Claire Freeman is mobbed by her teammates after hitting the game-winner in overtime.
INDIANAPOLIS -- There was no play designed for Kelly Faris, the senior headed to play at Connecticut. There was no call for the ball to go to Emily Anderson, the team's leading scorer in the game.
The only specifics of the play Heritage Christian coach Rick Risinger designed with 7.8 seconds remaining on the clock in overtime of the state championship were that someone find a shot, hopefully open, and take it.
That someone ended up being Claire Freeman, the Eagles' point guard who was shooting just 3-of-14 from the floor until the final seconds of the game.
For Freeman, who will play at Butler next year, it turned into the crowning moment for what could be argued as Indiana's strongest multi-class dynasty -- a 15-foot bank lay-in that clinched a fourth consecutive 2A state title and a 104-8 record for the program's five graduating seniors, including reserves Alyssa Burton and Meredith Martin.
"You always want to go out with a bang," Faris said after the March 7 championship. "For one, it will stick out for the fact that we never celebrate after a game, and I think that since it got down to a last-second shot, we were pretty excited, (but) I think they all stick out in their own ways, but this one was a well-fought-out game."
Heritage Christian (Indianapolis) won its first three titles by an average of 17 points in the championship game until meeting Oak Hill for the second consecutive year and squeezing out a 60-58 win in overtime. The only other program to win four consecutive titles since the state broke from its single-class system in 1998 is Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, which won the 1999-2001 2A titles and the 2002 3A title. However, the Eagles' trio of senior starters -- Freeman, Faris and Anderson -- became the first girls to win four titles as starters all four years.
"They complement each other so well," fourth-year coach Risinger said. "I've got a power forward, a point guard and a two-guard that can run. ... The things that we've accomplished have been because of all three players."
Those seniors have been nearly inseparable since the beginning, when Faris and Freeman became starters immediately and Anderson, who will play at Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan, joined them in the starting five halfway through the season. But it hasn't been just on the court, where the girls have spent many hours together, they've also been attached off the court and after the buzzer. The three were the last to leave the locker room after their win March 7, walking together through the back halls of Lucas Oil Stadium toward their team bus, enjoying the final moments of their careers.
"These last four years have been unbelievable," Anderson said. "It's just so fun being able to play with Kelly and Claire. We bonded right in the beginning and it's just been a really great time. I wouldn't have ever changed any part of the high school experience. It's been awesome."
Freeman agreed.
"It's definitely been great winning state championships," she said. "But ..., it's the friendships we've made on this team; that's what makes us gel on the floor and that's what's gotten us here four times."
In their final game together, the trio combined for 38 points, led by Anderson's 14, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but it wasn't a simple road.
Most coaches would worry when their UConn-bound player picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and had played just six minutes by halftime, but Risinger was not rattled. He shifted a few plays, knowing his other players -- primarily Freeman and Anderson -- would be able to keep up the pace and then relied on Faris to play smarter in the second half.
She came through, playing the entire second half and not picking up her fourth foul until overtime. She scored 11 of her 13 points after halftime.
"I had to play smarter," Faris said. "I didn't come out and play very smart the first half and I like to be aggressive but I couldn't be as aggressive. ... If I'm not doing well at something, I've got to look at the other things on the court I could be doing to help everybody else out."
Even without Faris on the court, Heritage Christian was a well-oiled machine, but the Eagles of Oak Hill applied the pressure behind juniors Courtney Moses, who finished with 21 points, and Ashley Pickering, who added 20.
But despite back-to-back championship losses to Heritage Christian, Oak Hill held no grudges. Both sets of Eagles joined together post-game, forming a large circle at midcourt for a moment together.
It was also a chance for everything to come full circle and a final moment to close out the four years Risinger has had with this special senior class -- an experience that started almost accidentally when Risinger took over the program after the program's longtime coach, Dr. Mark Richardson, died of cancer.
"Of course, the last one's always special, and I think that first year ..." Risinger said. "It's been very special the four years that we've gone through and I've gotten to coach them. With the passing of Doc, and both my mom and my dad have passed away in these four years, to have this great group of ladies to be able to experience that with is something that I really will cherish going forward."
