Not too many high school girls basketball players have been able to accomplish what Izzy Reed has accomplished at Greenwood Christian.
Leading a team to its first-ever sectional and regional championships? Check.
Fifteen hundred career points? Check.
One thousand career rebounds? Check.
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That’s a checklist that only a dozen or so Indiana girls can claim to have completed. Reed has done it with a year to spare, which can only mean … a new checklist.
"Whatever is next, she attacks," GCA coach Alan Weems said.
Constantly attacking like that requires a lot of energy, but it’s energy that Reed — who, by the way, can add Daily Journal Player of the Year honors to the above checklist — always seems to have on tap. Weems has been coaching for a lot of years and says he’s never had a player who has been able to keep up that full-bore intensity for a full 32 minutes every night like Reed does.
And that’s what sets her apart. At 5-foot-8, Reed isn’t going to catch your eye immediately in the pregame layup line. She’s not the object of Division I college coaches’ attention, because she’s not 6 feet tall and she doesn’t jump out of the gym.
She just gets things done — and it’s largely a product of her non-stop motor and sheer determination.
"I always say, if you look at rebounding, that’s grit and hustle," said Reed, who led the state in that category this year with 15.3 per game and 444 overall. "Eighty-five percent of it is just going after the ball, and I think that’s one thing that sets me apart is just my energy.
"I’m very competitive, so losing is kind of my least favorite thing in the world."
Fortunately for Reed, the Cougars didn’t do much losing this year. Fresh off of winning the first sectional title in team history a year ago, GCA came back this winter and claimed the school’s first-ever regional crown in any sport, advancing to the Class A semistate before falling to Loogootee.
Getting the Cougars there for the first time was all well and good, but now that it’s happened, Reed has set the bar higher for her senior season.
"I’m not satisfied with just getting to semistate," she said. "I kind of have very high expectations where I just want to keep going. The sky’s the limit. If I get a taste of something, it’s like, ‘Well if I did that, I can do this.’"
And so, as Weems said, it’s on to the next items on the list — and at this point, Reed has put some very, very lofty goals in place.
She heads into her senior season with 1,543 career points. The Johnson County girls record is 1,944 by former Indian Creek star Kylee Hamilton — but Reed figures since that’s so close to 2,000, she might as well get that too.
(The boys record of 2,059, currently held by GCA alum Kyle Stidom, is also well within her reach.)
Rebounding records are less comprehensive, but most sources seem to agree that Indiana’s career mark belongs to 2007 Brebeuf grad Ta’Shia Phillips, who grabbed 1,308 boards before going on to star at Xavier and play in the WNBA. Should Reed even come close to what she produced the last two seasons, she’d obliterate that mark — perhaps even making a push for 1,500.
Breaking all of those records would be great, Reed acknowledges, but winning a state championship would be the ultimate cherry on top of what might already be the most impressive and important athletic career that any Greenwood Christian student has ever put together.
In so many ways, Reed has defined what it means to be a Cougar.
"More important to her than anything is winning," Weems said, "and that’s an attitude that has a big impact on the kids around her. Our program has come to a place where winning is the utmost, where everybody expects to be at a certain point.
"Falling short in the regional (this year) wasn’t even an option in their mind. … They’ve already been to the regional, right? So why would they want to stop at the regional again?"
They wouldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Stopping isn’t a thing that Izzy Reed does.
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The 2020 All-County team for girls basketball:
Ashley Eck, Center Grove senior: Provided the undersized Trojans with a strong all-purpose presence in the frontcourt, averaging 7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals for a 20-win team. … Will play volleyball at Indiana State in the fall.
Toni Joyner, Whiteland senior: Carried a heavy load for the inexperienced Warriors, leading the team in rebounds (9.5), assists (2.2), steals (1.4) and blocks (2.5) per game while averaging 10.6 points. … An All-Mid-State Conference selection.
Destiney Ramey, Edinburgh senior: Scored 19.8 points per game and became the Lancers’ all-time leader with 1,354 for her career. … Averaged 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 steals while also averaging 2.6 assists as Edinburgh won a school-record 17 games.
Izzy Reed, Greenwood Christian junior: Led all county players with 23.8 points per game and averaged a state-leading 15.3 boards, leading GCA to its first semistate appearance. … Also paced the Cougars in assists (4.4) and steals (2.5) per game.
Mary Wilson, Center Grove junior: Sharp-shooting forward connected on 40 percent of her 3-point attempts and 76 percent of her free throws, averaging a team-best 14.7 points for the county champion Trojans. … Also averaged 3.4 rebounds per game.
Honorable mention
Kyra Baker, Franklin; Ellie Bigelow, GCA;Â Kiki Crabtree, Franklin; Abby DeArmitt, Franklin; Alainna Frankel, Center Grove; Savvanah Frye, GCA; Hannah Grider, Indian Creek; Ali Harris, Indian Creek; Quinn Kelly, Greenwood; Haven Link, Edinburgh; Annelise Lollar, Edinburgh; Gracie McCullars, Whiteland; Alexis Mead, GCA; Lauren Pendleton, Indian Creek; Anna Pritchett, Greenwood; Claire Rake, Center Grove; Emily Rake, Center Grove; Lauren Sandrock, Franklin; Brooklyn Stubblefield, Greenwood
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