Brownsburg girls win Hall of Fame Classic

NEW CASTLE, Ind. -- The only question about Brownsburg High School sophomore forward Stephanie Mavunga following Wednesday's surprising City Securities Hall of Fame Classic championship: What shined brighter, her play or her smile?

For Mavunga, the answer was easy. Neither.

"Not everyone sees (my teammates) as stars, but I think everybody's a shining star on my team," said Mavunga, who was named the event's Most Valuable Player.

She led the only unranked team in the tournament to victory with key contributions from her teammates, especially seniors Ryne Carr and Lindsey Dall.

"Ryne and Lindsey are great players," Mavunga said. "They stepped up in many different ways. You might not see them on the stat sheet, but they showed out (Wednesday)."

Brownsburg (11-2), the only team entering the event with a loss, beat Class 3A No. 2 Evansville Memorial 51-41 in the championship game after knocking off 4A No. 3 Jeffersonville 44-32 in the first round. Evansville Memorial reached the championship game with a 57-48 victory over 4A No. 2 Carmel. Jeffersonville beat Carmel 56-28 in the consolation game.

In the first round, Mavunga blocked seven shots while Brownsburg held a Jeffersonville front line of Lakin Roland, Jalynn McClain and Brooke Valentine that was averaging 40.4 points per game to 24 on 9-of-39 shooting.

When Jeffersonville -- and foul trouble -- held Mavunga to one field goal attempt in the first half, Carr hit two 3-pointers and Dall added five points to give Brownsburg a 17-15 halftime lead. Mavunga, who was averaging 18.8 points per game, put the game away by scoring six points during a 9-1 run that began late in the third quarter and gave the Bulldogs a 29-19 lead.

Evansville Memorial reached the championship game behind a 31-point, 18-rebound performance by Valparaiso-bound Mallory Ladd, but Brownsburg -- led by Carr -- held Ladd to seven points and six rebounds, and the Tigers shot just 35.7 percent as a team.

In the championship game, Brownsburg scored the first nine points -- six by Mavunga -- but Evansville Memorial answered with a 17-1 run. Mavunga converted an offensive rebound and Dall (12 points) scored in the post to break the run.

Mavunga then went to the bench with her second foul, Evansville Memorial's Maggie Minnette hitting 1-of-2 free throws in the process. Carr responded by hitting two free throws and Allison DeVaney scored to make it 18-18.

Over the next 41/2 minutes, there were three ties and five lead changes. Mavunga scored inside to put Brownsburg ahead to stay 29-27 with 5:44 remaining.

"Stephanie is a great player," Brownsburg coach Amy Brauman said after Mavunga totaled 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, 22 rebounds and nine blocks in the two games. "We need to get the ball to her to get our offense going, but she's got a lot of good people around her. They know when to get her the ball and are ready to step up at any time.

"This is a great accomplishment. The seniors have been playing varsity since they were freshmen and they've gone through lots of ups and downs (including a 4-17 record as sophomores). To see all the hard work paying off is really amazing."