Four First Time Boys Basketball State Champions Crowned at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Saturday. 

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

Four First Time State Champions were crowned on Saturday at the 114th Annual Boys Basketball State Finals in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Downtown Indianapolis as the 2023-24 Boys Basketball and Winter Sports Season came to an end in the state of Indiana. Two of the four State Champions were making their first ever state championship appearance.

In Class 1A Fort Wayne Canterbury beat Bethesda Christian 48-41 to win its first state championship. The Cavaliers got a double-double 6-Senior John Parent who finished with 22 points and 10 Rebounds. 5-10 Senior Devon Lewis added 12 Points as Fort Wayne Canterbury ends the year with 19-9 record for Head Coach Deric Adams. Bethesda Christian who ends the season 23-8 was led by 6-3 Senior Luke Douglas who was named the Ray Craft Mental Attitude Award Winner with 13 Points all five starters for both teams scored every point and no points off the bench on either side.

The game featured 10 lead changes and 5 ties and Fort Wayne Canterbury had the largest lead of the game with 39 seconds left in the game up by 8 points and Bethesda Christian had a five-point lead with 2:42 left in the second quarter. Fort Wayne Canterbury led 11-10 after the first quarter and 28-25 at halftime after outscoring Bethesda Christian 17-15 In the second quarter. In the third quarter Bethesda Christian outscored the Cavaliers 8-7 but Canterbury led 35-33 going into the fourth quarter. Fort Wayne Canterbury outscored the Patriots 13-8 in the fourth quarter.

In Class 2A Brownstown Central Won its first State Championship with a 55-36 win over Wapahani. Purdue Signee Jack Benter scored points, pulled 6 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Junior Chace Coomer added 13 points and Sophomore Micah Seffer scored 11 points. Brownstown Central ends the year with 28-4 record and for Head Coach Dave Benter he wins his first state title after two runner up appearances in 2004 and 2009 and wins one with his son Jack who scored 16 points in the first half.

Wapahani who ends the season with 26-2 record was led by Senior and Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award Winner Issac Andrews who scored 21 of the teams 36 points. The Raiders love to shoot the three ball and struggled going 5-28 for 18 percent from the field. Brownstown Central led 31-14 at halftime. The Raiders went on 10-0 run in the third quarter as they outscored Brownstown Central 14-7 in the third period to make it 38-28 at the end of three quarters as the Braves outscored the Raiders 17-8 in the final quarter and close it out as they were only two lead changers with Raiders leading for 12 seconds and the game was tied for 21 seconds.

In Class 3A Scottsburg beat South Bend Saint Joseph 67-57 to end their season 25-5. Jack Miller scored 32 points and Kody Clancy added 20 points along with 10 points from Wyatt Zellers as the trio combined for 62 of the Warriors 67 points. Dare Bowles and Garrett Boling added 2 points and Caden Richardson scored 1 point. The Warriors only played six players with Miller. Clancy. Richardson and Bowels playing the full 32 minutes. Zellers played 23 minutes and 27 seconds and Boling played 8 minutes and 32 seconds for Head Coach Eric Richardson.

South Bend Saint Joseph who was making their third state finals appearance and first since 1993 end their season with a 20-10 record. Chase Konieczny who is Indiana Junior All-Star scored 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies in scoring. Jerry Barca who won the the Arthur L Trester Mental Attitude Award added 12 Points and Jayce Lee scored 11 points. There were 8 ties and 5 lead changes and Scottsburg led by 11 points with 6:01 left in the second quarter and went on 9-0 run in the last minute of the game.

In Class 4A Fishers completed a 29-1 season beating defending State Champion Ben Davis 65-56. Junior All Star JonAnthony Hall lead the Tigers with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Kennan Garner who grew up in Germany before moving to Fishers added 19 points and plans to play College Basketball next season but it’s undecided on his college choice. Taden Metzger added 10 points for Head Coach Garrett Winegar. Senior Parker Perdue was named the Arthur L Trester Mental Attitude Award Winner had a steal in five minutes and two seconds of action off the bench. The Tigers lost their best player Jalen Haralson when he scored to transfer to La Porte La Lumiere for his Senior Season.

Ben Davis who was looking for back-to-back state titles ends the season 23-6 was led in scoring by Junior All Star Mark Zachery with 14 Points. KJ Windham and Ramone Enis scored 11 points apiece along with 10 points from Mark White. There were 6 Lead changes and 4 ties and neither team lead by more than 9 points the entire game. Ben Davis went on 9-0 scoring run midway through the third quarter as the Tigers answered with 7-0 scoring run with 6:13 left in the game as the Tigers hit seven three pointers in the game with the Giants struggling from beyond the arc going 2-9. Corey Taylor took over the program after Don Carlisle was placed on administrative leave for the entire 2023-24 school year for an alleged incident with student during a physical education class in the fall. Carlisle is to return next season and will be interesting to see if Taylor decides to take a head coaching job elsewhere after leading Ben Davis back to the State Finals in his only season in charge.