My View/Your View: Superstars in the making are abundant in Central Indiana

I thought Bruce wolf, assistant athletic director at Carmel High School, put it best when we chatted after Carmel's late-season loss to USA Today No. 1 Ben Davis about Torrie Thornton, the multi-talented sophomore girls basketball player. I had told him I thought she was more than just a basketball player, that she was an exceptional athlete, an athlete who would continue to get better and better. He smiled, and then dropped a few words of wisdom on me. "You know, you know what is so great about Torrie?'' he asked me. "You mean other than a being a great talent?'' I responded. "No,'' he said, his smile widening, "the fact that she's only a sophomore.'' Yeah, good point. "She's a superstar in the making,'' I said. Well, make that a superstar before her time. The 6-foot Thornton runs the floor like a Gazelle. She's so swift. She never seems to tire. She can leap high with the best of the players today's game has to offer. Put a basketball in her hands, and she's both skillful and damaging. She can beat a steady tattoo on the bank board and often times seems to score so effortlessly. Give her the key defensive assignment, and her prey has no chance. Pretty much none at all. Thornton and Ben Davis' Bria Goss were the best sophomore girls I saw bounce, shoot, pass or rebound a basketball this season. Thornton has already committed to play at Purdue for Sharon Versyp, the 1984 Indiana Miss Basketball from Mishawaka. Now, I'm thinking that if Purdue could coax the 5-10 Goss, who made the winning basket in the Class 4A state championship game to secure a 30-0 season for the Giants, to don the Black and Gold, too, well, those two sensations just might one day lead the Boilermakers to the promise land in women's basketball. I mean, they are both so good, so talented. They're capable of carrying a team on their shoulders - both offensively and defensively. There were a few other outstanding sophomores I had the pleasure watch play the game this past season, and such talent is a good sign for girls basketball. In addition to Thornton and Goss, my all-sophomore team would include Heritage Christian's Liz Stratman (6-1), Mooresville's Jama Sharp (5-7) and Perry Meridian's Amanda Raker (6-1). That group would be a coach's dream. Too bad they cannot all play together on the same team. Well, maybe that will happen two years from now. You know . . . possibly as members of the Indiana All-Stars.