RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Youth triumphed over experience Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Playing five sophomores and two juniors almost exclusively, the Bellmont Braves defeated a senior-laden and top-ranked Roncalli Royals squad, 55-46, to win the school’s first IHSAA girls’ state basketball title.
To add to the Braves’ excitement, Bellmont senior Bri Converset was named the winner of the prestigious Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award.
The Braves (25-3) leaned once again on their formula of dogged defense and balanced scoring. They wore down the Royals in the final period, outscoring them 21-12 to break a 34-34 third-quarter tie.
Four Braves reached double figures, led by Oni Krueckeberg and Ashley Bleke with 13. Mary Bleke scored 12 to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Lanie French had 11. Point guard Kate Kitson added six. Ashley Bleke also had a game-high seven assists.
Roncalli (27-4) struck first in the decisive fourth quarter when Elliot Leffler, who led all scorers with 22 points, was fouled on a drive and hit two free throws—Royals 36, Braves 34. It was the last time Roncalli would lead.
In the most important rally of the season, the Braves outscored the Royals 9-3 in the next 1:37 to turn the two-point deficit into a four-point advantage.
Mary Bleke started the run with a slick left-handed layup at the 7:36 mark. Ashley Bleke followed with a three-pointer from left of the top of the key, putting the Braves back into the lead at 39-36. Catie Rosco got Roncalli within one with a layup before Krueckeberg was fouled on an attempted put back of her own miss and hit both free throws. The Royals’ Reagan Turk hit a free throw, but Ashley Bleke made a perfect lob pass from the wing to her sister on the left block, and Mary powered it in to give the Braves a 43-39 lead.
Twice the Royals closed to within two points, the last time at 45-43 with 4:27 to go. On the Braves’ next possession long-distance specialist Lanie French hit a crucial three from the right wing at the 3:55 mark, and the Braves were up by five, their biggest lead since early in the third period.
The big, boisterous contingent of Bellmont fans could sense the victory. Krueckeberg added to their confidence when she drove hard across the lane and was fouled with 1:41 to go. She made both free throws to put the Braves up 50-43.
Mary Bleke added a layup on a press breaker (assisted again by her sister) and two free throws to expand the lead to double digits at 54-44 with 28 seconds left.
In the final seconds, Roncalli’s Carly Feldman made a layup, and Kitson sank a free throw to finish the scoring.
“Look, I’d be lying if I told you I thought we’d be sitting here right now,” said ecstatic Braves coach Andy Heim. “It’s, you know, these girls had high dreams. They had high dreams last year, put it down on a card to say we’re gonna win a state championship with my friends, and they accomplished it.”
The key to the win, Heim thought, was defense. “Thirty-two minutes of just intense defense,” he said. “You saw it in that fourth quarter where Roncalli got a bit tired.”
He credited defensive ace Krueckeberg with making Leffler work hard for her points.
“Every game, she gets the toughest girl to defend,” he said. “She’s so fast and and her hands are nonstop.”
Leffler fell down hard late in the game and went to the bench for a break. She soon returned but eventually had to be helped off the floor with 30 seconds left.
Roncalli opened the game with a bucket on the right block by 6-2 center Lydia Stahley and Leffler’s three-pointer from the right wing to jump out to a 5-0 lead.
The Braves quickly got over any jitters they had, going on a 12-0 run, the longest by either team. Mary and Ashley Bleke started it with layups, French and Ashley added threes, and Krueckeberg capped it with a steal and layup on the Braves’ full court press.
Kitson’s three with a minute left helped the Braves finish the quarter with an 18-8 lead.
The Royals came back to take the second quarter, 13-7, to close the gap to 25-21 at the half. Leffler led the charge with nine points. Krueckeberg scored all seven of the Braves’ points.
The third quarter saw another advantage going to Roncalli, this time by a 13-9 count. Leffler again led the way with eight points, including a three-pointer from well beyond the arc on the left wing with 2:12 left to give the Royals their first lead, 34-33, since early in the first quarter. Ashley Bleke’s free throw tied it with just three-tenths of a second on the clock.
The game was remarkably clean, the Braves committing just four turnovers, the Royals six.
The Braves made 10-of-28 twos (36%), 7-of-20 threes (35%), and 14-of-18 free throws (78%). The Royals were 11-of-31 on twos (35%), 4-of-12 on threes (33%), and 12-of-18 on free throws (67%).
Converset, daughter of Matt and Jennifer Converset of Decatur, has a 4.24 GPA, earned Academic All-State honors in soccer, and was a finalist for the Adams County Lilly Scholarship. The four-year Student Council member and three-year member of the Student Athletic Leadership Team (SALT) plans to study elementary education and play soccer at the University of Saint Francis.
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