The Central Indiana Knights, a hockey team that features Noblesville and Guerin Catholic high school students on its roster, won the Indiana State High School Hockey Association’s Class 3A state championship Saturday at the Ice Box in South Bend.
The Knights beat Crown Point Red 1-0 in the championship game of the double-elimination state tournament. The Central Indiana team actually avenged an earlier loss, as Crown Point Red had beaten them 6-2 in an earlier game that took place at the Sportone in Fort Wayne.
The Knights, who were seeded third at state, beat No. 6 Lake Shore St. Joseph 4-0 in their first game on Feb. 25 before falling to second-seeded Crown Point in their second game, which they played the morning of Feb. 26. The Knights rebounded to beat the No. 7 Fort Wayne Vipers 3-1 later that evening, then defeated South Bend Adams 6-0 on Feb. 27 to advance to the championship game.
The Noblesville players on the Knights are Max Johns, AJ Einterz, Joe Jennings, Zack Handzel, Luke Fitzpatrick, Carter Swart, Mason Cramer and Ryan Daun. The Guerin Catholic players are Sam Greffer, Charlie Edmondson, James Supernaw and Ryan Mackie. The Knights also contain players from Bishop Chatard, Cathedral and Park Tudor.
Two other teams with Hamilton County ties reached championship games during the ISHSHA tournament. In Class 1A, Westfield fell to Culver “B” 4-3 in double overtime. In Class 4A, Hamilton Southeastern “A” fell to Culver “A”, also 4-3.