The biggest stage
Crown Point’s Carrothers to meet Brownsburg’s Becki in state final again, but this isn’t 5th grade
From third through fifth grade, Jessica Carrothers, along with Alyna and Alyvia Santiago, played in the AAU state tournament championship game against a team that included Ally Becki.
Carrothers, a Crown Point junior guard, hasn’t played against Becki since then. But Carrothers is keenly aware of the Brownsburg senior guard’s ability.
They’ll meet again when Crown Point (24-1) plays Brownsburg (17-10) in the Class 4A state final at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
“I know she’s going to come out hyped,” Carrothers said. “She’s their leader. She can score from different aspects on the court. I respect her game. People have been saying me and her have a lot in common.”
Crown Point ended the regular season ranked No. 2 in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association’s statewide poll. Brownsburg is the second team to reach the state final with double-digit losses, after Lafayette Central Catholic (18-10) won the Class 1A championship in 2006.
But Brownsburg has Crown Point’s full attention.
“They’re a completely legit state title team,” Crown Point coach Chris Seibert said. “They’ve had some injury and COVID issues. They play one of the toughest schedules in the state, and they’ve lost some close games. They’re as good as any team we’ve played this year, if not better.”
Brownsburg has caught fire, including reversing regular-season losses against top-ranked Indianapolis North Central in
overtime in a regional semifinal and Plainfield in a sectional final. And Becki, a Ball State recruit who was a core Indiana Junior All-Star, has been carrying the team as Brownsburg has held five of six postseason opponents
to 35 points or fewer.
In those six games, Becki is averaging 20.7 points — including a career-high 31 in a semistate win against Franklin — 6.2
rebounds, 3.7 assists and 4.7 steals, elevating herself into the Miss Basketball mix.
For the season, she’s averaging 17.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 4.1 steals and 0.8 blocked shots — leading Brownsburg in each category.
“Everything runs through her,” Seibert said. “She’s the engine that makes them go. She has a lot of similar traits to Jess — scores, defends, rebounds, assists, steals, gets her teammates involved.”
Carrothers, too, has soared in the postseason for Crown Point, which is second in the state in scoring (67.4 points) and margin of victory (30.3). She’s averaging 27.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.0 steals in six games.
“Just looking in the mirror, I’ve been doing a pretty good job keeping our team together through the highs and lows, encouraging my teammates and being there for them,” Carrothers said. “It’s just keeping our energy up no matter what’s happening.”
The Indiana Junior AllStar lock is averaging 23.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.1 steals this season.
“Unflappable,” Seibert said. “Most kids would be asking to be taken out of the game and just get a break. She never comes off the floor. That’s because of her conditioning and how hard she works on that aspect of her game. The passes, the leadership, the calm you feel when the ball is in her hands, knowing the right decision is going to be made — it’s hard to put into words all she means to this team.”
Crown Point is making its first appearance in a state final since 1997. The program became the first to win back-to-back championships in 1984 and 1985, and also was the first to make three straight trips to the state final from 1983 to 1985.
“That’s the ultimate goal, to get back to that level,” Seibert said. “I’m so proud of the history of the program and so blessed to be part of it. We’ve done everything we can to get the girls to understand who came before them. … Our community has really embraced this run and the last three years.”
Since the implementation of class basketball for the 1997-98 season, Marquette is the only Region team to win a state title, doing so in 1A in 2018 and 2019. In between the state titles won by Crown Point and Marquette, Lake Central
won the single-class championship in 1994.
“It’s still unbelievable we’re finally here, just because we’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Carrothers said. “Getting past semistate and getting to the championship game means everything to me and our girls.”
Brownsburg, which played in a state semifinal in 1991, is making its first appearance in a final.
“Saturday’s all about us playing as a team,” junior guard Alyvia Santiago said. “Even if one person is struggling with their shooting, we just have to pull through as a team and not crumble early.
“Our coaches always tell us, ‘Fearless and relentless.’ Those are the two words we really live by. We just have to think, ‘We can do this, we want it and we got it.’”
Senior guard Alyna Santiago, who was invited to the Hoosier Basketball Magazine Top 60 workout, is ready to make the most of her final game in a Crown Point uniform.
“I’m just so happy for us,” she said. “We’re playing more like a team than we’ve ever played. We’ve been playing our best basketball in the postseason, even leading up to the postseason, and we just want to continue it for one more game.”