Center Grove completes perfect season with unforgettable win over Norwell

· Yahoo Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2025-26 Center Grove girls basketball team never really seemed to get the respect it deserved. Despite being undefeated and one of the state's most efficient outfits on both ends of the floor, they were never ranked No. 1 in either of the polls and seldom favored by the computers as the season dragged into late February.

Visit livefromquarantine.club for more information.

No, the Trojans' offense wasn't explosive like Warsaw and their roster wasn't littered with Division I talent like Homestead or Pike.

They were methodical, content to score 50-something points and win by five — or as happened in last weekend's Class 4A semistate final, put up 29 points and win by three.

The Center Grove Trojans were by far the state's most consistent team this season.

All they did was win and Saturday night, they put the finishing touches on a perfect season, matching a state finals record with an 11-point comeback, then hanging on over the final two minutes for a 56-53 win over Norwell.

In ending the program's decade-long title drought, the Trojans (29-0) became the state's first undefeated state champ since 2012-13 and 18th overall.

As the players sang on their way out of Gainbridge Fieldhouse: All they do is win. 

"This is surreal," beamed senior Hannah Gin. "There's something special about this group. We are just so together and love each other so much. We flow together. We're like puzzle pieces and we just all came together."

This year's season finale will go down among the event's most memorable games.

Following a middling first half, Center Grove appeared on life support in the third quarter. Its offense was struggling to find any sort of traction as Norwell ran its lead to 11. 

Stuckmeyer saw a look in his players' eyes that suggested they were ready to concede, content with having made a run at the state title, so he gave them an impassioned speech during a timeout. They didn't come this far just to say they gave it a good run, he told them.

"That's not to say we were going to win, but we didn't want to go out with that mentality and regret it," he said. "Credit to our girls. They did what they've done all year. They have a will to win and took care of it from that point forward."

Pierce helped jumpstart the comeback a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, following a charge drawn by Gracyn Gilliard with a corner 3-pointer. Her attempt from the same spot a few seconds later rimmed out, but the rebound was promptly cleaned up by 5-foot-11 sophomore Haley Wagoner, whose final field goal of the season tied the score at 43 and forced a Norwell timeout.

That sequence of plays served as the spark Center Grove desperately needed, Pierce said. They were slumping after the third quarter, but "if there's one thing this team's good at, it's getting out of a slump."

"There's something about (Pierce). She's just always ready for the big moment," Stuckmeyer said of the junior guard, who delivered another triple out of the timeout. "The moment's never too big. … She's proven that time and time again."

The Trojans had reclaimed the lead and after making contributions both defensively and as a playmaker to help get them there, Gilliard took over as a scorer — same as she has countless times this season.

Seven straight points made it 15 unanswered since the start of the fourth quarter and 17 since the final 20 seconds of the third (Gin hit a pair of free throws).

The lead was at 10 and the Trojans were on course for a comfortable finish.

But Norwell's displayed certain trends this season, too, chief among them a propensity for fighting back down the stretch.

It happened in the sectional championship game against rival Homestead and it nearly happened again Saturday night.

Determined to keep alive her team's aspirations of becoming the first to win consecutive titles in two different classes, Macie Saalfrank initiated a run of nine points in 90 seconds with a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer. She kept the run going with a steal that resulted in a layup for Vanessa Rosswurm, then Ashley Waldman finished the sudden onslaught with a steal-and-score that left CG's lead at 53-52 with 38 seconds remaining.

Stuckmeyer pinned it on pride as to why he didn't call a timeout; a confidence that his players would weather the storm on their own and halt the Knights' run before the title could slip away from them.

On the other side, Norwell was playing with a confident desperation, the sort of thing that's unique to a three-time state finalist.

"We said it in the timeout with a couple minutes to go, I don't know if we're going to win this game, but we're going to give it everything we have. And they were all in on that," Norwell coach Eric Thornton said. "I think that represents everything (the seniors) were all about their entire careers."

The Knights had their opportunities down the stretch, missing on a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, then converting only 1-of-2 free throws while facing a two-point deficit three seconds later.

Gilliard sank a pair for Center Grove with 12 seconds left, setting the stage for the season's final possession. 

The Trojans successfully slowed the development of Norwell's sideline out of bounds play, but the Knights still got the ball to an open Saalfrank on the wing. The senior rose and fired, but her attempt was off the mark, falling into the hands of Pierce, who held on as time expired.

Rosswurm finished with 22 points and seven rebounds for Norwell, while Saalfrank and Waldman both logged 11 plus four steals.

"What a journey these seniors gave our program," Thornton smiled.

After finishing a seemingly endless run of interviews and stopping off for photos with his wife and children, Stuckmeyer retreated to the hallway underneath Gainbridge Fieldhouse. He leaned against the wall outside his team's locker room and slumped to the floor, wearing a blue medal and the same smile that swept across his face as the reality of his team's championship began sinking in about 30 minutes earlier.

As Stuckmeyer reflected on the game with assistant coach Ryan Hendryx and a couple reporters, cheers and singing could be heard from inside the locker room behind him, the beginning of a program-wide celebration that figures to last for weeks to come.

"They've meant so much," Stuckmeyer said of his seniors: Gilliard, Gin, Ella Sprong, Mia Mann and Anna Karr. "The nine years I've been here, this is why you do it. The girls that dress, you build those relationships with them. They took it to the next level. … And not just the seniors. MacKenzie Pierce is coming back, but she's part of that group, and then the newbies with Lils (Lillia Tapak) and Haley — they're ready to continue carrying that torch."

"But they'll enjoy this moment," he continued. "I'm just so proud of them."

Center Grove stats

Gilliard finished with a team-high 23 points, nine rebounds and six steals. Pierce and Wagoner both added nine and combined for three steals, while freshman Lillia Tapak logged eight points and four rebounds and Gin notched four points and five rebounds.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls basketball: Gracyn Gilliard, Center Grove complete perfect season

Read full story at source