IHSAA girls basketball state finals wrap: How BNL won, Amber Tretter leads a repeat, more.

Bedford North Lawrence wasn't looking to get Emma Brown the ball in the final 40 seconds of Saturday's Class 4A state championship game, but it found its way to the senior on the side of the arc, giving her an opportunity to break the 42-all stalemate with Fishers.

Brown knew one defender was by her, and when she looked ahead, she realized another was guarding someone else, leaving her with a clear lane to the basket.

The 5-5 guard gave a subtle shot fake as she gathered herself to get the first defender off her feet, then drove in. Brown saw Fishers' Alycia Triplett turn toward her as she entered the lane and felt a light hit on her head as she went in for the layup, but all No. 20 was paying attention to was the ball, watching it drop through the cylinder as the referees frantically blew their whistles.

"They kept blowing the whistle and I was like, 'Oh my goodness, is it not going to count?' It freaked me out," Brown said. "Then Karsyn (Norman) yelled, 'It went in! It counted! You got it!' …  It was amazing."

Brown's not a "stat-stuffer," coach Jeff Allen said, but she plays hard, fulfills her role — and occasionally comes up with a big play.

Brown delivered twice Saturday night, first with her go-ahead field goal then with a couple free throws 16 seconds later to lift BNL to a 46-42 victory and its fifth state title in program history.

The Stars, who trailed by as many as seven, won despite finishing 0-for-11 from 3 and with leading scorer Chloe Spreen unavailable (fouled out) for the final 1:50.

More:Legacy of Fishers girls basketball seniors extends well beyond runner-up finish

"I was really looking to get the ball to somebody else (on the go-ahead play)," Allen laughed, "but when Emma attacked, she had an open lane and my goodness, that and-1 was a big turning point in the game."

So as you're watching that play from the opposite sideline, was it like Moses parting the Red Sea?

"Yeah, and I was just like, 'Well, she's got an angle and she's going,'" Allen replied. "Once she got there and she scored and was fouled, that's when it really hit me. We had come back and I thought we had a chance at that point if we could just get one more stop. And ultimately we did."

More:With its star fouled out, Bedford North Lawrence finds a way to win Class 4A state title

Here are a few other takeaways from the final day of the girls high school basketball season.

Bedford North Lawrence's second-half rebound(s)

Fishers dominated the glass in the first half, out-rebounding Bedford North Lawrence 18-9 with six offensive rebounds (only four second chance points).

"We had half the rebounds they had (at halftime), and every time they rebounded, they got 2-3 extra shots," Brown said. "We knew they could pull away if we kept letting them do that, so we were big on just making sure everyone boxed out."

The Stars matched Fishers' 13 rebounds in the second half, with a 10-7 advantage over the final eight minutes.

After being held to just two offensive rebounds through the first 29 minutes, BNL was credited with three on one possession. Mallory Pride recovered Spreen's miss on the front-end of a 1-and-1, then Spreen secured Karsyn Norman's errant 3-point attempt. When Olivia Smith blocked Spreen's shot attempt, the 5-10 junior fought for the loose ball and forced a tie-up with 2:10 remaining.

Nine seconds later, Spreen converted a three-point play to give BNL a one-point lead.

"I've had some really nice teams, but I don't think I've ever had a group that actually plays as hard all the time. They don't take a break," Allen said. "You either have that or you don't, and it makes my job easy as a coach."

Defense, Stars, defense

The Stars defense was very good, limiting Olivia and twin sister Hailey Smith — Fishers' leading scorer — to just nine points (Hailey had six) on 2-of-12 shooting. The Tigers finished 13-for-42 (31%) from the field as a team with 12 turnovers (seven BNL steals).

FHS had a chance to take the lead with 80 seconds left, but Tori Nikirk stole the ball from Hailey Smith and got it up to Madisyn Bailey, who drew a foul on the other end.

Bailey hit free throws, Talia Harris hit a jumper then Brown hit the winner.

Fishers was limited to two field goals (13 attempts) over the final 10 minutes of regulation.

"I thought Joirdyn (Smith) and Talia shot the ball pretty well in the first half, then in the second half, they just weren't falling," Fishers coach Lauren Votaw said. "Then that makes it harder because Bedford doesn't have to come out on you as much, which tightens up things in the paint."

About Chloe Spreen

Spreen went off in the second half, accounting for 14 of her game-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

"In the first half I told her, 'You need to go at them a little more. You're fading a little bit. Go at them,'" Allen said of Spreen, who averaged 19 points, three assists and three steals per game this season. "I thought Fishers was stronger, but we had some quickness positions that we were a little better at. And Chloe was one of them. She had a mismatch if she just went to the rim, and she did a great job of putting her shoulder down and getting there in the second half."

As I wrote earlier this year, Spreen really took off this season and used the state tournament to demonstrate her development, totaling 123 points, 33 rebounds, 14 assists, 13 steals and 10 blocks over seven games.

She came in stronger and proved to be a more well-rounded shooter with her added ability to knock down shots from the perimeter.

If looking to handicap next year's IndyStar Miss Basketball race, your list should start with Spreen and Noblesville's Reagan Wilson, who helped the Millers to a 4A title as a sophomore and led them to a 21-4 finish this season.

3A: Family ties at Fairfield

How cool is this: Brodie Garber guided Fairfield to its first-ever state championship with his wife Amy as one of his assistants and their daughter Brea in her senior season.

“I think later next week, later next month, it’s really, really going to hit me,” Brodie told reporters following his team's 49-42 win over Corydon Central. “But I love Fairfield. I love the people I get to work with every day. Obviously, the kids as well that I get to work with. And to do that — and I feel these girls would agree — a lot of this was we wanted to do this for our community. We wanted to be able to say that Fairfield has won one.”

2A: Amber. Tretter. Wow.

Basically everyone watching the Class 2A final between Forest Park and Lapel knew who the defending champion Rangers would be running a play for in the final seconds of regulation. And senior Amber Tretter delivered. The Miami University commit gained position in the paint, caught the pass, slid around her defender and converted the easy layup with nine seconds remaining.

“I was going to be strong,” Tretter said after the 38-37 win over Lapel. “Make sure I can get open. Gabey (Gray) saw me and I think I might have turned the other way. A solid pass and made sure I was confident.”

More:Lapel nearly has perfect ending to historic season: 'I really thought it was going to go in'

More:Bar was set high for Lapel community — and they still exceeded it. 'They give us hope.'

Tretter finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. She entered the game averaging 16 points, nine rebounds and two assists per game, and is undoubtedly deserving of Indiana All Star plaudits.

The Mental Attitude Award recipient, Tretter is on track to graduate as Valedictorian and serves as secretary of the National Honor Society at Forest Park. She also competes in track and field and spent three years with the marching band.

"It would be very easy with the success she’s had to get a big head and be arrogant," Forest Park coach Tony Hasenour said of Tretter, who plans to major in architecture. "She’s the most humble, kind and supportive kid.”

Class A: History for Hinton, Lanesville

Angie Hinton led Lanesville to its first state title with a 60-41 rout of Bethany Christian, and in doing so she became just the third coach in state history to lead two different schools to state titles, joining Donna Cheatham and Kathie Layden.

"This is truly amazing. It does bring tears to my eyes because who could have thought it? … But when someone brought that up to me it kind of brought me to tears that we were even here," Hinton said afterward.

"Donna Cheatham, I played against her when I was in high school and I coached against her," Hinton continued. "She’s a legend in our area, so it makes it feel special for the girls and the game that women’s basketball has come so far, and I’ve been a part of it a lot of years. That makes me feel really good."

Attendance figures

From the IHSAA...

Class 1A/2A: 7,181

Class 3A/4A: 9,162

Total: 16,343

The best girls state finals attendance since 2009.

Awesome stuff, you guys.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school girls basketball: Wrapping up 2023 state finals