Forest Park edges Lapel to win Indiana Class 2A girls basketball title
By Phillip B. Wilson | Photos by Tyler Hart
INDIANAPOLIS — The final, fateful seconds of a memorable Class 2A state championship game couldn’t have been more excruciating, as if time seemed to go agonizingly slow while a 3-point shot descended toward the Lapel basket.
“I really thought it was going to go in,” said the shooter, junior forward Madelyn Poynter.
Just like the 3-pointer she swished from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs a one-point lead with 19 seconds remaining.
As Lapel rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final quarter, Forest Park coach Tony Hasenour couldn’t help but wonder if his opponent was indeed a team of destiny, a resilient group that overcame double-digit deficits in three sectional tests and battled illness in the regional round. Maybe it was Lapel’s time to win state in its first finals bid. Poynter squared up on that open look.
“Please God, no,” Hasenhour remembers thinking.
“Oh no, not again, not again,” said Forest Park senior forward Amber Tretter.
Then the shot bounced off the back iron.
Forest Park celebrated its second consecutive state championship with a 38-37 escape over Lapel on Saturday, and did so with an exasperated, collective sigh of relief.
Hasenhour was so consumed by instant elation, he leapt into the larger arms of assistant coach Jesse Begle, who gave the boss an elevated bear hug.
“He caught me there. That was pretty cool,” Hasenour said. “There was no plan. We didn’t have that on the scouting report, that I was going to jump into his arms.”
Forest Park (26-3) entered the fourth quarter with a 31-23 lead. Back came Lapel (22-8), one again, with yet another never-say-die comeback.
“We’re used to fighting from behind and we did that,” said Lapel coach Zach Newby. “They knew they were going to have a chance to win at the end.”
As the game got close in the final minutes, Hasenhour told his assistants to put their minds together on what play the Rangers would run in a final possession. When that time came, Begle advised that the assistants unanimously chose a high-low design called “Logan.”
Hasenhour was nervous that Lapel would have scouted the play and be prepared to defend.
Begle insisted, “Scared money don’t make no money.”
Gabey Gray was on the elbow and found Tretter down low for a lay-up that proved to be the deciding basket with 6.9 seconds remaining.
“I was just going to be strong, post up strong, and I made sure I was confident whenever I shot the basketball,” said Tretter, a Miami of Ohio recruit.
Senior Lydia Betz led the Rangers with 15 points. Tretter added 13.
“I’m just overwhelmed with happiness,” said Tretter, who received the mental attitude award. “It’s kind of crazy to know what we’ve done and the amount of history we’ve made this year and last year.”
Poynter, who also hit a pair of foul shots in the final minute, scored 15. She wasn’t even supposed to be an option in the final sequence, but Forest Park anticipated Deannaya Haseman looking to take the shot. Although she had made only one of six shots from beyond the arc, she was their best 3-point shooter.
Two defenders quickly converged on her, which meant a quick pass to Poynter, alone in front of the Lapel bench.
“Honestly, I thought it was going in,” Haseman said of Poynter’s shot. “From my perceptive, it looked great.”
A red-faced Poynter succumbed to the grief and was swarmed by teammates.
“I know she’s upset for herself,” said senior guard Jaylee Hubble. “But I think she’s more upset because she cares so much for all of us. She has more care than anyone I’ve ever met. She loves all of us so much.”
Forest Park acknowledged the obvious, that repeating as state champs couldn’t have been more difficult.
“These girls have had a target on their back all year,” Hasenhour said. “I’m not joking when I say that last year, when we left this media room, I think the first thing somebody said to me was, ‘Are you going to do it again next year?’”
Forest Park rallied from behind in each of the last three games.
“The pressure was definitely on,” Betz said. “My family, every event, it was like, ‘Are you going to do it again? Are you going to do it again?”
Hasenhour confided that he was never a good enough player, but his favorite childhood gift was a basketball for second-grade communion. It was his favorite gift. He couldn’t help but think back to the back yard, to how many times counting down the seconds on the last shot to decide a game.
“Let me tell you, I was pretty good in the back yard,” Hasenhour said.
This time, ironically and fortunately for Forest Park, the most memorable shot was a miss.
“Sheer terror there for about three seconds,” Hasenhour said. “Then pure joy.”
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Indiana Class 2A girls basketball championship: Forest Park vs Lapel
