Evansville Mater Dei Wins Class 2A

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Nothing surprises Evansville Mater Dei coach Steve Goans anymore. Winning has become the norm for the Wildcats and winning back-to-back state titles is what his team expected.

"This has been a dream come true," he said Saturday after the Wildcats claimed the Class 2A Indiana high school girls basketball championship. "I can't thank these ladies enough for letting some old guy like me be a part of it and it has been a great run."

Tori Schickel had 18 points and 17 rebounds and Beth Fischer had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Mater Dei.

Brittany Neeley, who was named the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner, had 16 points and Allison Oyler had 12 -- all from 3-point range -- for the Comets, who made their first state finals appearance.

Mater Dei didn't want the Comets to do what the Wildcats accomplished last season -- win their first girls basketball championship game.

The Wildcats scored on a 3-pointer by Ashlynn Spahn at the start of the game and led the rest of the way.

"We got off to a very good start which did help our comfort level a little bit," Goans said. "I just thought that overall we played really well."

Schickel scored two free throws to give the Wildcats a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Wildcats outscored Eastern Greentown 22-9 in the second quarter to pull away.

The Comets shot just 5 of 23 from the field in the first half and didn't score a field goal in the final 6:09 of the first half.

"We came here expecting to fight for an opportunity to win and Mater Dei played great in the first half," Comets coach Jeremy Dexter said. "I think Mater Dei may be the best team in the state overall, so we are proud of the effort and proud of the kids."

Mater Dei took a 27-12 lead when Spahn hit a 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the second quarter.

After Spahn made another basket, Schickel scored on a put-back to reach the 1,000-point mark in her career and give the Wildcats a 31-12 lead.

Schickel's double-figure rebounding was also a Class 2A state finals record.

"Today has definitely been a great day for me and the team," she said. "It's great to come in here and repeat the same thing we did last year. Just to come in and prove that we can play with anybody and come back and do it again."

Mater Dei led 35-14 at halftime.

The Wildcats won by nearly the same margin they have all year -- an average of 24.5 points. And they nearly held the Comets to the same number of points they've let opponents score all year -- 40.7 points per game.