Congratulations to Josh Kendrick '97 and his Brownsburg High School boys' basketball team. The Bulldogs won the Indiana High School Athletic Association's Class 4A state championship Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse on one of the wildest final plays you will ever see.

Don't believe me? Watch it by clicking here!

Kendrick and Bulldogs certainly had all the fan support Browsburg could muster. The Wabash baseball team stopped for dinner in Brownsburg on its way to Ohio Wesleyan last weekend. Everywhere we went there were signs, banners, and people wearing buttons wishing Brownsburg the best of luck in the state finals.

Josh is no stranger to fantastic finishes in important basketball games. I remember working the radio broadcast of the 1997 Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game between Wabash and Rose-Hulman. Wabash got a running one-handed jumper from Chad Tabor with three seconds left in the game for a 63-62 win, giving Kendrick, Tabor, and the rest of the team the conference championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III basketball tournament.

Kendrick's path the IHSAA state title wasn't easy. His Bulldogs knocked off the top-ranked team in Class 4A --- undefeated New Albany at 26-0 headed into the semistate --- by a score of 51-41 to earn a shot at Marion in the finals. The last play of the game was supposed to be a pass to Julian Mavunga on the right side of the basket. When Marion's Jay Edwards intercepted the pass, Mavunga tipped it away and right to teammate Gordon Hayward. The senior drilled an off-balance shot just ahead of the buzzer to give Brownsburg the 40-39 victory and start Kendrick and the team's celebration. Earlier tournament wins included a 62-58 contest against North Central and a 63-59 victory over Carmel. Those victories over some of the best teams in the state of Indiana earned Kendrick the Indianapolis Star's Coach of the Year Award.

William Hobbs '97, Kendrick's roommate at Wabash, fondly spoke of Kendrick and his knowledge of the game even before entering the high school coaching ranks.

"If there is such a thing as a walk-on to a Division III basketball program, Joshua Kendrick fit the bill when he arrived to campus in 1993," Hobbs said. "He prepped at 400-student Blue River Valley High School, a perennial mushroom in the shadow of powerhouse New Castle. We met at the General Lew Wallace Motor Inn, where we were residents for more than a semester (due to an housing problem on campus).

"Kendrick was sure Petty would cut him before the season, and he nearly quit a couple of times. But he persevered. Though not the most talented player, he was smart --- a coach's player. He worked relentlessly to perfect his jump shot, which he unleashed in the Little Giants' NCAA run."

Joshua Kendrick --- Some Little Giant and quite a Bulldog!

Photo - Josh Kendrick cut down the nets after winning a conference championship as a player at Wabash. Now he's cut down the nets as a successful high school head coach after winning the state title last Saturday.