Springs Valley Community High School

As it took the floor on Saturday at West Washington, the Springs Valley girls’ basketball team knew it was facing quite the test. The Blackhawks stood opposite Class 1A No. 4 Trinity Lutheran, a team with a 22-6 record that had averaged a 19-point margin of victory over the course of the season, in the IHSAA Regional 31 Championship Game. They stood their ground early, going tit-for-tat with the Cougars throughout the first quarter, but the second quarter was a different story. Foul trouble forced Springs Valley to dip deeper into its bench in the second period than it had in the first and Trinity Lutheran took off. The Cougars outscored the Blackhawks 24-10 to take a 41-24 lead into halftime. Springs Valley would never recover from that blow, falling 71-43. “I told the girls that there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I think if Trinity Lutheran plays like they did against us they’ll win State. That was an impressive performance that they put out on the floor today,” Springs Valley coach Marty Niehaus said. “I thought our kids tried to battle as best they could. Maybe we could’ve done a little better on the defensive end, but offensively we did about what we usually do. “I thought we battled early on. Instead of getting punched in the face ourselves we kind of threw the punch early and Trinity Lutheran got going after that.” Trinity Lutheran's offensive explosion was fueled by a bevy of 3-pointers. The Cougars hit an otherworldly 10 shots from downtown in the first half and eventually finished the game having hit 11 of their 22 3-point attempts. Ohio University commit Bailey Tabeling led the way in that effort, hitting five of 10 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 27 points. There was little that Springs Valley could do to stop the onslaught as even when it forced the Cougars to take tough shots, they’d still fall. “They did a great job of penetrating and kicking out to their shooters and their shooters were dead-on today,” Niehaus said. “You just can’t cover the whole floor, you can’t help when they’re going to knock them down like that. It was very impressive.” The loss brings a special season to an end for Springs Valley (17-8, 5-1 PLAC). The Blackhawks won their first Patoka Lake Athletic Conference and sectional championships since 2016 this year, the latter being just their fourth all-time. Their 17-8 overall record ties for the fifth-best they’ve had since 2000. Their run of 12 wins in 13 games between Dec. 15 and Feb. 4 only has two parallels in recent history: the 2015-16 team’s 25-game winning streak and the 2004-05 team’s run of 16 wins in 17 games. And they did all of that despite only winning five of their first 11 games. “I told the kids that what they did after Christmas break, after the (Vincennes) Rivet loss, was impressive,” Niehaus said. “I had a feeling that we just kept getting better and better as the second half of the season went on and I hope that getting this extra time helped us build as we go forward into next year.” Now the Blackhawk will move forward without a quartet of seniors. The class of 2023 — Brynne Buchanan, Macy Hall, Bella Shipman, and Ashlyn Bonta — finishes its career having helped the program to a 59-35 overall record during their time as high-schoolers. They also went 13-11 in conference play and were particularly strong at home, posting a career record of 32-12 at The Hawk’s Nest. Just as importantly, the group helped shape the program’s culture through their coachability and work ethic. “They’re just a good bunch of kids. They’ve been a very coachable group from the beginning,” Niehaus said. “I felt like they did a great job of representing Springs Valley over their careers. I’m very proud of them.” Despite whom they’ll lose to graduation, the Blackhawks are excited about the future. Three starters — junior Bella Nottger and freshman Maddie Carnes and Maci Eckerty — are set to return for the 2023-24 season. That trio accounted for roughly 58 percent of the Blackhawks’ scoring, 52 percent of the Blackhawks’ rebounding, and 47 percent of the Blackhawks’ assists this season. If they can each take a step this offseason alongside some other returning rotation players and perhaps a few younger players finding a role, they could be pretty competitive again next winter. “We’re bringing back three starters and a lot of times we’re bringing two or three starters back, but to bring back the leading scorer [Carnes] is something that we haven’t had in a few years so that’s going to be a nice thing,” Niehaus said. “We just need to continue to develop some depth and I think that we can have another good year next year.” SPRINGS VALLEY BLACKHAWKS 43 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Buchanan, g;0-3;1-10;0-0;3;0;2 Eckerty, g;3-3;5-7;0-0;3;0;13 Carnes, f;1-2;3-11;5-6;5;2;12 Hall, f;0-0;0-4;1-2;3;4;1 Nottger, c;0-0;4-8;0-0;5;2;8 McCormick;0-0;0-6;7-8;3;0;7 Allstott;0-5;0-5;0-0;0;1;0 Shipman;0-0;0-0;0-0;1;0;0 Bonta;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Tucker;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Land;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Dalton;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Totals;4-13;13-51;13-16;23;9;43 Shooting;.308;.255;.813 TRINITY LUTHERAN COUGARS 71 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Tabeling, g;5-10;10-18;2-2;7;2;27 J. Brewer, g;2-4;3-7;2-2;3;2;10 Roeder, g;1-2;4-7;0-0;2;3;9 Froedge,f;3-6;5-10;1-3;6;3;14 Keith, f;0-0;5-10;1-1;9;3;11 Leinart;0-0;0-0;0-0;1;0;0 M. Brewer;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;1;0 Adams;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Love;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Munoz;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Totals;11-22;27-52;6-8;28;14;71 Shooting;.500;.519;.750 Springs Valley (17-8);14;10;9;10—43 Trinity Lutheran (22-6);17;24;11;19—71 TO: Springs Valley 14, Trinity Lutheran 10.