Region Roundup is The Times weekly prep sports podcast. Your browser does not support the audio element. Times sportswriters James Boyd and Mike Clark discuss the latest Region sports news, including The Times two APSE awards and Crown Point s third girls basketball state title. James Boyd , Mike Clark
Gallery: 4A girls basketball state final â Crown Point vs. Brownsburg Gallery: 4A girls basketball state final â Crown Point vs. Brownsburg
4A girls basketball state final - Crown Point vs. Brownsburg
Crown Point s Alyna Santiago, right, knocks the ball away from Brownsburg s Ally Becki on Saturday during the 4A state final at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
INDIANAPOLISÂ â No one has to tell Jason Wille how remarkable the Crown Point girls basketball program used to be.
The IHSAA sports information director, who is also a 1986 Crown Point grad, witnessed the Bulldogs dominance firsthand. They had some great players and great personalities, and the community just fell in love with them, Wille said. The crowd support was incredible. I remember at the state finals those years, Crown Point had 2,000 to 3,000 people in their quarter of Market Square Arena (in Indianapolis). It was a big red cheering block.
Wille was a freshman when the Bulldogs made their first state final appearance in 1983, a sophomore when Crown Point went 26-0 to capture its first state title in 1984 and a junior when the Bulldogs became the first girls basketball team in IHSAA history to win back-to-back state crowns in 1985.
LAPORTE â The clock was winding down in the first quarter Saturday, and Jessica Carrothers had the ball.
Crown Point s star guard could ve been conservative, but this was the Class 4A LaPorte Semistate, and she wasn t leaving any chances on the table against Fort Wayne Carroll.
So, what did Carrothers do? I looked at the clock really fast and I think there was like 1.2 seconds left, so I just launched it, Carrothers said.
Carrothers prayer was answered as she drained a heave from beyond half court to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. When the ball went through the net, she screamed in excitement as her dad, Mark, jumped for joy on the sidelines.