Pendleton Heights, Lapel basketball stars honored by Indiana Hall of Fame
INDIANAPOLIS — They’re teammates again.
Rivals during their high school basketball careers and teammates during their AAU hoops days, Madison County basketball legends, including Pendleton Heights’ Angie (Hupfer) Bossnack and Lapel’s Lindsay (Winkler) Justus, reunited on the same team Saturday night at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 19th Annual Women’s Awards Dinner at Primo Banquet Hall.
The Hall recognized its 2021 Silver Anniversary team, which along with Bossnack and Justus included Alexandria’s Rachel (Garner) Young.
“Even though they were adversaries, they always remained friends and played together on the AAU team in the summer,” Clarence Hupfer, Angie’s father, recalled. “The big games were always against (Rachel) Garner and Lindsay Winkler. It was a good group of kids that all got along, good families. The AAU team had the closest bunch of parents.”
Saturday’s awards dinner also honored the 2020 team, which included another former Madison County star, Stacey Brewer, who played at Anderson Highland. The 2020 dinner was canceled due to COVID-19.
The 2021 dinner — which had been delayed, also because of the pandemic — also recognized 11 new inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Silver Anniversary team celebrates stars from 25 years ago.
Madison County was well-represented in the Class of 1996.
“I can remember when all those kids were coming up as freshmen,” former Lapel girls basketball coach Kevin Brattain said. “They all came in about the same time, back when it was pretty tough in our county. We had some really good teams.”
“It’s really been fun to see a lot of my old teammates,” Bossnack said. “A lot of us played with each other on an AAU team or against each other in high school. It’s been a lot of fun to see everyone all these years later and get to catch up. Now we’re talking about families instead of basketball.
“We’ve been chatting through social media. All have been in touch and have been keeping up, but it’s fun to see everyone in person, especially the state of things and not being able to see people for a while. It feels good to finally get to do this and (for the 2020 team) to finally get to do it as well. It’s good to get back to something normal in our lives, dress up in real clothes and go out somewhere.”
Bossnack joins a small group that has had a sibling named to the team, too.
Her older sister Megan (Hupfer) McCloskey was part of the team in 2017.
“It’s an honor to have this and for her to have it, (too),” Bossnack said.
Clarence Hupfer said his daughters had different styles of play. “Megan was a player that would beat you down. Angie would beat you with finesse, three-point shooting. She could do it all.”
After starring at Pendleton Heights, Bossnack went on to be a record-setting college player at St. Joseph’s College, where she received All-American honors and was named the NCAA Division II Preseason Player of the Year.
She led the nation in scoring as a junior (including all of NCAA Division I, II and III), averaging 30.6 points per game. She led all of Division II in scoring as a senior, averaging 25.3 points, and had 2,510 points and 1,017 rebounds for her career.
At Pendleton Heights, she set school records with career points (1,455), points in a season (548), points in a game (44), career rebounds (789), rebounds in a season (258) and rebounds in a game (25).
The Arabians went 70-17 during her time at Pendleton Heights and won four conference titles and three sectionals.
After a career in banking, Bossnack is now a stay-at-home mom, married with three children and residing in Greencastle.
“It’s been so much fun. It’s such an honor,” Justus said of last Saturday’s events, which included a trip through the Hall of Fame Museum in New Castle prior to the awards dinner in the evening. “It’s awesome to see a lot of people I didn’t know if I’d ever see again. So many great friends that I played with, rivals. It’s been a great experience.”
Justus set career records at Lapel for points (1,676), rebounds (861), field goals made (668), single-season points (520), single-season rebounds (254), single-season field goals (198), single-game points (47) and single-game rebounds (23).
Teams at Lapel during her time with the Bulldogs went 62-17, winning four conference titles.
She also received All-American recognition from Street & Smith’s magazine and Women’s Basketball News.
Justus went on to play collegiately at Miami of Ohio. She has a career as a corporate recruiter and worked three seasons for ESPN3 as a color analyst for Miami’s women’s basketball broadcasts. She is married with three children and a stepdaughter and resides in Springboro, Ohio.
“Lindsay and I have stayed in touch all the way through,” Brattain said. “That group of kids was a great group to be around, and Lindsay was such a great leader. It’s a great recognition for our program and the school of Lapel.”