NEW CASTLE — Both coaches in this year's Hall of Fame Classic championship game experienced the event as players at their current schools: Amy Shearer with Columbia City in 1988 and Kristi Sigler with Jennings County in 1992. And while both schools have participated in the event since then — CC in 1997; JC in 2001 — among Shearer and Sigler's goals when they were named head girls basketball coach at their alma maters was to earn an invite back to the historic in-season tournament.

"This group of kids, they got us back here," said Sigler, who's now in her eighth season as Panthers coach. "It's a great event and we're just so privileged to be here."

HOF Roundup: Columbia City tops Jennings County in championship game

Shearer started crying when she shared the good news with her players, senior Molly Baker recalled following the Eagles' 56-47 win over the Panthers. "It's a really big deal for us."

"I could barely get it out," Shearer later confirmed. "I was very emotional, because they don't just take anyone to get in. It's a long application process, a select few. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience (for the players). … It's just an honor to even be here. It's a special feeling."

Indeed, the Hall of Fame Classic maintains a special place among Indiana basketball traditions. The four-team tournament has hosted 20 eventual state champions, 12 of the past 15 IndyStar Miss Basketball winners, 13 McDonald's All-Americans and 12 future WNBA players across its 40 iterations, and teams are only eligible to participate once every four years.

The Classic's tradition is further elevated by the massive venue, New Castle Fieldhouse, which naturally lends a big-game atmosphere to all four games.

"It's fun. I love this," Lake Central senior Aniyah Bishop said. "I like the atmosphere, the vibe — it feels different, a lot different than back home when we play certain teams and there are only two people in the stands because they know it's going to be a blowout. … This has been great."

"The atmosphere, the fans, the community, it's just a blessing for us to be here," junior Vanessa Wimberly added.

The level of talent at this year's event spoke for itself with four legitimate state championship contenders (No. 16 Indian Creek rounded out the field), plus a variety of stars, some of whom are already established like IC's Faith Wiseman (IU commit), JC's Juliann Woodard (Michigan State) and CC's Addison Baxter (Butler) and others who will be household names before long, like sophomores Mollie Ernstes (Jennings County) and Ayla Lollar (Indian Creek).

Three of the four games lived up to expectations — though, even the Panthers' 60-22 semifinal thrashing of Lake Central was a sight to behold — and the crowds for all four games were very good.

Asked how the Hall of Fame Classic experience as a coach compared to her experience as a player, Sigler laughed and said: "I still wish I was a player."

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Here's what else we learned Friday in New Castle.

Columbia City takeaways

Three observations and a news nugget on the No. 7 Eagles (14-2)...

>> Their depth was quantified in both games.

Baxter finished with a game-high 31 points against Indian Creek, but she picked up her second foul a couple minutes into the second quarter and did not return until after halftime. Columbia City, which also missed forward Molly Baker for long stretches due to foul trouble, wound up extending its lead to double digits in Baxter's absence, with Tessa Tonkel, Faith Frey and Laney Ziliak all contributing first-half points alongside Sheets, who accounted for all 13 of her points during the first two quarters. Four players finished in double figures for CC.

The championship game featured a similarly balanced scoring attack, but with Ziliak and Frey both knocking down two 3s, and Tonkel sinking a key fourth-quarter free throw.

>> The size discrepancy vs. Indian Creek (6-4 Wiseman) and Jennings County (6-0 Woodard, 5-10 Ernstes) wasn't as much of a factor as I was expecting. The Eagles held their own on the glass and did an admirable job defending them (relatively speaking — Wiseman and Woodard still recorded double-doubles).

Shearer said they looked to move bodies and get Indian Creek away from the basket (something they did a better job of in the second half) and clog the middle against Wiseman. Against Jennings County, they looked to spread them out and cut, and keep Woodard away from the basket.

"We have a great physical center who works all the time," Baxter said as she leaned into Baker with a grin following the championship game. "Our guards do a great job on help-side defense and we trust each other on both ends of the floor."

>> Everyone was well-represented, but Columbia City probably had the largest turnout. Said Sheets: "That's what I always looked forward to growing up. I remember going to games and the gym being packed. It's special and something that a lot of other teams don't have."

>> After going over 20 years without a 1,000-point scorer, Columbia City could have two on the same team. Baxter cleared the milestone in the second quarter vs. Jennings County and Sheets could get there before sectionals.

"Addison and Kendra as a duo in the backcourt, that's a great two-guard front for me," said Shearer, who's known the two since they were fourth graders. "I appreciate them so much, the hard work and effort they put in. … I've been around them for a long time and they've always had that drive, that competitiveness that 'I'm going to beat you no matter what.'"

Faith Wiseman shines

Wiseman was really, really good in both games, posting back-to-back double-doubles with a game-high 28 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and a steal over 32 minutes vs. Columbia City. The IU-bound senior was assertive on offense in the opener, and got the No. 16 Braves (13-4) rolling after a rocky start (they gained momentum by force-feeding her the ball inside).

As for Indian Creek, it leaves New Castle with two more losses against quality 4A opponents, but they trailed Columbia City by four in the final minute (Lauren Foster hit a deep 3), then erased a 14-point deficit to force overtime vs. Lake Central.

Turnovers were problematic for stretches of both games, but with a dominating post in Wiseman, and a couple additional go-to scorers in Foster and Lollar, they'll be just fine come February.

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Alivia Elmore's gritty performance

The Jennings County senior point guard has had a heck of a time with injuries over the course of her career, and she got banged up while chasing a loose ball during the championship game Friday night. Elmore looked to be in some pain, but, true to form, she gutted it out and carried the team over a critical stretch in the fourth quarter, following a layup with back-to-back 3s to keep things close.

Elmore finished with 12 points, four rebounds, an assist, two blocks and two steals.

I'll have more on her journey ahead of sectionals.

Learning experience for Jennings County

The No. 5 Panthers (14-2) had not been involved in a close game since Thanksgiving weekend against South Bend Washington and it showed down the stretch against Columbia City. They began straying away from their offense in the second half — "Their physicality over the course of the game sped us up and got us impatient," Sigler said — and were slow to foul in the final couple minutes.

It was a tough way to go down, but with sectional rival Bedford North Lawrence and a trip to Center Grove scheduled for Jan. 3 and 6, respectively — not to mention Franklin at the end of the year — the Columbia City loss couldn't have happened at a better time.

"These are the games we need to play in," Sigler said. "They have to learn from it and they have to come together, because you look at our schedule down the stretch and it doesn't get any easier."

Road-weary Lake Central splits holiday gauntlet

A week after traveling 222 miles to Bedford North Lawrence for the Limestone Classic, the No. 10 Indians (13-3) made the 192-mile journey from St. John to New Castle for the Hall of Fame Classic. That's a grand total of 888 miles, with games against Bedford North Lawrence, Lawrence Central, Jennings County and Indian Creek mixed in.

That's a lot and it adds some context to what was a dreadful performance vs. Jennings County in the opener.

"It just wasn't us," coach Joe Huppenthal said. "I guess it's good that it happened now and we get it figured out. … That's why you play games like this, but this four-game stretch has just been wicked."

"I didn't think it would be this rough," he later added. "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't do it this way. It was a rough stretch with (those teams). … But this tournament was great. It's been a great experience. The only wish I have is I wish we could have been the real Lake Central in game one."

The circumstances make Lake Central's response vs. Indian Creek all the more impressive, with the Indians coming out with great energy and building an early lead. It was a return to LC basketball, Bishop and Wimberly agreed.

Indian Creek rallied to force overtime, but that's more a testament to the Braves' never-say-die attitude than anything — and Lake Central still found a way to close it out.

"I give these guys a lot of credit for bouncing back. They really gutted it out," Huppenthal said. "I'm just happy. I love these kids, love coaching them and hopefully we have bigger things to come."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls basketball: What we learned from the Hall of Fame Classic