SOUTH MADISON COUNTY — Lapel sophomore Laniah Wills and Pendleton Heights junior Kaycie Warfel earned top honors and Lapel senior Maddy Poynter and Pendleton Heights freshman Adah Hupfer received all-state honorable mention recognition from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Fifteen seniors and 15 underclass girls basketball players earned IBCA/Franciscan Health “Supreme 15” All-State honors for 2023-24, and the IBCA also named Large School All-State teams (15 seniors, 15 underclass) and Small School All-State teams (16 seniors, 15 underclass).
Wills, the Bulldogs standout center, was named to the underclass Small School All-State team.
She helped Lapel secure its second straight sectional and regional titles by averaging a team-high 19.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, along with 2.0 steals and 1.7 assists.
Her 23 double-doubles were the top mark in the state, as well as her average of 12.8 rebounds.
Her teammate and another big part of the Bulldogs run, Poynter, was named senior All-State honorable mention.
The senior, and Grace College commit, averaged 15.4 points, 3.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals a night. She knocked down a team-high 43 3-pointers on the season.
For the Arabians, Warfel was named to the underclass Large School All-State team.
She led the team both offensively and defensively, averaging a team-high 25.2 points and 5.6 steals per game. She added 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per night.
She was third in the state in field goals made, fourth in the state in steals per game and eighth in the state in scoring.
In those same categories, she led the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
Hupfer, the Arabians freshman center, was named underclass All-State honorable mention.
She averaged 10.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
The 11.3 rebounds were the ninth-best mark in the state, were second in class 4A and led the HHC. Her 15 double-doubles led the conference and were the fourth most in the class.
The “Supreme 15” is the top honor awarded, and players were voted to that group without regard to school size. The Large School and Small School all-state teams are secondary accolades — the Large School group including players from Class 3A and Class 4A schools and the Small School group including players from Class A and Class 2A schools. Players who make the Supreme 15 are not considered for Large School or Small School honors. The Senior Small School All-State team had 16 members because of a tie in the voting for the final spot.
In addition, 89 more seniors and 90 more underclass players were selected honorable mention all-state. The honorable mention laurels are awarded without regard to school size. In total, 270 players — 135 seniors and 135 underclass players — were recognized on the 2024 IBCA girls’ basketball All-State teams.
The IBCA/Franciscan Health All-State teams are selected through a process organized by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and presented by Franciscan Health Sports Medicine.
All IBCA-member head coaches can nominate players. A panel of 20 IBCA coaches — 16 from the current regional areas, three district representatives (one each from IHSAA Districts 1, 2 and 3) and the committee chairman — then meet to review the nominations, vote and finalize the selections.
Those on the IBCA all-state committee for 2024 included chairman Doug Springer of Northridge plus Rod Parker of Homestead from District 1, DeeAnn Ramey of North Central from District 2 and Kevin Moore of East Central from District 3.
Completing the voting panel were Kristi Ulrich of Penn, Andy Maguire of Zionsville, Curt Benge of Plainfield and Tyler Choate of Evansville North in Class 4A; Chris Tomcsi of Griffith, Ray Davis of Maconaquah, Kaley May of Danville and Dan Grill (for Adam Dennis) of Madison in Class 3A; Tony Scheub of Andrean, Justin Jordan of Whitko, Mark Harper of Riverton Parke and Jared Rehmel of Linton-Stockton in Class 2A; and Rick Budka of Morgan Township, Ryan Chiddister of Union (Modoc), Jason West of Southwestern (Shelby) and Marty Niehaus of Springs Valley in Class A.
Franciscan Health Sports Medicine is making a financial contribution to the IBCA Scholarship Fund as the presenting partner of the IBCA All-State Teams. As part of the partnership, Franciscan Health Sports Medicine will provide plaques to Supreme 15 honorees and certificates to players receiving Large School All-State, Small School All-State or Honorable Mention All-State recognition. Those items will be made available to each recipient’s coach during April, allowing her coach to present the award to each player prior to the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
