It was a lot for the players to digest at first.
Jason Sims wanted to modify the Roncalli offense, installing more high-ball screen action per the recommendation of Pike coach Keith Hollins following the Marion County championship game. The Royals hung with the top-5 Red Devils that night, and Hollins thought that change could really elevate their offense.
“We were like, Sims, you just changed our whole offense,” senior guard Reagan Turk said.
“It was a lot,” teammate Brennah Cerny interjected.
“We’ve gone back and forth a lot, but every team’s different,” Turk said. “You have to be able to adjust.”
Sims and his staff took Hollins’ play and made it their own, spinning off variations that involve different ways to get different players open.
The change has proven to be quite effective. While the Royals maintained a shooting percentage of around 38%, they increased their points per game by four (61 ppg in the 17 games since) and are overall a much more consistent and well-balanced offensive outfit.
“Yeah, it’s kind of what’s gotten us here,” Turk said.
“Here” is Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Class 3A state championship game (6 p.m. vs. Bellmont), a first for the Roncalli Royals, whose semistate title was their first since 1986 (lost to Fort Wayne Northrop in the semifinals).
In terms of identity and stylistically, the Roncalli team that takes the floor Saturday night will look much different than the one that opened the season vs. Columbus east on Nov. 11.
Sims frames it as a return to his coaching roots. Less reliance on the 3-ball and more box sets plus the high-ball screen actions. They like their staggered screens and to get the ball out in transition, he said.
The players are expected to learn a lot of plays, Cerny observed, but the coaching staff does a very good job of simplifying things for them, and time is dedicated during practice each day to running through plays and making sure everyone understands them.
The most critical component?
Timing.
“That’s a very big word in our gym,” Turk said. “Sims knows what he is doing and every play has a reason, so the timing is very important. He will blow his whistle and tell us: good timing, great timing or perfect timing.”
The starters will run through plays repeatedly to make sure they have things down, to build that muscle memory, and then as they get new plays, they’ll start drilling them until they get them down pat. And it’s proven effective.
“Some of them were a little complicated to where we need to be,” Cerny said. “But other than that, they’re fairly simple, but we need to run them the right way (timing-wise) in order to make them work.”
Here are a few other reasons why Roncalli is playing for a state championship:
Peaking at the right time
Sims was concerned his team was peaking in January. Their run to the Marion County championship game was highlighted by a semifinal win over 4A powerhouse Lawrence Central, and the loss to Pike was followed by notable wins over Bishop Chatard, Brebeuf Jesuit and 4A Franklin Central.
Then they traveled to Greensburg and took down the top-ranked Pirates, 66-51, with one of their best performances of the season, one that featured three players in double figures (Elliot Leffler, Catie Rosko and Lydia Stahley), a fourth, Turk, at nine points, and saw the Royals shoot 45% from the field and generate 18 turnovers (nine steals).
The win served as a launching point into the back-half of the season.
The maturation of Elliot Leffler
The 5-9 junior guard has taken massive strides in her development this winter, specifically in how she handles the variety of junk defenses opposing teams typically throw at her. She’s continued learning how to handle being face-guarded and has become adept at picking her spots on when to attack, Sims said, adding she’s letting the game come to her and trusting in her teammates rather than trying to force things.
That said, when the game is on the line, No. 24 is the one you want with the ball in her hands.
Leffler is averaging 18.8 points on 40% shooting this season and has established herself as a multi-level scorer, adding the mid-range to her talents as a downhill attacker and 3-point shooter.
She went for 22 points (14 in the second half) vs. Cathedral in the regional championship game, then grinded her way to 20 points in the semistate final vs. Jennings County (26% shooting) with an 8-for-10 mark at the free throw line, including a pair of clutch makes late in regulation.
They take care of the ball and they defend
The Royals average fewer than 12 turnovers per game, and were charged with only 14 across both games last Saturday.
Defensively, only two teams have cracked 60 points against Roncalli: Pike and Columbus North in a 74-60 win in the regular-season finale. This team is allowing just 44 points per game and averages 10.9 steals per game.
At the head of that defense is Cerny, whose commitment to that end of the floor sets the tone for her teammates — and occasionally results her needing to sub out for a couple minutes after knocking her head on the floor or against an opposing player while diving after a loose ball.
“I want to be here where I am right now (preparing to play for a state championship), and I know I need to have that grit and toughness,” Cerny said. “Even if I fall on the floor and bang my head multiple times.”
“Brennah’s amazing,” Turk added. “She gives it her all. She’s that player who’s always on the floor, banging her head and you’re like, ‘Shoot,’ but you always know she’s going to come back. She’s amazing to play alongside.”
Post presence
They sometimes get lost behind Roncalli’s core of guards — Leffler, Cerny, Rosko and Turk — but 6-1 forwards Lydia Stahley and Caroline Schoettle have both been very effective within their roles.
Stahley, a senior Missouri volleyball commit, has been particularly strong these past couple weeks. She carried the Royals through the opening minutes of the regional championship vs. Cathedral, then matched her season-high with 13 points, eight rebounds (six offensive) and an assist in the state semifinals vs. Jennings County.
Both Stahley and Schoettle, a junior who’s averaging four points and five rebounds, are underrated in their ability to pass out of the post and how they see the floor, Sims said.
Look for both players to have a key role in Saturday’s championship game against a Bellmont team which boasts a standout 5-11 center in Mary Bleke.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Offensive change, defensive grit & Leffler: Why Roncalli is playing for 3A title
Reporting by Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
