CHARLOTTESVILLE, Ind. -- One of the most coveted individual honors a player can win is the scoring title for the state of Indiana. Check out all scoring champions from years past...

Note: Below is the best I have been able to track down for each year. Of all the great lists and collections, this is one that seems to have been surprisingly left out by historians over the years. It is entirely possible that another player may have bested one of these marks, but obviously you have to start somewhere.

If you can offer an addition or correction, please email me at HickoryHuskeratyahoodotcom
As always, Indiana basketball will be better for your contribution!

This list has been a real bear to track down. While the last 10-15 years are a breeze, the rest have been a genuine research headache. Last night, however, I was able to fill in my last two, 1992 and 1998. For anyone that doubts just how much of a second fiddle girls basketball played for years, try to find the state leading scorers from the 1980's..

Huge spreads and graphics of area bests for boys in newspapers from all across the state, and almost nothing for the girls.

State Scoring Champions By Year

2025 McKenzie Koch - Eastern Hancock Royal 28.6
2024 Samantha Redinger - Argos Dragon 29.8
2023 Asia Donald - Hobart Brickie 26.7
2022 Ashlynn Brooke - Pioneer Panther 25.9
2021 Courtney Blakely - Hammond Noll Warrior 31.3
2020 Ra'Shaya Kyle - Marion Giant 27.3
2019 Madison Jones - Webo Star 28.3
2018 Leigha Brown - DeKalb Baron 28.0
2017 Dana Evans - Gary West Cougar 36.0
2016 Dana Evans - Gary West Cougar 35.8
2015 Jackie Young - Princeton Tiger 32.4
2014 Whitney Jennings - Logansport Berry 32.0
2013 Kelsey Key - Frankton Eagle 32.9
2012 Princess German - Bowman Academy Eagle 25.7
2011 Kaleigh Hensley - Wabash Apache 27.1
2010 Courtney Moses - Oak Hill Golden Eagle 31.7
2009 Skylar Diggins - SB Washington Panther 29.0
2008 Skylar Diggins - SB Washington Panther 29.5
2007 Brittany Rayburn - Attica Red Rambler 28.0
2006 Ashley Barlow - Pike Red Devil 25.1
2005 Jodi Howell - Alexandria Tiger 28.0
2004 Megan King - FW Canterbury Cavalie 27.0
2003 Katie Gearlds - Beech Grove Hornet 29.4
2002 Shanna Zolman - Wawasee Warrior 33.8
2001 Shanna Zolman - Wawasee Warrior 34.3
2000 Shanna Zolman - Wawasee Warrior 33.0
1999 Shanna Zolman - Wawasee Warrior 31.2
1998 Laurie Kitts - Eastbrook Panther 28.9
1997 Amy Lindsay - Union Modoc Rocket 27.0
1996 Sarah Hurrle - Roncalli Rebel 28.2
1995 Stephanie White - Seeger Patriot 36.9
1994 Eileen Weber - Washington Catholic Cardinal 31.6
1993 Abby Conklin - Charlestown Pirate 36.7
1992 Leslie Wade - Loogootee Lion 28.9
1991 Cindy Lamping - Batesville Bulldog 34.1
1990 Glenna Bower - New Washington Mustang 35.5
1989 Glenna Bower - New Washington Mustang 30.3
1988 MaChelle Joseph - DeKalb Baron 35.1
1987 Vicki Lander - EV Bosse Bulldog 31.1
1986 Kim Barrier - Jimtown Jimmie 30.0
1985 Jodie Whitaker - Austin Eagle 28.2
1984 Lorea Feldman - Triton Trojan 28.2
1983 Roxanne Cox - Scottsburg Warrior 26.5
1982 Kay Sharp - Lafayette Jeff Broncho 24.2
1981 Cheryl Cook - Indy Washington Continental 29.7
1980 Lisa Goodin - Austin Eagle 30.9
1979 Debby McClurg - Wes-Del Warrior 24.5
1978 Cindy Beesley - Webo Star 26.3
1977 Dru Cox - Plainfield Quaker 25.4
1976 Carmella (Martin) Dunn - EC Roosevelt Roughrider 35.0

NEW MARKET, Ind. -- The miracle of tiny New Market High School is bulletin board material for every coach in the state preparing for tourney time. The Purple Flyers limped through a miserable 2-17 regular season docket in 1967. However, they ran the tables come tourney time to capture the eight team Crawfordsville Sectional and write their own chapter in Hoosier hysteria lore...


1967 New Market Purple Flyers enter Sectional play 2-17

What didn't New Market have going against them that late February in 1967? Their first year coach, Jim Petty, had struggled all season with a lineup that returned limited experience. A 2-17 mark that left many impatient Purple Flyer fans more than frustrated.


Coach Jim Petty

For the record:
L New Market 43, Ladoga 44
L New Market 47, Covington 69
L New Market 50, Pittsboro 76
L New Market 44, Fountain Central 69
W New Market 62, Waveland 58
L New Market 64, Thorntown 70
L New Market 53, Seeger 63
L New Market 59, Coal Creek Central 75
L New Market 51, Waynetown 56
L New Market 70, Rockville 79
L New Market 58, Darlington 75 - County Tourney
L New Market 54, Darlington 86
L New Market 59, Cloverdale 92
L New Market 56, Turkey Run 70
L New Market 57, Linden 59
L New Market 62, North Salem 71
W New Market 71, Granville-Wells 55
L New Market 58, Roachdale 66

Their sectional draw was anything but a break. They would face Coal Creek Central, a squad that had long earned muffin status over the years, but had developed into quite an area power in recent years.

The Coal Creek Bearcats were the defending sectional champions, mid-season County Tourney title winners, sported the counties leading scorer, and had spanked the Flyers pretty well earlier in the season, 75-59 in a game not as close as the score would indicate.

New Market didn't sport much Sectional tradition either. Their lone title coming 17 years before in 1950.
Oh yeah, and heavy favorite county seat and Sectional host Crawfordsville would likely be waiting in the second round if the Flyers could muster the upset.

New Market did not have to play the opening night, and the early games went according to dope as predicted.

Scores from Wednesday night Feb. 22, 1967 - W/L records are listed pre-sectional.

(7-12) Waveland Hornets 76
(5-15) Waynetown Gladiators 71

(8-14) Ladoga Canners 63
(0-18) Alamo Warriors 61

The second night of first round contests arrived and little was expected of New Market. The Crawfordsville Journal-Review said at the time:

"New Market has the unenviable task of attempting to oust defending Sectional champion Coal Creek. The Flyers have only won two games all year and the losses include a pasting from the Bearcats ...it was going to be a short Sectional (for the Flyers)"



But prophetically another column during the week-long hype leading up to the tourney stated:
"The Flyers will not play dead. They will be in there fighting to the finish."

Few could imagine what that actual finish would mean.

Thursday night, however, the stars began to fall into line. New Market stunned the region with a solid outing and win over Coal Creek in the lid lifter.

(2-17) New Market Purple Flyers 78
(13-8) Coal Creek Central Bearcats 71

...and then it got really interesting. With the crowd of county school fans united behind upstart New Ross, the Blue Jays chopped down mighty Crawfordsville - a team who had been lauded for playing one of the toughest regular season schedules in the state.

(11-8) New Ross Blue Jays 78
(13-7) Crawfordsville Athenians 75

Purple Flyer coach, Jim Petty began telling any reporter that would listen, "We have not yet reached our peak and are growing stronger every day."

During this era Sectional final fours were all played on Saturday.

The curtain raiser Saturday afternoon pitted Waveland against rival Ladoga. The Canners jumped all over Waveland to start the contest and led 21-13 at the end of one quarter. However, Waveland would crawl back into it bit by bit forcing overtime before advancing to the championship.

(9-12) Waveland Hornets 81
(9-14) Ladoga Canners 76 OT!

When New Market took the floor for their afternoon game, they grabbed a quick lead over New Ross, 7-2. New Ross battled back to capture the lead at the end of one, 13-11.

New Market again came out hot and ran off 8 straight and would hold that edge taking a 3 point lead to intermission. A fired-up Purple Flyer squad then blitzed New Ross in the third and left little to doubt, leading by as many as 21 in the second half.

(4-17) New Market Purple Flyers 81
(12-8) New Ross Blue Jays 63

More than a few wondered aloud how the Blue Jays could topple mighty Crawfordsville in their own hall, yet not muster a challenge to hapless New Market. ...But New Market was hardly helpless any longer. They were playing good basketball. In fact all five starters were now hitting for double figures in key tourney tests.

So onto Saturday evening. Certainly Waveland's five were not world beaters, themselves mustering a ho-hum regular season including giving-up one of the two New Market victories.

Still, that had been pre-Christmas, and common wisdom knew that 'New Market was New Market.' It would appear that the 'muffin status' baton had been passed, and while many appreciated the game effort shown by the Purple Flyers, most expected a Waveland coronation later that night. Besides, no team had ever won a Sectional with so few regular season wins in the history of Indiana basketball.
Until now.

(5-17) New Market Purple Flyers 57
(9-12) Waveland Hornets 50

In a game that was neither flashy nor stagnant, New Market exhibited remarkable resolve for a team that had made losing such a habit. Waveland looked to be ending the fairytale by out-scoring New Market 18-6 in the third quarter. However, the Flyers displayed all the poise of a true champion by answering with a 24-12 fourth quarter effort that produced the 7 point win.

Purple Flyer fans had their heroes finally as well. Senior Phil Thomas hit 8 of 10 shots from the field in the first half and would finish with 24. Fellow senior, center Mike Deck added 16 points - 15 during that critical fourth quarter.

New Market had captured their first Sectional in 17 years, and would advance to the Frankfort Regional the following weekend. The state's highest scoring team and eventual Sweet 16 member Bainbridge Pointers would martyr our heroes that Saturday morning, 79-42, behind Hoosier hardwood legend Larry Steele.

...But not before the Purple Flyers had written their own chapter in Hoosier hysteria history.

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind.-- Arguably the most heated rivalry in all of Hoosierland comes by it honestly. There's enough venom among old foes New Albany and Jeffersonville that historians will swear vinegar, not river water, spans the stretch of the Ohio between the two historic river towns. ...And incidents like this 17 timeout game in 1948 helped build such genuine emotion between the two heavyweights...


Jeffersonville's Nachand Fieldhouse - Site of the 1948 Sectional!

To tell the full tale of such a story, the reader must have a bit of background. Jeff and New Albany began their wrestling match over Sectional in 1925 when NA first hosted. The Bulldogs, having bragging rights to the larger gym at the time, hosted the majority of early sectionals - the exceptions going to Jeff in 1926 and 1933.

Jeff then took over hosting honors for many, many years, with one or two exceptions.

This particular season, 1948, Jeff was hosting, but that's about all they had going for them. First year head coach Ed Denton had guided the Red Devils to a lackluster 8-8 regular season record. Red Devil boosters, just as today, held much higher expectations for their fighting five, and pressure within the community was nearing a boiling point.

New Albany on the other hand was enjoying high times that season. Second year mentor Gordon Raney had the Bulldogs barking at 15-3 and drawing much statewide attention as they entered the sectional as heavy favorites. - A fact that further ignited emotions among the Jeffersonville faithful. As a matter of record, NA took their regular season meeting with Jeff, 41-31, earlier that winter.

The first round of Sectional went somewhat as expected for the 16 team field:

Jeffersonville 107, New Middletown 23
Laconia 45, Mauckport 24
Scribner 38, Borden 33
Henryville 58, New Amsterdam 26
New Albany 62, Georgetown 16
Corydon 50, Charlestown 36
Silver Creek 69, Elizabeth 29
Lanesville 63, Taylor 35

The second round played out as well with much fanfare, but few upsets.

Jeffersonville 73, Laconia 39
Henryville 43, Scribner 41
New Albany 57, Corydon 28
Silver Creek 68, Lanesville 41

This is where it gets interesting.

In those days the final four was all played on a Saturday. Jeff was to play Henryville in the morning game, and New Albany was pitted against Silver Creek upon the completion of the first contest. The winners then would meet that evening for the title.

Now enter the third player in our story: The Henryville Hornets.

The Hornets were enjoying a fine season of their own, tallying a 16-4 regular season record. However, the majority of their docket of games had been played against smaller conference schools, and when the reality hit the hardwood, the Hornets were far out-manned by the Red Devils. It was apparent early on as Jeff established a commanding lead that would never be in doubt.

It was at this point that Jeff's Coach Denton began what was to earn him a spot in Hoosier hysteria folklore...and where he acquired the nickname Dirty Ed.

With the Bulldogs and Dragons waiting in the hallway for their chance on the court, and with a seemingly insurmountable lead in the waning moments of the game, Coach Denton called timeout.

Then he called another. And another. In a matter of moments his allotted timeouts were used.

Then he called one more which resulted in a technical foul. The practice then proceeded - timeout followed by technical foul. The only real break in the rhythm was the snail's pace at which the entire Jeff squad would make it's way to the huddle and then to the floor.

The crowd, officials, and New Albany coaching staff quickly sized up the situation.

Coach Denton was purposely trying to delay the start of the second game so as to limit the time the Bulldogs would have to rest before playing Jeff for the title later that evening.

Game accounts report debris of every shape and size having to be repeatedly removed from the playing floor as the process repeated itself - 17 times.

When the dust and popcorn boxes had been cleared, Jeffersonville was in the championship game with a 53-41 win over Henryville. Their lead shrunk but still never in question. Reports indicate that Hornet charity tosses were pretty accurate for that era, but that Henryville couldn't convert their offensive possessions during the bizarre stretch of the contest.

A flustered New Albany had their hands full with an unfazed Silver Creek squad in the second game, but netted a 51-40 win to set up the much anticipated match-up between the two bitter rivals.

As the story goes, Jeff Coach Denton had ordered his charges directly to beds for a restful nap following their morning-turned afternoon game.

The strategy worked as much as New Albany was left with but enough time to shower, eat and collect themselves prior to the championship that night.

The Sectional title game proved a bit anticlimactic, however. A New Albany team, who on this particular year was arguably already a better basketball team, now had their flames of hatred fanned by the shady actions earlier in the day. The Bulldogs made short work of the Devils, taking the championship 53-31.
New Albany proved their worth by taking the Jeffersonville Regional title the following weekend by besting Bedford 58-44 and Seymour 39-29.

The Bulldogs had their season ended when they were martyred the following week at the Semi-finals. The Wildcats of Jasper topped them in the afternoon game 53-50.

However, it was that Sectional marathon and all the trappings that went along with it that are most remembered from that post season. Just one more brick in a rivalry that towers to this day, and another true chapter in that wonderful folklore of Hoosier hysteria.