Northeast Indiana 3-for-3: Bellmont, Fremont Win First Titles; Norwell Reaches 4A Final

Northeast Indiana went 3-for-3 at semistates Saturday as Bellmont and Fremont captured their first semistate trophies and Norwell punched its ticket to the Class 4A state final. Semistate winners advance to the IHSAA state finals next Saturday, Feb. 28, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Norwell improved to 25-4 by dispatching Crown Point 63-48 in the semifinal and beating McCutcheon 59-42 in the 4A championship. Journal Gazette reports senior Vanessa Rosswurn hit back-to-back 3s early in the fourth quarter to give Norwell a 43-30 edge, and a little more than a minute later senior Macie Saalfrank sank a third straight Norwell 3 to stretch the lead to 16. Journal Gazette wrote, “The move up to 4A was supposed to be a challenge, but the defending Class 3A champs are making a deep tournament run in the state's largest classification look simple.” WFFT added, “Despite facing larger schools and presumably tougher competition, Norwell still hasn't lost a playoff game since 2024,” and noted Norwell “will be making its third straight trip to the State Championship, although this will be the team's first year accomplishing this feat in Class 4A.” Norwell will meet undefeated Center Grove, which edged Lawrence Central 29-26 to reach the 4A final.

Bellmont won the Class 3A Logansport semistate after a morning semifinal victory over Culver Academy, 57-46, followed by a 56-41 championship win over Connersville. Kaitlyn Barton hit her second 3-pointer of the night in the third quarter and finished with 14 points as Bellmont pulled away in the fourth. Photo captions from the Journal Gazette show Bellmont posing with the trophy and Lanie French driving to the basket during the championship. WFFT summarized Bellmont’s day: “The Braves picked up a pair of Semi-State wins Saturday to advance to their first state championship game in program history.” Bellmont will face Roncalli in the 3A title game.

Fremont completed its breakthrough with a semifinal win over Monroe Central, 63-47, and a 55-33 semistate championship over Elkhart Christian at Huntington North. WPTA reported Fremont led 16-7 after the first quarter and extended the margin to 34-13 at halftime. WANE and WPTA account plays from Grace Scharlach and Mya Turner, including a coast-to-coast rebound by Scharlach that set up Turner’s corner 3, and Chloe Verdin driving the right side for a second-quarter basket. The Journal Gazette photo caption identifies Scharlach in the semifinal. WFFT noted, “Fremont's run through Class 1A didn't face any speed bumps in the Semi-State round.” Fremont will meet Borden in the 1A state final.

On other semistate fronts, Oak Hill upset No. 1 Whitko in the Frankfort semistate semifinal, 66-58, with Whitko’s Jayama Stonbraker scoring 18 and Jocelyn Luecke adding 15. Multiple outlets list the upset as a Class 2A result; one outlet’s reference to Class 1A for Oak Hill appears to be an error and should be treated as inconsistent with Journal Gazette and WPTA coverage.

State finals matchups now set include Norwell vs Center Grove in 4A, Bellmont vs Roncalli in 3A, and Fremont vs Borden in 1A. Teams will play for IHSAA girls basketball crowns next Saturday, Feb. 28, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the regional runs conclude and state title week begins.