Mark Morrow's My View/Your View: Eagles coach could nest in class of his own

Should the Class 2A Heritage Christian girls win the Indiana high school basketball State Finals in March, coach Rick Risinger would become the first head coach to win four straight championships. Not just among girls-coached teams. Make that in all of basketball, dating to 1911 and the first boys state tournament. And thanks to class basketball, all four titles would come in the same class, which would be another "first'' for the record book. There are currently three girls coaches who've strung three championships, but Fort Wayne Luers, which boasts five championships overall, is the lone school to win four straight in girls basketball - of which only three were engineered by the same coach. The first three Luers' titles came in 2A under coach Gary Andrews, whose 28-0 Knights in 2001 remain the only unbeaten championship team among the three girls coaches winning three titles in succession. Teri Rosinski was at the helm in both 2002 and 2006, when Luers won state titles in 3A. By comparison, Ernest Wagner coached Franklin to three titles in a row (1920-22), Bill Green, the winningest state championship coach with six, led Marion to three consecutive titles (1985-87) and current Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer guided his Wildcats to championships in 2004-06 in boys basketball. Top-ranked Heritage Christian is 12-0 going into tonight's game against the visiting 4A Pike Red Devils. Risinger, whose Eagles were 27-1 a year ago, is in his fourth season as head coach at the northeast side Indianapolis school, where he has compiled an incredible 90-7 won-loss record for a .928 percentage. FAST FACTS: INDIANA'S CHARMED CHAMPIONS Indiana high school coaches winning three straight girls state basketball championships: *Gary Andrews, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (1999-2000-01) Class 2A Kathie Layden, Tri-Central (2003-05) Class A Rick Risinger, Heritage Christian (2006-08) Class 2A *-No longer coaching