Lawrence Central hoops team hopes to put exclamation point on historic season
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It’s a big weekend for high school girls basketball in the Hoosier state.
State champions will be crowned inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday as the Indiana High School Athletic Association gets ready to host four girls basketball state championship games.
The Class 4A state title game features Lawrence Central (29-1) and Lake Central (26-4).
The Bears are having a historic season. This will be the program’s first-ever trip to a state championship game.
“Right now, it’s just fun times at Lawrence Central High School,” Bears head coach Jannon Lampley said. “This is a phenomenal opportunity to represent our school.”
The Bears are the No. 1 team in the state entering Saturday’s matchup. They are coming off a 53-40 win over Center Grove this past weekend in the semistate round to punch their tickets to the big game.
“What our girls essentially have done is they’ve laid out a playbook for success in life,” Lampley said. “Setting goals, working toward them. Knowing that there’s going to be some adversity, there’s going to be some tough times. And then, ultimately, you get to see them come to fruition.”
Lampley added that for many of her players, making it to the state championship was a “childhood dream.”
In fact, she knows that fact from two of her players firsthand, her two daughters. Sophomore forward Lola and junior guard Jaylah are each on the team roster.
“We get to create more memories and all parents love creating memories with their children,” Lampley said. “But this is a different kind of memory that you don’t always get to watch your kids go through the struggles and then see them overcome those very same obstacles. To see them continue to strive to be great and strive to do great things, it’s a phenomenal opportunity I’ll never forget.”
Jaylah Lampley leads the Bears in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game this season.
Should the Bears win on Saturday, they would become just the third championship-winning team to have 30 victories in a season.
“I want them to have fun because you don’t get these moments all the time,” Lampley said.
Saturday’s IHSAA 4A state championship game tips off about 8:15 p.m. EDT.