FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brandon Bradley, 260-580-4799
Dec. 12, 2023 Coordinator, Player of the Week
Big Wins and Strong Performances Highlight Week-6 of the IBCA/Franciscan Health Player of the Week Program
As we approach the holiday season, teams are getting well-into their schedules now, facing off against backyard neighbors, big rivals, and conference foes, making most nights important for one reason or another. Last week saw several big wins for a number of teams, a county champion crowned, while several individual players stepped up for their respective programs, and six more players secured player of the week honors.
Whitko Senior Sam Essegian, Chesterton Sophomore Kenedi Bradley, Greenfield-Central Junior Braylon Mullins, Lawrence Central Junior Jaylah Lampley, Henryville Senior Aydan Head, and Jac-Cen-Del Senior Julia Meyer have been selected as winners for Dec. 4-Dec. 9 in the recognition program coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Essegian is the boys’ winner, while Bradley is the girls’ winner, in District-1. Mullins and Lampley collected boys’ and girls’ honors, respectively, in District-2. Head was selected as the boys’ recipient, and Meyer was selected as the girls’ recipient for District-3.
Whitko is off to a strong 4-1 start to the year, and last week the Wildcats continued their winning ways with a 58-53, triple overtime victory, against Wawasee. In that matchup, 6-5 Senior forward Sam Essegian nearly posted a triple-double, scoring 25 points on 10-16 shooting, pulling down 10 rebounds, 4 of which came at the offensive end of the floor, plus he dished out 7 assists and collected a steal in the hard-fought win.
The Lady Trojans of Chesterton have won six of their last seven games, and last week Sophomore guard Kenedi Bradley was a key cog in both of their wins. Tuesday, in a nice 76-54 win against a strong Class 1A Washington Township group, Bradley scored a career-high 33 points. The 5-7 guard added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 7 steals in the all-around effort. When they returned to the court Friday, Bradley helped them move to 2-1 in the Duneland Conference with a 64-40 win against Portage. The Sophomore guard added 24 points on 10-15 shooting, plus she added 3 more rebounds, 4 assists, and stole the ball 9 more times to finish her week.
The Greenfield-Central Cougars are off to their first 5-0 start since the 1997-1998 season, and Junior guard Braylon Mullins is a huge part of that success. Last week, the Cougars won 59-50 at Decatur Central on Tuesday, they won a big conference game 58-54 at New Palestine on Friday, and they came back Saturday to take care of business at Southport, 71-56. All five of their wins to this point have been on the road. Against Decatur Central, Mullins scored 28 points, hauled in 8 rebounds, plus he added an assist, 2 steals, and a blocked shot to the effort. When he took the floor at New Palestine, he scored another 27 points and was an impressive 15-17 from the charity stripe. He added 8 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Saturday at Southport, the 6-5 Junior was an efficient 11-15 from the floor, he was 3-4 from deep and 6-7 from the line, scoring 31 points in the triumph. Add to that 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block, and he had a consistently strong week.
The Lawrence Central Lady Bears are the 2023 Marion County Champions after winning four games over a 5-day span last week. Junior Jaylah Lampley had a lot to say about those victories, as the 6-2 wing was strong at both ends of the floor all week. Tuesday night, the Bears took care of the Franklin Central Flashes, 74-41. Thursday, it was a big-time backyard rivalry win, as they had to fight back in a nail-biter to knock off Lawrence North, 57-55. In the Semi-Finals Saturday, the Bears coasted to an easy win against Pike, while finishing the day with a Championship victory Saturday night over Indianapolis North Central, 68-32. Tuesday, Lampley scored 18 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, handed out 3 assists, and collected a pair of steals in limited minutes. Thursday, she contributed 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assist in the tightly contested victory. Saturday, in limited minutes against Pike, the 6-2 Junior scored an easy 16 points and knocked down three of her four 3-point attempts. Then in the evening triumph, the talented wing scored 23 points while knocking down 4-5 from long range.
Henryville took the floor just once last week, on Friday night, when they traveled to Austin to knock off a solid Eagle squad, 65-56. In that contest, Senior forward Aydan Head was outstanding. He poured in 33 points for the second consecutive game, knocking down 13-19 shots from the field. The 6-6 front-liner was a solid 7-10 from the charity stripe, he snagged 17 caroms off the glass, 6 of which came at the offensive end, posting a double-double. He added 3 assists and a blocked shot in the success.
Senior Julia Meyer helped the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles to a pair of road wins last week, defeating Waldron, 62-46, on Tuesday evening, then returning to take care of New Washington, 54-32, on Saturday. The 5-10 forward posted a double-double in each outing as well. At Waldron, Meyer scored 25 points, she pulled down 13 rebounds, plus she added a pair of assists, a pair of steals, and a blocked shot in the big win. In her second game of the week, the Senior contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds, despite playing limited minutes, plus she again tossed in an assist and a blocked shot for good measure.
This is the 16th season for the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week program, and the fourth 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.
2023-24 Weekly Winners
Oct. 30-Nov. 4: District-1 girls: Tenley Davis, Chesterton. District-2 girls: Avery Gordon, Brownsburg. District-3 girls: Hadley Crosier, Lanesville.
Nov. 6-Nov. 11: District-1 girls: Ava Ziolkowski, Crown Point. District-2 girls: Kayla Lacombe, Arsenal Technical. District-3 girls: Chloe Spreen, Bedford North Lawrence.
Nov. 13-Nov. 18: District-1 girls: Samantha Redinger, Argos, and Gracyn Gilliard, Munster. District-2 girls: Kaycie Warfel, Pendleton Heights. District-3 girls: Audrey Annee, Center Grove.
Nov. 20-Nov. 25: District-1 boys: Bryce Wilcox, Southwood. District-1 girls: Brooke Zartman, Warsaw. District-2 boys: Brady Koehler, Cathedral. District-2 girls: Lillie Graves, McCutcheon. District-3 boys: Kasym Nash, Borden. District-3 girls: Madalynn Shirley, Evansville Central.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2: District-1 boys: Tyler Parrish, Chesterton. District-1 girls: Sadie Marks, South Central (Union Mills). District-2 boys: Damien King, Anderson. District-2 girls: Maya Layton, Faith Christian. District-3 boys: Trent Sisley, Heritage Hills. District-3 girls: Gabby Spink, Gibson Southern.
Dec. 4-Dec. 9: District-1 boys: Sam Essegian, Whitko. District-1 girls: Kenedi Bradley, Chesterton. District-2 boys: Braylon Mullins, Greenfield-Central. District-2 girls: Jaylah Lampley, Lawrence Central. District-3 boys: Aydan Head, Henryville. District-3 girls: Julia Meyer, Jac-Cen-Del.
