2022 4A Semi-State Final Four Preview

By Randy Beckett
Updated: February 15, 2022

Class 4A

IGBRR #6 Noblesville (23-4) vs. IGBRR #8 Crown Point (24-3)
At: Logansport
Sagarin: Noblesville #1, Crown Point #6
SOS: Noblesville #1, Crown Point #31*

Defending North Semi-State Champ: Crown Point

Players to watch: A.Shade (Jr) 20.4 PPG , R.Wilson (So) 10 PPG, J.Carrothers (Jr) 21 PPG , L.Stoddard (Jr) 11.7 PPG

Preview: Two of the top 4A teams square off in the north Final Four Semi-State. IGBRR #8 Crown Point Bulldogs, the IGBRR pre-season #1 and defending state champion, takes on the #6 Noblesville Millers who spent several weeks in the #1 spot as well. The two teams squared off earlier in the regular season on December 22nd at the Limestone Classic in Bedford and it was all Millers on that day as they were able to suffocate the Bulldogs and limited Jessica Carrothers to a season low 4 points in a convincing 57-32 win. Do not expect a repeat of that meeting. Carrothers is coming off a career high 42 points in the Regional championship game, giving her 2321 career points which puts her 17th all-time in the state, and the Bulldogs have won twelve of their last thirteen contest since that matchup. Lilly Stoddard is a second Indiana All-Star candidate that the Millers will have to contend with. The 6’3 senior Purdue commit is a 1000 point scorer as well and has also collected nearly 900 career rebounds. The senior class has an unbelievable 103-6 record. They are looking to make it back-back state championship game appearances, as the program did in 1984 & 1985 when they won two straight state titles. The Noblesville Millers are looking for their first state title game appearance since the 1986 and 1987 seasons. The Millers have already defeated five top 11 sagarin teams on their way to their final four appearance, including IGBRR & ICGSA #1 Homestead in last weekend’s Sweet 16 matchup. Noblesville who comes in tested against the #1 schedule in the state, relies heavily on the three pointer and their trapping defense to create turnovers, 373 steals on the season which is the fourth highest among 4A teams. The Millers shot the fourth most three pointers in the state this year, launching 626. In their wins they shot 32% from three, in their four losses just 21%. Noblesville is led by junior, UConn commit, Ashlynn Shade that averages 20.4 PPG and 8.6 RPG. The backcourt also features the youthful production of sophomore Regan Wilson and freshman Meredith Tippner who both average nearly 10 PPG. The Millers own the seventh highest scoring offense in the state at 64.59 PPG, while taking the most field goal attempts of any team (1592).

Prediction:
Noblesville 64, Crown Point 56
Can the Millers knock down their threes and can they keep Carrothers in check as they did in the first match-up? Noblesville has more depth and balance and are as battled tested as any team in the state. We give the slight edge to Noblesville in a much tighter game than we saw in December.

IGBRR #2 Franklin (27-1) vs. Mooresville (19-8)
At: Jasper
Sagarin: Franklin #2, Mooresville #28
SOS: Franklin #25*, Mooresville #29

Defending South Semi-State Champ: Brownsburg

Players to watch: A.Traylor (Sr) 17 PPG, K.Brunson (Sr) 14 PPG, R.Harshman (So) 13.3 PPG, M.Denny (Sr) 13 PPG

Preview: Last year it was a barely .500 Brownsburg team that caught fire out of sectional 11 and rode it to the state title game. This year, that team is the Mooresville Pioneers who were just 4-6 after just over a month of play. However, they did finish 13-2 after December 8th and have now pulled off four straight upsets on paper to get to the Final Four. One of those two losses was a 25 point conference defeat to their Final Four opponent Franklin in January, 62-37. We do not expect that the second time around as The Pioneers are swimming in confidence and have experience and balance. Multiple seniors provide experienced leadership and production as Maddy Denny averages 13 PPG, while Ali Graber is at 7.4 PPG / 4.5 APG and Abigail Young checks in at 6.4 PPG. At the forward spots two sophomores Rachel Harshman, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding 13.3 PPG and 6.6 RPG, and Kayln Bunch 8PPG / 5.8 RPG provide a solid 1-2 frontcourt punch. Mooresville will be looking to advance to their first state title game and are playing in their first Final Four since 2009. The Franklin Grizzly Cubs made a deep run a year ago to the Final Four and return experience and additional firepower in transfers Ashlyn Traylor and Adelyn Walker who have been a big part of this year’s success. Franklin spent several weeks at #1 and seemingly has all the pieces to come away with the big prize. As noted, they are led by seniors Ashylnn Traylor who leads them in scoring (17 PPG), rebounding (6 RPG), and steals (3.3 SPG) and Kuryn Brunson, who was a junior all-star a year ago, averages 14 PPG and 3 APG. The three sophomores that all started as frosh a year ago continue to play key roles Klem, Kimbrell, Buening. Add in a solid bench of Jochim, Walker and York that are capable of giving starter type of production. The Grizzly Cubs are the highest scoring offense in the state at 68.54 PPG, they are tied for the second most field goal attempts at 1586 and once again the most three point buckets made (266) and attempted (773). If Franklin can break through this year, it will be their first state title game appearance since 1998 when they were a 3A representative.

Prediction:
Franklin 62, Mooresville 53

Mooresville will need to get to the free throw line, the sixth most FTA on the year, and be better than their 1-12 3pt shooting in the first contest. They will also need to knock the Grizzly’s off the three point line and limit turnovers that turn into transition points. Franklin will want to dictate their pace and make the Pioneers a jump shooting team while keeping them off the free throw line. In the end the Grizzly Cubs have too much firepower and win this one in a much closer contest than the first matchup.

* Strength of Schedule (SOS) does not include out of state opponents

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