GRIFFITH | Sammi Adams knew it was her last game at Griffith. To say she was a bit fired up would be an understatement.
“I wasn’t going out with anything but a win,” the Griffith senior star said. “I’ve worked too hard and put too much time into this game and this program.”
Adams turned into a monster on Saturday night in the championship game of the Class 3A Griffith Sectional. She torched Gavit for a game-high 23 points and did her regular routine of making everybody around her better with four assists and four steals as the Panthers clinched their fifth straight sectional crown, routing the Gladiators 40-16.
“We had a lot of confidence coming in and we also knew what we had to do,” said Adams, also a softball standout for the Panthers (15-8), who advance to Saturday’s Rensselaer Regional to take on Plymouth.
“We just had to play together and play better. Our first game (on Friday against Lew Wallace) wasn’t the way we’re capable of playing.”
Fellow senior Taylor Austin, who missed the last two regular season games with a severe ankle injury, was a beast inside with four points, a team-high nine rebounds and five steals.
Gavit (9-14) was its own worst enemy with 31 turnovers, including 13 in the first quarter when the Gladiators only attempted one shot and didn't score.
Adams was incredible in the third quarter when she outscored Gavit 12-4 by herself at one point, and had a 13-0 run of her own to end the third and start the fourth quarter.
“Sammi has been instrumental to our program,” Griffith coach Tom Golumbeck said. “She learned from the girls when she was younger and she’s doing that now with our younger girls."
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