Lake Central falls short in state final

INDIANAPOLIS – Lake Central’s Nadia Clayton made a masterful move early in the second quarter of Saturday night’s Class 4A state championship game.

As he headed for the layup, Clayton followed behind him.

“We finally went on the offensive,” he said. “But it didn’t mean anything because we still lost.”

Sure enough, a basket by the 6-foot-10 senior guard/forward gave the Indians an 11-4 lead with 7:49 left in the second quarter after jumping out to 6-0 and 9-2 advantages.

But they couldn’t keep it up in a 55-28 loss to top-seeded Lawrence Central.

After Clayton’s basket, Lake Central (26-5) remained scoreless for the rest of the half, while Lawrence Central (30-1) scored 19 consecutive points to take the lead 23-11 and added the first four points of the third quarter to young forward Ayla. Krygier’s runner with 6:07 left in the period.

Junior guard Vanessa Wimberly paced the Indians with 14 points.

“We tried to stop the bleeding, but we couldn’t,” Wimberly said. “These are very good girls, very athletic. Hats off to them. Deserved. Respect to that team. “They beat us.”

Lawrence Central won its first state championship after also winning its first regional and semistate championships this season. Its only other regional title came in 1987.

The Indians returned to the state championship game for the first time since 1998.

“It’s a loss, but I thank God for this opportunity,” Wimberly said. “I wet it. We were on a big stage. “We didn’t want it to end like this, but I’m happy we got to this point with a team that loves each other.”

Lake Central has improved over three seasons, reaching the regional final in 2022, the semistate final in 2023 and this state final.

“It feels great to be here, but this was our dream to win,” Clayton said. “We expected to be here but we expected to win. That’s why we’re so upset. We know going to state is a great thing to achieve. But we’ve been talking about this since fifth grade. We just wanted to win.”

“Everything we went through, we had been together for so long that we had chemistry and it just stayed that way. “We just kept getting better.”

Lake Central’s roster includes six seniors, including three forwards from Clayton Aniyah Bishop and guarding Riley Milausnic. Each is committed to Purdue Northwest.

“It all starts with our seniors,” Lake Central coach Joe Huppenthal said. “I was always suspicious of them whenever things got bad, and every time they were cowards or you suspected them, they came back. It speaks of the character of these children. There are six seniors that we will miss very much.

“I can only thank them and their parents and families for getting our program to this point because not everyone can get to this point. Losing sucks. But at the end of the day, you also have to look at the big picture of what these kids have accomplished. “It’s hard to tell a 16, 17, 18-year-old kid after he’s just had his ass beaten.”

One of these old men, the guard Kennedy BurksHe was named the Mental Attitude Award winner.

“It means a lot for my coaches, managers and executives to see the hard work I put in on and off the field,” Burks said. “It doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Huppenthal praised Burks for putting the team first.

“There is no more valuable kid on our team than Kennedy,” he said. “In this day and age, it’s a me-first kind of thing. This is our society.

“Kennedie wasn’t that kid. Kennedy didn’t say a word. Kennedy came to work every day. … This child is special and will be successful in whatever he decides to do in life.”

Wimberly and Krygier provide a formidable running back base for Lake Central. But it won’t be the same with this group, especially after the outstanding performance of the last three seasons.

“I want to say we’ll be back next year, but a lot of people are leaving,” Wimberly said, his voice cracking. “I wish we could get this out. But it’s still been a blessing to be here.”