I have enjoyed giving the Southside players and coaches on those teams a little extra ink: UIndy sophomore Jimmy King, a Roncalli graduate; and Marian junior Curtis Green, a Perry Meridian grad. The women’s team at Marian has several local ties: Head coach Katie Geralds attended Beech Grove High; assistant coach Mark Parker formerly the girls team at BG; and junior Kellie Kirkhoff and freshman Rachel Titzer attended Roncalli.
On Friday, Roncalli’s boys and girls teams made the short trip to Beech Grove for games against the Hornets. And since Kellie and Titzer were going to be in attendance, coach Parker made arrangements for me to interview them.
I had attended their 81-58 home victory over Bethel a couple of days earlier. I enjoy sitting a few rows up from the team’s bench.
The girls talked about playing as a team and having fun. All the players are totally into the game, whether they are playing or sitting on the bench.
During the Bethel game, every player for Marian scored, and the Knights enjoyed a balanced scoring attack. Their leading scorer only had 12 points. The players and coaches smiled a lot during the game. As the players rotated in and out of the contest, it was delightful to watch and listen to them on the bench. There was a lot of cheering as points were poured in.
Kellie, whose brother used to play for Roncalli’s team, told me that she wanted to teach math and coach after graduation. Rachel hasn’t decided on a major.
Sophomore Karen Jones from Pittsboro was also on hand for the interview.
I enjoyed visiting with the ladies. They were nice and professional in dealing with a guy trying to conduct an interview.
I told them about surprising coach Geralds during a game in Austin, Texas. At the time Katie was on Purdue’s team, and the Boilmakers were playing the University of Texas. My wife, Lyn, and I were visiting family and friends in Austin, so we went to the game, clad in our orange Beech Grove T-shirts.
Friday was a special evening. In addition to both games, the eveing was billed as Coaches vs. Cancer night to raise money to support area families dealing with cancer.
Cameron Cardenas, a junior on Beech Grove’s girls team, was recognized surpassing the 1,000-point career mark. She had 27 points on the night.
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.