FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brandon Bradley, 260-580-4799
Feb. 14, 2023 Coordinator, Player of the Week
Briscoe, Hodges, & Vice Headline Week-15 of the IBCA/Franciscan Health Player of the Week Awards
The boys’ season is beginning to wind down, with conference championships being decided, and there were a number of explosive performances throughout the state, not limited to just the Week-15 winners. In girls’ action, 64 teams were cut in half, as the IHSAA turned to a new Regional format this year. All in all, six players were selected as Week-15 IBCA/Franciscan Health Players of the Week.
Michigan City Senior Jamie Hodges Jr., Crispus Attucks Sophomore Dezmon Briscoe, Bloomfield Freshman Blake Neill, Central Noble Senior Madison Vice, Hamilton Heights Junior Camryn Runner, and Indian Creek Junior Lauren Foster are being honored as winners for Feb. 6-Feb. 11 in the recognition program coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Hodges is the boys’ recipient, and Vice is the girls’ recipient in District-1. Briscoe and Runner take home boy’s and girls’ honors, respectively, in District-2. Neill was a standout boy, while Foster was a standout girl, in District-3.
Michigan City Senior Jamie Hodges Jr. had as impressive of a week as there has been during the 2022-2023 season. The 5-9 guard helped the Wolves to a trio of wins last week, highlighted by a 50-point outburst in their tight, 75-74 win against Gary Bowman. In that game, Hodges was 16-25 from the field,
5-8 from deep, and 13-15 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, a pair of assists, and three steals to his totals. Later in the week, he posted a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds in a 78-57 Duneland Athletic Conference win against Lake Central. He also handed out six assists and stole the ball four times in that contest. And in a matchup with Calumet, the Senior guard scored another 33 points on 15-20 shooting, while dishing out five more assists, and picking up six more thefts in a runaway win.
Senior Madison Vice is definitely leaving her mark on the Central Noble program, and now she has them just two wins away from a trip to Indianapolis. In their Regional matchup Saturday against South Central (Union Mills), a 64-52 win for the Lady Cougars, Vice posted a double-double with 33 points and 14 rebounds. She was an efficient 9-13 from the field, and an impressive 15-19 from the charity stripe. The 5-6 guard also chipped in six assists and four steals. She is headed to play at Siena Heights University next season.
Crispus Attucks Sophomore Dezmon Briscoe is making noise early in his career, and the 6-7 forward had a pair of dominant performances last week. First, in a comfortable Greater Indianapolis Conference win at Riverside, Briscoe scored 30 points and grabbed 11 caroms to post his first double-double of the week. Then, in another conference win, this time an 81-54 outcome against Tindley, the Sophomore forward again went for 30 points but pulled down a massive 20 rebounds. He was a solid
11-16 from the field and 3-6 from deep in this game, and he blocked nine total shots throughout the week.
Junior Camryn Runner has the Lady Huskies of Hamilton Heights back in the Semi-State for the first time since 2012-2013, following a hard-fought 44-40 triumph over a strong Norwell Lady Knights program. The 5-9 guard was highly accurate, making 6-8 shots from the field, 3-3 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line, scoring 25 of their 44 points. She also snagged six rebounds and managed to block a pair of shots in the big victory.
For the second consecutive week, we travel to Bloomfield for the boys’ District-3 winner, as Cardinal Freshman Blake Neill was absolutely on fire in their lone contest of the week. In a 73-45 win against a good Washington Hatchet squad, the 6-1 guard poured in 36 points on 12-18 shooting. More impressively, 11-17 of those shots were let go from beyond the 3-point line, and he scored a blistering 19 points in the first quarter alone. The rookie made his only 2-point attempt, his only free throw attempt, and grabbed three rebounds as well in this standout performance.
The Indian Creek Lady Braves are loaded and deep, but Junior Lauren Foster has been putting up numbers all season. The 5-7 guard was up to the task once again Saturday, as she helped the Braves to a 63-31 Regional win over Purdue Polytechnic. Foster buried 10-17 shots from the floor, including 2-4 3-pointers, scoring 22 points in the matchup. She also grabbed seven rebounds, delivered eight assists, and picked up a trio of steals, as Indian Creek won its first girls’ Regional title ever.
This is the 15th season for the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week program, but just the third season it is being presented by Franciscan Health, a corporate sponsor of the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Player of the Week winners are chosen each week from each of the IHSAA’s three districts. Girls winners will be chosen through the Monday following the IHSAA Girls State Finals. Boys winners will be chosen through the Monday following the IHSAA Boys State Finals.
2022-23 Weekly Winners
Oct. 31-Nov. 5: District-1 girls: Nevaeh Foster, Mishawaka Marian. District-2 girls: Olivia Nickerson, Twin Lakes. District-3 girls: Kylee Edwards, Shelbyville.
Nov. 7-Nov. 12: District-1 girls: Asia Donald, Hobart. District-2 girls: Gloria Brewer, Greencastle. District-3 girls: Juliann Woodard, Jennings County.
Nov. 14-Nov. 19: District-1 girls: Ashlynn Brooke, Pioneer. District-2 girls: Renna Schwieterman, Jay County. District-3 girls: Lauren Foster, Indian Creek.
Nov. 21-Nov. 26: District-1 boys: Jamie Hodges, Michigan City. District-1 girls: Kennedy Fuelling, Norwell. District-2 boys: Elhadj Diallo, Brownsburg. District-2 girls: Laila Hull, Zionsville Community. District-3 boys: Cam Craig, Switzerland County. District-3 girls: Keylee Hudson, Eastern Greene.
Nov. 28-Dec. 3: District-1 boys: Markus Burton, Penn. District-1 girls: Ava Ziolkowski, Crown Point. District-2 boys: Divine Adeyanju, West Lafayette. District-2 girls: Adrianne Tolen, West Lafayette. District-3 boys: Jack Benter, Brownstown Central. District-3 girls: Saige Stahl, Columbus East.
Dec. 5-Dec. 10: District-1 boys: Luke McBride, Norwell. District-1 girls: Amiyah Reynolds, South Bend Washington. District-2 boys: Landon Biegel, Oak Hill. District-2 girls: Cristen Carter, Ben Davis. District-3 boys: Trent Sisley, Heritage Hills. District-3 girls: Bailey Tabeling, Trinity Lutheran.
Dec. 12-Dec. 17: District-1 boys: Mason Jones, Valparaiso. District-1 girls: Ally Capouch, Kouts. District-2 boys: Flory Bidunga, Kokomo. District-2 girls: Alli Harness, Carroll (Flora). District-3 boys: Joey Hart, Linton-Stockton. District-3 girls: Josie Trabel, East Central.
Dec. 19-Dec. 31: District-1 boys: Austin Cripe, West Noble. District-1 girls: Jessa Troy, Penn. District-2 boys: Azavier Robinson, Lawrence North. District-2 girls: Meredith Tippner, Noblesville. District-3 boys: Luke Ellspermann, Evansville Memorial. District-3 girls: Emily Parker, Boonville.
Jan. 2-Jan. 7: District-1 boys: A.J. Lux, Crown Point. District-1 girls: Madison Vice, Central Noble. District-2 boys: Kanon Catchings, Brownsburg. District-2 girls: Laila Hull, Zionsville Community. District-3 boys: Cole Pride, Batesville. District-3 girls: Chloey Graham, Gibson Southern.
Jan. 9-Jan. 14: District-1 boys: Bauer Maple, Maconaquah. District-1 girls: Ashlynn Brooke, Pioneer. District-2 boys: Devon Woods, Pike. District-2 girls: Reagan Wilson, Noblesville. District-3 boys: Marcus Ankney, Center Grove, and Quade Morton, Pike Central. District-3 girls: Saige Stahl, Columbus East.
Jan. 16-Jan. 21: District-1 boys: Isaiah Malone, Prairie Heights. District-1 girls: Miranda Stoll, Maconaquah. District-2 boys: Sam Orme, Carmel. District-2 girls: Bailey Parham, Tri. District-3 boys: Weston Aigner, Castle. District-3 girls: Ava Wilson, Shelbyville.
Jan. 23-Jan. 28: District-1 boys: Nolan Cumberland, Tippecanoe Valley. District-1 girls: Addison Baxter, Columbia City. District-2 boys: A.J. Dunn, Yorktown. District-2 girls: Adrianne Tolen, West Lafayette. District-3 boys: Jack Benter, Brownstown Central. District-3 girls: Reagan Martin, Owen Valley.
Jan. 30-Feb. 4: District-1 boys: Justin Sims, Chesterton. District-1 girls: Lillian Barnes, Valparaiso. District-2 boys: Dylan Moles, Greenfield-Central. District-2 girls: Addison Bowsman, Twin Lakes. District-3 boys: Peter Combs, Bloomfield, and Cole Henry, South Ripley. District-3 girls: Ava Weber, Corydon Central.
Feb. 6-Feb. 11: District-1 boys: Jamie Hodges Jr., Michigan City. District-1 girls: Madison Vice, Central Noble. District-2 boys: Dezmon Briscoe, Crispus Attucks. District-2 girls: Camryn Runner, Hamilton Heights. District-3 boys: Blake Neill, Bloomfield. District-3 girls: Lauren Foster, Indian Creek.
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