volume 91 >> special edition >> march 2, 2012

the northern lightsmarch 2012 Special Edition Volume 56

@nchslive #tnl www.facebook.com/nchslive nchslive.com

SPECIAL CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION

FLIP OVER FOR THE COLUMBUS NORTH TRIANGLE!

DOMINANTGIRLS TEAM RETURNS TO STATE AFTER SEVEN YEARS.

Jonathon McBride photo.

Are you going to the game Saturday? Will you be riding the fan bus? Sign up by noon in the

Athletic Office. The moment of truth has come: all the hard work, dedication and sweat have carried the women’s basketball team to the IHSAA State Championship. The game will be in Terre Haute

at 8:30 p.m. “Yo, yo! Bull Dogs!”FLIP OVER FOR

NORTH CENTRAL’S NORTHERN LIGHTS!

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23-3 SEASON RECORDTHREE CONFERENCE TITLES

TWO SECTIONAL TITLESFIRST REGIONAL TITLEFIRST SEMI-STATE TITLE

FIRST STATE APPEARANCE

SIX INDIANA ALL-STARS19-GAME WINNING STREAK

16 YEARS SINCE LAST SECTIONAL TITLE

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Learn a little more about

Coach McKee’s background and

how he feels about coaching the girls

THE COACH

THE NUMBERS

LEFT: Freshman Ali Patberg dribbles into the Ben Davis defense last Saturday. Coach McKee urges her on from the bench. TOP: Seniors Will Bowman and Eli Teague cheer on the team. BOTTOM: Junior Quin Shoultz cuts down the net after the Semi-state win, 50-46 in overtime.

photos by Chelsea Mathis

photos by Chelsea Mathis

This is Coach Pat McKee's second season coaching the team. His record thus far is 42-10. His coaching experience extends to coaching for the Butler University women's team from 1984-1988 and coaching travel teams

1989-2004. Coach McKee attended the University of Missouri and began his career as a sports journalist after graduation. His basketball career started in high school in St. Louis and graduated 1977. Coaching this team has

already been terrific, according to Coach McKee. "I am blessed to have the opportunity I have," Coach McKee said. "I hope that I am doing my part to make the experience for all the players the positive one that I want it to be for them."

02 special edition

WE ARE YOUNGOne freshman. Four sophomores. Two juniors. One senior. We may be young, but

these girls have done what no other women’s basketball team has done before

Preparing for her last Bull Dog basketball game, lone senior Becca Brougher has led the team this year

There are six starters including Brougher. According to McKee, not a lot of teams do this. He chooses starters based on match ups. He said when one can’t play, it’s no big deal. Here are the other starters

What is being the only senior on the team like?“It doesn’t phase me that I’m the only senior. We have three captains on the team this year. It hasn’t been different this year except for senior night when I was the only one. We’re all really close,I’m not by myself just because I’m the only senior. We all lead, no one is subordinate to each other. I look up to Ali (Patberg) and she is 15. She can beat girls that are three years older than her and is amazing. And she looks up to me for my grades and experience. Age isn’t a difference, we’re all there for each other.”

“Why not us? Why not now? Play every play.” - Pat McKee “This is what Coach tells us before every game. We didn’t go into Semi-State thinking it was that, we went into it thinking as if it was any other game.”

What has the extra media attention been like? “It’s been cool. We got an article in the Indy Star. That never happens to Columbus North, especially girls’ basketball.”

Has it been difficult to focus in school? It’s been really hard to focus. I’ve just had to find the focus abilities. It’s kind of hard.

What are you looking forward to the most? “Getting a blue medal. This is it for me. This is my last game and my last shot. These girls might, but this is it for me. It just gives me butterflies, it’s a step in the dark. I don;t even know. I’m just used to it. After getting this far, it’s kind of making the decision really hard (I had like 10 colleges looking at me).”

THE SENIOR

THE STARTERS

SOPHOMORE KELSEY CUNNINGHAM

SOPHOMORE TAYLER GOODALL

FRESHMAN ALI PATBERG

JUNIORQUIN SHOULTZ

JUNIORHANNA BALLARD

height: 5 ft. 9 in.position: point guard/guard “I will shower, eat a good meal, listen to music, shoot around, shower again, and start to mentally prepare myself. I’ll be with the team because we’re staying the night Friday in a hotel.”

height: 5 ft. 10 in.position: point guard“I thought we could but a lot of people never would’ve guessed we would get this far. We had our own team goals, but we kept it to ourselves because we didn’t want to put it out there to everyone. We believed in ourselves, but we took it one game at a time. ”

height: 5 ft. 10 in.position: forward“I was in so much amazement, all I could do was smile and cheer for the victory we deserved ”

height: 5 ft. 9 in.position: point guard/guard “I’m looking forward to playing a competitive game against a good team and overall getting better for the future. Knowing the whole community is there supporting us is going to be amazing, too.”

height: 5 ft. 9 in.position: guard/forward “Having the team practice hard and together and having lots of focus. Also getting all homework done now so I won’t have to do any this weekend.”

photo by Chelsea Mathis

03march 2, 2012

photo by Chelsea Mathis

FRONT ROW: sophomore Gabby Sims, sophomore Tayler Goodall, junior Hanna Ballard, junior Quin Shoultz SECOND ROW: Manager Riley McGrew, sophomore Kenadie Carlson, sophomore Kelsey Cunningham, senior Becca Brougher, freshman Ali Patberg, Manager Ramsey McGrew THIRD ROW: Assistant Coach Ron Patberg, Assistant Coach Stephanie Ford, Varsity Coach Pat McKee, Assistant Coach RaNae Isaak

04 special edition

editor-in-chiefKatie Kutsko

content editorsHillary McCloskeyVanessa Staublin

managing editorWhitney Olibo

copy editorRamya Vijayagopal

design editorGrace Snider

photo editorKeely Collier

business managerRob Young

maestro leadersKyla BallErika EspinozaRoth Lovins

staffAndy CarrAnnie DayNick EdwardsJadea GravesDean Anthony GrayAlexus JenkinsIan KincerTaylor KirchnerCarrie LatimerAdam LeClercSierra LollarChelsea Mathis Caiti MorrisNeal ShawDylan ThixtonAmanda WheelerEmily Wilkerson

adviserKim Green

the staff

THE COLUMBUS NORTH BULL DOGS

photos by Chelsea Mathis

SUPER FANS“I go to every girl’s basketball game. I want to bring back the Hoosier Hysteria that we used to have here. Basketball was the sport to watch. I say a lot of things as a Super Fan to the other team and our own. I support the team as much as I can. The most fun game this year was the Sectional Championship vs. East when the girls beat them (East) by 41.”

senior Alec Friend (TOP LEFT: with juniors Allyson Turner, Hannah Thompson and Claire Owens)

TOP RIGHT: junior Solomon Knight BOTTOM: Devon Orben

CAN’T BE AT THE GAME?LISTEN: Mojo 102.9 FM or

The River 104.9 FMWATCH: Indiana’s 4 WTTV

tnl march 2012championship edition4

Row 1: Chelsea Coleman, Rachael Gregory, Nariah Taylor, Jasmine Falcon, Celeste EdwardsRow 2: Dajon Wilson, Mgr., Alexis Lee, Mgr., Emily Vriesman, Mgr., Alexus Johnson, Mgr., Head Coach DeeAnn Ramey, Asst. Coach Lisa Shepherd-Stidham, Asst. Coach Harvey HarringtonRow 3: Tia Ewing, Shelbi Owens, Asia Green, Penny Ingram, Erin Taylor, Kiara Scott

RECORDSCOACH INA MULLER(6-2)1972-73 6-2

COACH PENNY JUSTIN(8-0)1973-74 8-0

COACH JANE MAINES(164-91)1974-75 10-41975-76 10-41976-77 10-101977-78 14-41978-79 20-41979-80 19-31980-81 7-131981-82 8-111982-83 7-121983-84 17-61984-85 18-31985-86 18-41986-87 6-13

COACH CHUCK BOEHLKE(106-102)1987-88 10-111988-89 9-111989-90 12-81990-91 8-101991-92 12-71992-93 18-81993-94 5-151994-95 12-111995-96 7-131996-97 13-8

COACH ALAN VICKREY(206-117)1997-98 17-81998-99 9-121999-2000 11-112000-01 11-122001-02 16-52002-03 18-72003-04 23-32004-05 20-72005-06 18-52006-07 13-82007-08 18-62008-09 7-132009-10 10-122010-11 15-8

COACH DEEANN RAMEY(22-5)*2011-2012 22-5*

SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS: 1977-80, 84-85, 93, 95, 97, 98, 2001, 03, 04, 05, 08, 12

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS: 1979-80, 93, 2004, 05, 12

SEMI-STATE CHAMPIONS: 1979, 2004, 05, 12

STATE CHAMPIONS: 2004, 2005

1978-2012: 512-317*

*as of 3/2/12

11/11 Mooresville 57 - 43 W11/15 Bishop Chatard 90 - 27 W11/19 Perry Meridian 81 - 80 W11/23 Pike 53 - 47 W11/26 Anderson 80 - 71 W12/3 Terre Haute South 45 - 31 W12/6 Marion County Lawrence Central 72 - 51 W12/8 Marion County Roncalli 61 - 35 W12/10 Marion County Championship Ben Davis 35 - 40 L12/16 Carmel 69 - 60 W

12/22 Terre Haute North 56 - 41 W12/27 NC Holiday Tourney New Albany 57 - 43 W12/28 NC Holiday Tourney Springboro 51 - 59 L1/4 Fishers 65 - 57 W1/7 Ben Davis 62 - 54 W1/12 Center Grove 55 - 42 W1/14 Decatur Central 58 - 61 L1/21 Lawrence North 42 - 46 L1/27 Warren Central 43 - 50 L1/31 Kokomo Kokomo 38 - 25 W2/3 Mt. Vernon 42 - 38 W

2/8 Sectional HSE 42 - 39 W2/10 Sectional Carmel 59 - 48 W2/11 Sectional Championship Westfield 60 - 50 W2/18 Regional Snider 47 - 33 W2/18 Regional McCutcheon 55 - 45 W2/25 Semistate Penn 65 - 50 W

The North Central Panthers

Season in review: game by game

Pat’s predictions: the championship edition

LIVE COVERAGE

OUR COVERAGE NEVER ENDS...

@nchslivesportsNCHS Live! on Facebook

www.nchslive.com#gbballstate

COMING SOON...

THE PAT KUHN MARCH MADESS BRACKET CHALLENGEfind out details on our Facebook page, NCHS Live!

Pat Kuhn

With the big game about to be un-derway and anticipation at its highest, everyone is looking for a big game and win for North Central.

My prediction for this game is not only a victory for the panthers, but a big win for the team behind the strong senior leadership of Nariah Taylor and Rachael

Gregory. This is their last time ever putting on a

North Central basketball jersey, so they have to make it a good one. North Cen-tral will win 54-41 capturing their third state championship.

This game is sure to be packed with excitement no matter the outcome. It’s time for some Indiana basketball.

tnl march 2012championship edition2

Editors-in-chiefMatt HansenJonathon McBride

EditorsJackson CrantfordChris HansenAndrew JonesJoe KnightEmma Timpson

Managing EditorOwen Friesen

Photo EditorGrayson Pitts

Copy EditorAnna Bennington

Assistnat Photo EditorMaggie Huffer

Special Edition ContributorsBen BreymierClaire GriffithLily MichaelZakk Mabrey

AdviserTom Gayda

North Central High School1801 East 86th StreetIndianapolis, IN 46240

(317) 259-5301

www.nchslive.com

The Northern Lights editorial poli-cy can be found, in its entirety, at www.nchslive.com.

Correspondence should be di-rected to K634.

the northern lightstnl

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• number of state championships in the history of the team.

• average points per game scored by the girls basketball team.

• the overall winning percentage of the IHSAA opponents the team faced throughout the season. The opponents they faced had a combined 398-208 record.

• points scored against the Panthers on the season.

• points scored by the Panthers this season.

• the Panthers defeated Chatard by 63 points on November 15, the second game of the season.

• more games the girls have won than last season.

• North Central has produced 7 members of the Indiana girls All-Stars team.

• the amount of points the team lost by in their greatest defeat against an IHSAA opponent this year.

• wins this season.

• losses this season.

• the Panthers girls basketball team has won 6 regional championships.

• number of consecutive victories leading into Saturday’s state championship game.

• the girls have won 14 games by double digits this season.

• the Panthers girls basketball team has won 12 sectionals championships.

• the Panthers defeated Penn by 15 points to reach the state championship.

• the number of State Championship games girls basketball has appeared in. This year’s will be the fourth.

• this is the first year DeeAnn Ramey has coached the girls basketball team.

• winner of the Indiana Miss Basketball award from North Central.

• the team has never matched up against Columbus North before.

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Chris Hansen photos.

tnl march 2012 3championship edition

Sizing up the seniors

Lily Michal

The girls basketball team plays the Columbus North Bull Dogs in a game for the 4A state title Saturday. Coach DeeAnn Ramey is excited about the game as well as excited for the girls who made it happen.

“[Walking into state] is going to be an unbeliev-ably, emotional moment,” Ramey said. “To be able to go through this experience with such a fine group of North Central girls is just going to be amazing.”

This was Ramey’s first year coaching the girls bas-ketball team.

“This is an unbelievably talented group of girls,” Ra-mey said. “I knew that if we could come together and play as a team be united, we could have a good group that would be hard to beat. I was just excited to work with these young ladies.”

The season was not always easy for Ramey but she wouldn’t have chosen to travel a different path during the season.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” Ramey said. “I think through every season you have ups and downs. We’ve had to work through a lot this season so far. We’ve been down and had to come back in some games. We’ve been ahead and lost leads. We’ve been in over-time games. We lost the Marion County Championship and we lost our holiday tournament. So there was a lot of things that we experienced throughout our season but I think that it has helped us grow and become the team that we are and be able to perform throughout the state tournament as we have.”

While the girls are strong on the court, they’ve had some flaws to overcome.

“[The girls] mentally get down on themselves for

making a mistake and not being able to shake it off im-mediately,” Ramey said. “They can’t bury the burden that they’ve done something wrong and be able to shake it off as a team.”

Girls basketball has consistently had a strong fan base. Ramey has been grateful for support from the school and for the people who have traveled to mul-tiple games near or far just to cheer on the team. With the excitement of the fans, the team is not struggling to find the necessary motivation to take on Columbus North.

“Going through the state tournament has to be mo-tivational enough,” Ramey said. “The hype and every-thing right now is just unbelievable. We’re getting a lot of support from teachers, administration and students. I thought we had great crowds for the games in Kokomo and in Warsaw. I think what was special to me was just to make [it to the finals]. Yes it is just a basketball game, yes we do want to win, but it’s the journey that it took to get there and remember those special times and what we all went through to get to this point.”

But it’s not just motivation that the girls need for Sat-urday’s game against Columbus North. Ramey knows that the Columbus North is a talented team.

“They’re very young but a very talented ball club,” Ramey said. “We’ve got to be careful not to overlook them, they’re quick. They’ve got a freshmen and a soph-omore guard that are dangerous. I haven’t watched a whole lot of film yet but they’re going to be very well coached and hungry. They’re going to want it as bad as we are so we can’t over look them.”

But no matter what, Ramey is happy with the sea-son and content with what the girls have accomplished together.

“Our biggest strength is that we’re so deep,” Ra-mey said. “All the girls are talented and are counting on each other. I think we’re hard, [opponents] have to guard everybody. Just think if you’re going to guard one of our players then another one steps up. We’re really diverse, we’ve got an inside and outside game. I think we’re just a well rounded team. We’ve got all of the parts that makes us dangerous.”

While tearing up, Ramey states what she wants the last words her team hears after the game.

“I just want them to know how so very proud I am of them,” Ramey said. “I got to go to the state tournament as a sophomore in high school, and it was the best experience of my life. To be able to take this group of girls there is amazing.”

Ramey leads team to championship

Kiara Scott5’ 5’’ senior guard Kiara Scott has

played a varsity role for two years. Scott plans on attending Earlham Col-lege in Richmond.

“I’d like to thank my teammates because they’ve been such a big part of this. Also the coaches for giving me this oppurtunity, Coach (Marc) A(nderson) for keeping me motivated to be great and for the fans. They’ve been really awesome this year.”

Nariah TaylorNariah Taylor will be departing

to play for Auburn University after playing varsity all four years. She averaged 11.4 points throughout her senior season and lead the team with 8.6 rebounds. Taylor has advice to younger players on the team. “If you work hard and go hard with every-thing you do, then it’ll pay off in the end,” Taylor said. Taylor hopes to be awarded Indiana Miss Basketball.

Chelsea ColemanBecause of injury, Chelsea Cole-

man did not play basketball her freshmen year. However, her junior year she made the varsity squad and has been contributing since. She is undecided about her college choice. She averaged 55 percent of her field goals this season. Her advice for un-derclassmen is “Just stick together as a team and always have each others back,” Coleman said.

Rachael GregoryGregory is a four-year varsity

forward that will continue her basket-ball career at the University of Buf-falo. She’d like to thank god and her parents because they have always been encouraging and positive.

“It means a lot to get to the high-est stage in high school basketball,” Gregory said.

Gregory has averaged 13 points a game and shot 57 percent from the field.

Celebrating: DeeAnn Ramey holds up the net after the girls team defeated Penn in Semistate. Chris Hansen photo.

Chris Hansen photos.

the northern lightsmarch 2012 Special Edition Volume 56

@nchslive #tnl www.facebook.com/nchslive nchslive.com

SPECIAL CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION

FLIP OVER FOR THE COLUMBUS NORTH TRIANGLE!

DOMINANTGIRLS TEAM RETURNS TO STATE AFTER SEVEN YEARS.

Jonathon McBride photo.

volume 91 >> special edition >> march 2, 2012

the northern lights march 2012 Special Edition Volume 56

@nchslive #tnl www.facebook.com/nchslive nchslive.com SPECIAL CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION

FLIP OVER FOR THE COLUMBUS NORTH TRIANGLE!

DOMINANTGIRLS TEAM RETURNS TO STATE AFTER SEVEN YEARS.

Jonathon McBride photo.

Are you going to the State Championship game Saturday? Will you be riding the fan bus? Sign up by noon in the Athletic Office. The moment of truth has come: all the hard work, dedication and sweat have made it all worth it. The game will be in Terre Haute at 8:30 p.m. “Yo, yo! Bull Dogs!”FLIP OVER FOR NORTH CENTRAL’S NORTHERN LIGHTS!