Congratulations to these eight coaches and their teams for reaching the pinnacle of Indiana high school basketball in the 2023-24 season. Here are brief biographies of each championship coach.
Boys
Class 4A: Garrett Winegar guided Fishers to the Class 4A state title with a 65-56 victory over Ben Davis. To reach that point, the Tigers previously won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, Noblesville Sectional, New Castle Regional and Elkhart Semi-State. The result capped a 29-1 season and improved Winegar’s career record to 96-29 in five seasons, totals that include a 78-23 ledger in four seasons at Fishers and an 18-6 mark in one season at Warren Central. Winegar is a 2010 graduate of Rochester High School, where he played four seasons of basketball and was a part of the Zebras’ Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2009. He attended Indiana University, earning a bachelor’s degree in sports journalism in 2014. He completed a transition to teaching program in 2015. He began his coaching career as a seventh-grade coach at Jackson Creek Middle School in Bloomington from 2013-15. He then assisted for one season at Bloomington South and three seasons at Warren Central, including assisting on the 2018 Class 4A state champs. Winegar was named the Warriors’ head coach in 2019-20, then moved to Fishers in 2020-21. With the Tigers, his teams have won three Hoosier Crossroads Conference titles (2021, 2022 and 2024), and he twice has been named HCC Coach of the Year (2022, 2024). He currently is in his fifth year as a physical education teacher at Fishers.
Class 3A: Eric Richardson directed Scottsburg to a 25-5 campaign, including a 67-57 decision over South Bend Saint Joseph for the Class 3A state championship. Along the way, the Warriors won the Scottsburg Sectional, Seymour Regional and Seymour Semi-State. In four seasons at Scottsburg, Richardson has a 69-38 record with two sectional crowns (2023, 2024), two regional trophies (2023, 2024) and last season’s semi-state and state titles. A 1993 graduate of Scottsburg, Richardson played basketball on two sectional winning teams and baseball for one sectional winner in high school. He matriculated to Milligan College in Tennessee, playing basketball, helping the school to its first NAIA National Tournament berth and earning a bachelor’s degree in 1997 in business administration and computer science. He served as a men’s basketball assistant at Gardner-Webb University from 1997-2000 (playing in the 2000 NCAA Division II national tournament), a men’s assistant at Elon University from 2000-02, assisted at Gardner-Webb again in 2002-03 and coached Scottsburg boys’ and girls’ youth teams from 2003-12. He was a men’s basketball assistant at Hanover College from 2012-16, then was a Scottsburg assistant from 2016-20 before being named the Scottsburg head coach starting in 2020-21. He currently is in his 13th year working for Edmentum Inc., a firm that helps K-12 educators with data-driven solutions.
Class 2A: Dave Benter guided Brownstown Central to a 28-4 season and the Class 2A state title with a 55-36 victory over Wapahani. In the process, his Braves won the Mid-Southern Conference, Southwestern (Hanover) Sectional, Washington Regional and Southport Semi-State. In 26 seasons at Brownstown, his alma mater, Benter has a 477-166 record with 12 sectional titles (2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), four regional crowns (2004, 2009, 2023, 2024), three semi-state trophies (2004, 2009, 2024), two Class 2A state runner-up finishes (2004, 2009). Benter is a 1992 graduate of Brownstown Central, where he played four years of basketball and baseball and was an IBCA honorable mention All-State player as a senior. He matriculated to Hanover College, where he stands fourth in school annals with 1,934 career points, was a three-time team MVP, was the 1996 NCAA Division III Player of the Year and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and physical education in 1996. He later earned a master’s degree in education from from Olivet Nazarene University in 2002.Benter started his coaching career as the freshman team coach at Southport from 1996-98. He then became the Brownstown Central varsity coach starting in the 1998-99 season. He has been voted an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 2004, 2010 and 2024, his teams have won 14 Mid-Southern Conference championships, and he is a six-time HBCA District 4 Coach of the Year (2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2022, 2024). He also was a Junior All-Star assistant coach in 2004, the Junior All-Star head coach in 2010 and the Indiana All-Star head coach in 2014. He now is in his 27th year as a teacher at Brownstown Central.
Class A: Deric Adams led Fort Wayne Canterbury to the Class A state title with a 48-41 victory over Bethesda Christian. Earlier, the Cavaliers won the Southern Wells Sectional, Frankfort Regional and Michigan City Semi-State. Canterbury finished 19-9 last season, moving Adams’ record to 36-41 in three seasons at the school. A 1988 graduate of Churubusco, he competed in basketball, baseball, cross country and track while in high school. He went on to Thomas More College in Kentucky and Wilberforce University in Ohio, competing in basketball and baseball while in college. He later attended Purdue-Fort Wayne and worked for 27 years at WANE-TV in Fort Wayne before becoming a full-time staff member at Canterbury. He served as the Canterbury boys’ eighth-grade coach from 2001-14 and was a boys’ assistant at Coldwater High School in Michigan from 2018-20 before returning to Canterbury as a varsity assistant in 2020-21. He became the Cavaliers head coach starting in 2021-22. He has bachelor’s degrees from Wilberforce University journalism in 1992 and from Purdue-Fort Wayne and radio-television broadcasting in 1994. He previously earned an associate’s degree from Thomas More College in 1990. Adams currently is interim athletic director and boys’ basketball coach at Canterbury.
Girls
Class 4A: Jannon Lampley led Lawrence Central to the Class 4A state championship with a 55-28 victory over Lake Central. The Bears completed their season at 30-1, also winning the Marion County Tournament, the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference, the Cathedral Sectional, the Decatur Central Regional and Southport Semi-State along the way. She now has a two-season record of 26-9. Lampley, formerly known as Jannon Roland, is a 1993 graduate of Urbana High School in Urbana, Ohio, where she was an all-state and All-American player and won Ohio state titles in 1992 and 1993. She matriculated to Purdue, where she played four seasons, played on the Boilermakers’ 1994 women’s Final Four team, helped win three Big Ten championships, was 1997 Big Ten Player of the Year and an 1997 honorable mention All-American. She went on to play professionally with the ABL Columbus Quest, the ABL New England Blizzard, the WNBA Orlando Miracle, the NWBL Chicago Blaze and overseas in France, Poland and Spain. She was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Lampley earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and supervision from Purdue in 2003. She later earned a master’s degree in supervision and business administration from the University of Phoenix in 2008. Lampley began her coaching career as a girls’ assistant at Mifflin (Ohio) High School in 2001-03. She was a Purdue women’s basketball assistant from 2003-06 and women’s head coach at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer in 2007-08. Lampley returned to education-based coaching as a Lawrence North girls’ assistant from 2016-21. She moved to Lawrence Central as a girls’ assistant in 2021-22, then became the Bears’ head coach starting in 2022-23. She was named 2024 Marion County Coach of the Year and 2024 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference Coach of the Year. She now is in her 15th year as the owner and administrator with Extended Life Home Care.
Class 3A: Kyle Brasher guided Gibson Southern to a 26-4 season that included the Class 3A state championship with a 63-60 decision over Norwell. The result gave Brasher a 124-31 record in six seasons with the Titans, his first head coaching position. His teams have won four sectionals (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024), two regionals (2023, 2024), one semi-state and one state title. He previously was a boys’ basketball assistant at Evansville Bosse from 2010-11, at Princeton in 2011-12 and at Gibson Southern from 2012-18. Brasher is a 2006 graduate of Evansville Bosse, where he played basketball, football and baseball. After high school, he went to Wabash College for one year. He then completed his bachelor’s degree in secondary education at Indiana University in 2010. He earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from the American College of Education in 2012. Brasher is a two-time HBCA District 2 Coach of the Year (2022, 2024) and was recognized as the 2024 Evansville Courier & Press Area Coach of the Year and 2024 Alan Hopewell Gibson County Coach of the Year. He also served as West girls’ coach in the 2019 HBCA All-Star Game and the South girls’ coach in the 2024 Indiana All-Star Futures Game. He now is in his 13th year as a social studies teacher at Gibson Southern.
Class 2A: Mark Pixley led Fort Wayne Bishop Luers to a 44-36 victory over Brownstown Central for the Class 2A state championship, capping a 20-6 season. Along the way, the Knights also won the South Adams Sectional, Wes-Del Regional and Logansport Semi-State. Pixley stepped down at the end of the season, finishing his time at Bishop Luers with a 130-107 record in 10 seasons. His girls’ career record is 187-139, including a 57-32 ledger in three seasons at Carlsbad High School in San Diego. Pixley is a 1994 graduate of Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, where he played basketball, baseball and soccer. He attended Southwestern Michigan College for two years, playing basketball there. He completed college at Indiana University, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1999. His first head coaching opportunity was at Carlsbad from 2004-07, winning the California Girls’ CIF Division 1 title in 2005. He was a boys’ head coach at Orange Glen High in San Diego with a 22-30 mark from 2007-09, a boys’ assistant at Carroll (Fort Wayne) in 2009-10 and the boys’ varsity coach at Eastside from 2010-12 with a 6-35 record. He became the girls’ coach at Bishop Luers in 2014-15, guiding the Knights to two sectional titles (2023, 2024) as well as 2024 regional, semi-state and state crowns. Pixley’s honors include the 2005 San Diego Union-Tribune North County Coach of the Year, two Summit Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards (2016, 2024) and recognition as the 2024 Outside The Huddle Coach of the Year and the 2024 ICGSA Class 2A Coach of the Year. He was presented a Nancy Rehm Award in 2024, and he has coached in the 2008 boys’ Palomar/Avocado/Valley League All-Star Game in San Diego and in the 2024 Nancy Rehm All-Star Game in Fort Wayne. He is in his 20th year as a physical education teacher, now in his 10th year at Bloomingdale Elementary in Fort Wayne. He currently the Bishop Luers varsity girls’ golf coach and is a boys’ volleyball assistant coach at Fort Wayne Snider.
Class A: Angie Hinton directed Lanesville to a 29-1 record that included the Class A championship with a 51-43 decision over Marquette Catholic. The Eagles earlier won the Southern Athletic Conference, West Washington Sectional, Crawford County Regional and New Albany Semi-State. Hinton has a 145-20 record in six seasons at Lanesville and an overall mark of 326-95, including 11 seasons at New Albany and one season at Louisville Shawnee. Her teams have won 11 sectionals, six regionals, three semi-states and three state titles. Hinton is a 1982 graduate of North Harrison, where she earned four letters each in basketball, volleyball and track. She matriculated to IU-Southeast, earning a degree in education in 1986. Hinton was the Floyd Central seventh-grade coach in 1986-87, the interim varsity girls’ coach in 1987-88 at Shawnee High School (going 8-2 in the season’s last 10 games) and an eighth-grade coach at Scribner Middle School from 1988-90. She then coached the New Albany varsity from 1990-2001, going 173-73 in a tenure highlighted by the 1999 undefeated Class 4A state champion at 28-0. Hinton also served seventh-grade boys basketball coach at Scribner Middle School in 2004-05, a girls’ assistant coach at Charlestown in 2005-06 and a fifth-grade boys’ assistant at North Harrison in 2006-07. She then was a girls’ assistant at North Harrison from 2014-18 before taking over at the Lanesville program in 2018. Hinton was the 2024 IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year and served as an assistant coach for the 2024 girls’ Junior All-Stars. She previously was an assistant coach for the 1998 Indiana All-Stars. She also was a coach in the HBCA East-West All-Star Game in 1997, an HBCA District 4 Coach of the Year in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000, an ICGSA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1997 and the ICGSA State Coach of the Year in 1999. She now is in her 38th year as a math teacher, currently in her 11th year at North Harrison.
