1. 1993-94 Central Sabers Varsity Girls Basketball Team
Central Dewitt Hall of Fame
Induction Class 2008

2. Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as a Team/Group of Central High School

3. Biography
The Varsity Girls Basketball team only lost one game during the season, a non-conference season finale to Pleasant Valley.  The team outscored their opponents during the championship season. The team’s IGHSAU state championship run included wins over Camanche, Assumption, Beckman, Vinton-Shellsburg, Washington, and Storm Lake.

4. Article from the Observer
They may not have been the most athletic Central girls basketball team, and they were not known for having a high-octane offense or a stifling defense, but the Sabers’ squad can say one thing no other girls basketball team at Central, or the Big Bend conference for that matter, cann ot – they were state champions. And they were impressive in doing so, dropping just one game – a non-conference loss to 4A school Pleasant Valley in Central’s final regular season game – while outscoring their opponents 1, “They were so competitive,” Sabers head coach Pat Meade said of his squad. “They hated to lose. I was never sure their basketball abilities were the best around, but they were good all-around athletes that were not afraid to compete. They always found a way to win, and most importantly they were good people.” Expectations were high entering the year after the Sabers won the Big Bend conference and had an impressive showing during a summer weekend competition at Platteville, Wis. Before the games even began, Central was ranked ninth in class 3A, but even with lofty expectations and goals, the Sabers remained focused.

5. The Observer (cont.)
“I clearly remember sitting in Coach Meade’s classroom and discussing our goals before the season started,” sophomore guard Katie Green recalled. “We put up on the chalkboard ‘going undefeated and winning state,’ but then I don’t think we ever talked about either goal again. Even during our run where we were undefeated for so long, we didn’t talk about it — we just focused on doing what we needed to do.” The focus was apparent in the Sabers’ non-conference slate to start the season as Central won a pair of close games against MAC schools Clinton (51-49) and North Scott (45-42) to go along with more comfortable victories against Fulton (63-48) and Davenport Central (56-35). Central kicked off Big Bend play with a bang after a win over Dyersville Beckman and then showed their mettle in a one-point victory over Western Dubuque. As the wins began to pile up, so did the support, something the Saber players noticed. “I think what I remember most is how as the season progressed, more and more fans filled the stands,” Central junior Kris Johnson Dunne said. The ’93-94 Sabers definitely were not a superstar driven team – only Green, at just over 10 points per game, averaged in double figures – but Central was one of the most balanced teams in the state. If someone had an off night, someone else was ready to pick up the slack.

6. The Observer (cont.)
Seven different players had team-highs in points throughout the year while six different players led the squad at different times in rebounds and steals. Five different players led in assists. “We didn’t have just one player that stood out,” senior Heather Heister Gray said. “We all took turns stepping up when we needed to. We really worked well together as a team.” Team members that year included Heister Gray, Laurie Wells Bruggenwirth, Stephanie Evers, Molly Green Vickers, Ann Witte LaPoint, Kate Schumacher Trowbridge, Green, Kristi Donovan, Jenny Azinger Bertolani, Jessica Volkman, Joy Senske, Amy Gilroy, Johnson Dunne, Laura Hofer Hinspeter and Angie Ernst Rheingans, plus Meade as head coach and Owen Hinz and Karl Burmester as assistant coaches. After a close win over Beckman improved their conference record to 8-0, the Sabers won their final six conference games by an average of 21.5 to take home their second straight Big Bend title. The Sabers, though, tasted defeat in their regular season finale to Pleasant Valley as the Spartans jumped out to a big early lead and ended up winning by 17. The loss might have been a blessing for Central after all. “The Pleasant Valley game really made us realize how much we needed to work in order to achieve our goal of the state tournament,”

7. The Observer (cont.)
Johnson Dunne said. “I remember when we lost that last regular season game to PV, how we felt in the locker room – we were devastated and yet, looking back on it, as a coach now, it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to us,” added Green, who is the associate head coach of Cornell College’s women’s basketball team. “Since that was our only loss that season, it really motivated us to practice hard and to refocus on our state run.” The state run began with district wins over Camanche and Davenport Assumption before the Sabers’ third win of the season over Beckman carried Central to the state tournament. Waiting for the Sabers in the first-round was current WaMaC rival VintonShellsburg, but Green’s 16 points and eight rebounds paced Central to a win. The victory matched the Sabers with number one-ranked Washington, whose starting front line featured girls 6’2” and 6’1” and who averaged over 70 points per game. Central, though, allowed just 56 points, and Witte LaPoint scored 20 points for a victory. The match-up would not be any easier in the championship contest as the Sabers met second-ranked Storm Lake, but the Sabers broke open a tie with 16 straight points, and Green rounded out an all- tournament performance with 19 points as Central earned the state title.

8. The Observer (cont.)
Present along the whole tournament run and afterward was the support of the community, something none of the team members will ever forget.
“It was really amazing to see how much support we had in Des Moines,” Johnson Dunne said. “After the championship game, there was a large group waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel with the song, “We are the Champions.”
The Sabers girls basketball team always will be able to claim that distinction.