IHSAA girls basketball Fab 15: Some light shuffling with major matchups looming

The calendar hath turned to December and the level of competition across Central Indiana is really beginning to heat up. Here's a ranking of the area's best high school girls basketball teams.

1. Lawrence North (7-1)

Previous ranking: 1

The Wildcats ran their win streak to seven, but not without some drama. After downing Castle in game one of the Evansville North Basketball Showcase, they were pushed to the brink by Class 3A power Gibson Southern. Gibson led by four after three quarters, and was up 61-60 with 50 seconds left. But LN's Kya Hurt delivered at the buzzer, breaking a 63-all tie with a 3-pointer.

That's two more quality wins for Lawrence North, which has an intriguing Marion County tournament draw with Warren Central in a rematch of last year's sectional championship game on Tuesday, with the winner traveling to either Franklin Central or Lawrence Central on Thursday.

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2. Lawrence Central (6-1)

PR: 2

The Bears suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, squandering a 10-point third-quarter lead en route to a 52-51 setback vs. George Rogers Clark (Ky.). They bounced back a few hours later, beating Ryle (Ky.) by nine.

Lawrence Central has a sneaky tough first-round county draw with Franklin Central. The Flashes (3-3) are coming off a 57-51 win over Brownsburg, their first vs. the Bulldogs in 17 years.

3. Hamilton Southeastern (8-1)

PR: 3

After squeezing three games over a five-day holiday the week before, the Royals looked rested and ready Wednesday vs. Noblesville, building a big lead early before hanging on for the 71-69 win.

Shared a few takeaways following the game, but HSE finding production beyond Maya Makalusky, Kennedy Holman and Kayla Stidham was certainly good to see. Addison Van Hoesen scored eight points on an efficient 4-for-6 shooting, Antonette Greene canned a couple 3s and Kayla Brinley added four points.

4. Noblesville (5-4)

PR: 5

It gets murky real quick beyond the top-3. Going with the Millers here based on the strength of their 72-42 win over Fort Wayne Northrop following a two-point loss to HSE earlier in the week.

Meredith Tippner poured in 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting, Reagan Wilson went for 16 points, Ava Shoemaker tallied 13 and CC Quigley logged 12. A more encouraging development: Quigley (6-6), Shoemaker (4-4) and Wilson (2-3) were all rock-solid at the line, which has been a massive bugaboo for NHS this season.

Next up: Fishers on Friday.

5. Center Grove (8-1)

PR: 4

The Trojans fell from the ranks of the unbeatens last week, letting a halftime lead slip away in an eventual 62-53 loss to rival Franklin. Before looking at a few individual performances, here's a random stat: The Trojans are 1-5 vs. Franklin during the regular season since 2020-21.

Audrey Annee was limited to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, but juniors Ava Grant (22 points, 8-of-13 shooting) and Lilly Bischoff (13 points) stepped up in her stead vs. Franklin. Bischoff and Rachel Wirts led the offense in a 53-37 win over Cathedral, with Bischoff tallying seven assists and sophomore Hannah Gin logging five steals.

6. Indian Creek (7-2)

PR: 6

The Braves opened Western Indiana Conference play by holding Owen Valley and Greencastle to 23 and 25 points, respectively. No sweat, as expected, for the reigning conference champs. They play Cloverdale on Friday.

7. Fishers (7-3)

PR: 8

The Tigers shined defensively in a 40-30 win over Castle, then breezed by Decatur Central for a 68-43 win. Fishers has held four straight opponents under 50 points with a critical three-game swing upcoming: Noblesville, Pendleton Heights and Hamilton Southeastern. This is about the time last year when Fishers turned a corner and took off, winning 20 straight games en route to the 4A championship game. Different year, different team, etc. — but win at least two of the next three and this team will be sitting pretty as the calendar turns to 2024.

8. Zionsville (6-2)

PR: 9

The Eagles took a week off after playing eight games over the first four weeks. They return to action Tuesday at Cathedral, then host Westfield on Friday.

9. Plainfield (8-1)

PR: 7

Avon switched to zone; the Quakers failed to respond and suffered their first loss of the season. They bounced back with an 11-point win over Whiteland and now have one of those measuring-stick stretches: vs. Center Grove on Tuesday; at Noblesville on Saturday. Read more about Plainfield in the latest weekly wrap.

More: Avon's Aniah Smith 'makes the hard things look so easy.' And she's just getting started.

10. Hamilton Heights (7-1)

PR: 10

Camryn Runner (Evansville recruit) dropped 30 points and picked up four steals, while Katie Brown added 12 points and Hadleigh Cherry nearly logged a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in a 60-44 win over Fort Wayne Bishop Luers. The Huskies' seven-win record is bolstered by a win over Jennings County at the beginning of the year.

11. Lapel (8-1)

PR: 11

Laniah Wills (16), Madelyn Poynter (14) and Taylor Mroz (10) combined for 40 points in a 50-44 win over 4A foe Greenfield-Central. Good win for the Bulldogs, who are shooting 40% as a team. They have road games upcoming against Madison-Grant and Tipton, which boast a combined record of 2-12.

12. Franklin (9-2)

PR: 13

Lauren Klem on the perimeter (22 points, six 3-pointers) and Erica Buening inside (17 points) launched the Grizzly Cubs to a 62-53 win over Johnson County champion Center Grove. Franklin crammed 11 games into the first month-plus of the season and now has three games plus a tournament between now and Jan. 5.

13. Eastern Hancock (8-0)

PR: 12

Listen, the Royals have the makings of a 2A championship contender — on paper. This upcoming stretch should give us a better idea of how this team will stack up come tournament time: vs. North Decatur (winners of four of five) on Tuesday, vs. Cathedral on Saturday, at Lapel next Tuesday. Let the fun begin.

14. Mooresville

PR: 15

The Pios are in cruise control, stringing together blowout wins over Terre Haute North and Perry Meridian last week. They've held three straight opponents below 20 points with Cascade and Bloomington North coming up this week.

T-15. Brownsburg (5-5)

PR: 14

The Bulldogs have lost four of five, but those losses have come against Noblesville (by five), HSE (by 12), Indian Creek (in overtime, without Purdue commit Avery Gordon) and, most recently, at Franklin Central by six. They've got an entire week to prepare for Saturday's trip to Bedford North Lawrence, then play back-to-back Friday games vs. Avon and at Lawrence North.

T-15. Westfield (6-1)

PR: NR

Slipping in the Shamrocks, whose 6-1 start is their best since 2018-19. The lone loss was to Lawrence Central, while the wins have included Pendleton Heights, Mt. Vernon, Fishers and Warsaw.

Westfield shot 46% against Warsaw, with Aubrey Crockett converting 7-of-9 shots and 5-of-7 from 3 for 19 points and Lindsey Van Dyke adding 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Senior Ellie Kelleher, the team's leading scorer (12.3 ppg), had seven assists. Reagan Lorenzen is good for 11.1 ppg.

Tuesday's trip to Carmel is followed by: Zionsville, Avon, Noblesville, Franklin Central and the Trine University Classic.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school girls basketball rankings: Indy-area Fab 15