princeton, sophomore Brooke James picks up the slack. James averages 14.2 points per game and averages 4.3 rebounds per contest.

Hannah Brewer provides a third scoring option for the Lady Tigers and she averages 6.3 points per game. Brewer is a bigger asset with passing as she is second on the team with 4.3 assists per game. The junior also averages 5. 3 boards per contest.

The scoring outside of those top-three is scarce, at best, for Princeton. But the Lady Tigers can rely on Kelsey Kolb-Blume at times from deep. The senior shoots 33-percent from behind the arc, second on the team behind Young.

The Lady Tigers are coached by Charlie Mair, who is in his fourth year with Pricenton and 34th year overall. Mair compared Valley to the Gibson Southern team that his team defeated in the sectional semi-finals in this article from the Princeton Daily Clarion Thursday evening.

Sizing Up Tippecanoe Valley

Valley, like Princeton, is led by an underclass talent in sophomore Anne Secrest. The 6’0″ sophomore has been the focal point for her team all season as she leads the team by averaging 17.3 points per game. But her offensive skills are just the tip of the iceberg.

Secrest also leads her team with 10.4 rebounds, 3.0 steal and an impressive 3.1 blocks per game. The sophomore also shoots 75-percent from the line. The only major category in which Secrest does not lead the team is in assists, where she still manages to record 2.3 per contest.

Secrest’s size has proven to be deceiving for opposing defenders. While Secrest is far from the primary ball-handler for the Lady Vikings, she has shown numerous times throughout the season that she does not fear taking the ball coast-to-coast. Secrest has been the rock for the Lady Vikings, but Valley has benefited from priding itself on being a well-balanced team throughout this season.

Seniors Caylie Teel and Taylor Trippiedi will not be found near the top of most statistical categories, but the co-captains have been everything and more for their team this season.

Teel leads the team with 2.7 assists per game while providing 7.1 points per contest as well. Teel is not known for her offensive presence as much as she is for being a defensive cornerstone. The senior is second on the team with four rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per contest.

Trippiedi has also been a key defender for the Lady Vikings this season (2.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest) but she also makes herself a threat on offense. The senior averages exactly eight points per outing and has proven to be a threat from behind the three-point line.

Meredith Brouyette is the team’s true deep threat as she scores 36-percent from deep and has a knack for hitting the big shot when her team needs it the most. Brouyette is the team’s second leading scorer at 8.9 points per game.

Karis Tucker is the team’s fifth starter and arguably its best defender. Tucker does not put up eye-popping numbers in any one category, but she has been able to lock in on opposing team’s top offensive threat on more than one occasion and keep them at bay. Tucker also averages 4.7 points per game on offense, not showing a fear to drive inside despite being listed at 5’2″.

Tucker is the unsung hero of a Valley defense that surrenders just 40.3 points per game. Princeton surrenders 40.9.

Valey’s offensive depth is even more impressive as Brynda Krueger and Hannah Dunn also average right around four points per game, giving head coach Chris Kindig a lot of faith when needing to go to the bench.

Kindig is in his fifth overall year as a head coach, all of which have been spent with Valley.

“There was a lot of excitement for this team after winning semi-state, but I think we’re ready to get back down to business and go win a basketball game on Saturday,” Kindig said in an interview earlier this week. “These girls have done this the whole tournament, they’ve been able to separate and focus in when they’ve needed to. I think we’re going to be ready.”

As for facing a player like Jackie Young, Kindig and his girls are wanting to just stay focused on doing what they’ve done all year, play solid defense.

“If you start changing what you’ve been doing all year just to focus on a player like Jackie, then I think you can hurt yourself,” Kindig began. “We’ve talked about that with every tournament game we’ve had so far and we’ve been successful with what we’ve been doing. So, we don’t want to try and do something that’s out of our character. We want to focus on what we can do, not what we can’t do.

“That’s what has made this team so tough all year, everyone knows their role and what to do. We’ve won 25 games this year so we’re confident that what we put out on the court is something that can win us a basketball game.”