Lanesville wins first IHSAA girls basketball state title: '... we finally got it.'

During her first four years as head coach, Lanesville’s Angie Hinton saw her team claim four sectional titles, but each time fall short in the regional round.

Saturday, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hinton and the Eagles were finally able to complete the climb to the top.

Using a decided height advantage over Bethany Christian, Lanesville scored a 60-41 triumph to claim the Class A state championship — the first in program history. It also made Hinton the third coach in IHSAA history to win state titles at different schools. Hinton guided New Albany to the Class 4A championship in 1999.

IHSAA girls basketball state finals: Scores, updates, photos and highlights

The top-ranked Eagles did so in emphatic fashion, scoring the first five points of the game and never trailing en route to the victory — a win that was a long-time coming for Lanesville.

“We had always fallen short in the regional,” senior Linzie Wernert said. “We’ve worked for this since (Hinton) got here and we finally got it.”

Wernert, the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner, joined teammates Morgan Sonner and Shelby Allen in playing a huge role in making it happen.

Sonner and Allen each stand 6-1 and Wernert, at 5-9, gave the Eagles an advantage along the front line that seventh-ranked Bethany Christian couldn’t match.

Lanesville led, 17-7, after one quarter, built a 34-18 lead at halftime then came out with the first six points of the third quarter to hold a 22-point, 40-18 advantage. To that point, Lanesville hit 18-of-29 from the floor (62%) and the smaller Bruins were finished.

“We wanted to get off to a good start, and we did,” Hinton said. “We wanted to get (BC) playing at a different speed and we were able to do that, then we wanted to go inside.”

Sonner led the way with 18 points, while Wernert added 13 (and a game-high nine rebounds) and Allen scored 11 points. For the game, the Eagles held a 34-10 advantage in points in the paint.

Bethany Christian (24-4) did cut the Lanesville lead to 48-36 after a 3-pointer by Eva Horning with 5:47 left, but got no closer.

“Their size gave us issues and it was very difficult for us,” BC coach Krysten Parson admitted. “We were grateful to be here and our run to the state finals was remarkable, but it wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”

Zoe Willems led the Bruins with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Mariah Stoltzfus added 11 points. Both those players are juniors.

Lanesville finished 27-2.

Class A: Lanesville 60, Bethany Christian 41, final

Bethany Christian (24-4) — Eva Horning 1 0-0 3, Kolette Kern 0 0-0 0, Mari Stoltfus 3 3-3 11, Zoe Willems 5 6-8 17, Kiersten Todd 1 3-4 5, Adrienne Chupp 0 0-0 0, Morgan Chupp 0 0-0 0, Julia Moser 1 2-2 5, Kendra Kern 0 0-0 0, Cori Chupp 0 0-0 0, Karlee Crume 0 0-0 0, Jessa Caffee 0 0-0 0. Team: 11 14-17 41.

Lanesville (28-2) — Hadley Crosier 4 0-1 9, Ava Kerr 2 3-4 7, Hylton Brumley 1 0-0 2, Linzie Wernert 6 1-2 13, Morgan Sonner 8 1-1 18, Jane Davis 0 0-0 0, Emma Davis 0 0-0 0, Shelby Allen 4 3-5 11, Kaylie Blankenbaker 0 0-0 0, Elli Schneider 0 0-0 0. Team: 25 8-13 60.

3-pointers: Bethany Christian 5 (Stoltfus 2, Horning, Moser, Willems); Lanesville 2 (Crosier, Sonner).

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana girls basketball: Lanesville wins Class A state title