{"id":34437,"date":"2026-02-27T14:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=34437"},"modified":"2026-02-27T14:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:56:41","slug":"norwell-on-track-for-chance-at-ihsaa-first-with-consecutive-titles-in-3a-4a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/norwell-on-track-for-chance-at-ihsaa-first-with-consecutive-titles-in-3a-4a\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwell on track for chance at IHSAA first with consecutive titles in 3A, 4A"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One team that will compete for the Class 4A state championship comes into the contest feeling like it\u2019s right at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other squad seems a bit stunned it\u2019s in the position it\u2019s in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which team is which may not be the ones you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unbeaten Center Grove (28-0) and defending Class 3A champion Norwell (25-4) will cap state finals day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when they meet for the 4A &nbsp;title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"IHSAA Girls Basketball 4A State Finals: #6 Norwell vs #2 Center Grove - WZBD Radio\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xkhwp9uVxOU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For second-ranked Center Grove, it will be making its first appearance in the state finals since winning the championship in 1996 \u2013 the second-to-last year of the one-class system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coach Kevin Stuckmeyer\u2019s squad can become the first unbeaten state champ since Bedford North Lawrence pulled off that feat in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, sixth-ranked Norwell will take the floor at Gainbridge for the third straight season. The Knights finished as runner-up in 3A in 2024 before coming back last season to knock off Greensburg in the 3A final. Interestingly, Greensburg came into that contest unbeaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should the Knights win, they would become the first Class 3A and 4A in back-to-back seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you can surmise Norwell had an expectation of great success coming into the season. If you ask the Center Grove, this season hasn\u2019t been completely what they expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure how good we\u2019d be with all the players we lost from last year,\u201d said senior guard Hannah Gin. \u201cI\u2019m still stunned we\u2019re undefeated and everything still feels like a daydream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo go through our schedule undefeated is just not likely,\u201d Stuckmeyer said. \u201cYou can go back to our first game against Franklin Central (at 49-47 win in early November). That game could have gone either way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As could have a few others. Center Grove has won six games by five points or less \u2013 including a 29-26 triumph over 2024 state titlist Lawrence Central in the semistate championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what\u2019s made it happen for Center Grove?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The obvious factor has been the team\u2019s defensive prowess; The Trojans have allowed only 34.9 points per game and have held 13 opponents under 40 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDefense is the heart of our team,\u201d Gin said, while teammate Gracyn Gilliard added: \u201cThe coaching staff has done a great job implementing our defense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Norwell coach Eric Thornton echoed that thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey have such a great coaching staff, and you marvel at how well they execute,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cTheir man-to-man defense is as good as anyone\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another factor aiding CG this year is Gilliard. The 5-11 senior is a bona fide Miss Basketball candidate who averages 25.7 points per game. The Davidson recruit shoots 53 percent from the field, 41 percent from 3-point range and 74 percent from the free throw line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Center Grove will need to overcome Norwell\u2019s run of success over the last three seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur experience is a huge advantage,\u201d Thornton said. \u201c(In 2024), we were a bit in awe, but last year we saw a difference in how we prepared and we were successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving up to 4A this season didn\u2019t come without a few bumps in the road. Norwell lost twice to last year\u2019s 4A finalist Warsaw&nbsp; before Christmas, then dropped a pair of games in the Fort Wayne Snider Classic on Dec. 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to compete around the holidays,\u201d said senior Vanessa Rosswurm \u2013 the team\u2019s leading scorer at 23.3 points per game. \u201cWe had two games in the Hall of Fame Classic (including the second loss to Warsaw), then at Snider, we only had one hour between games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNothing went well for us during that time,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cWe were emotionally drained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was that loss to Snider, however, that proved to be a turning point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat was a game that opened our eyes as to how teams would play our 1-3-1 zone (defense),\u201d Rosswurm said. \u201cThat losing streak didn\u2019t get us down, but we had to figure things out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Knights have put it all together as they haven\u2019t lost since. After the calendar turned to 2026, Norwell has won all but one game at least double digits (including a 52-42 win over 3A finalist Bellmont). The close game the Knights survived was 47-46 win over No. 3 Homestead in the sectional championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to Rosswurm (an Indiana Wesleyan recruit), guards Macie Saalfrank (15.7) and Avery Thornton (14.0) each have double-figure scoring averages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s year three for them down here,\u201d Stuckmeyer said of the Knights. \u201cThey are used to big-time moments. Defensively, we\u2019ve got to make them earn everything and we have to find scoring opportunities on the other end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur defense will have to keep us in the game,\u201d Thornton said. &#8220;You just don\u2019t know how the pace of the game will turn out. We like to create tempo, but they can play fast, too.<br>\u201cIt will be interesting to see how this plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One team that will compete for the Class 4A state championship comes into the contest feeling like it\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[41,46,26],"class_list":["post-34437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-norwell","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Scheumann_Photography-168.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34438,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34437\/revisions\/34438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}