BORDEN, Ind. (WDRB) — The Borden High School girls basketball team won its first state championship a year ago. Now, essentially the same team is trying for back-to-back titles and they are just one win away from that rare feat. 

The team has found there is something pretty special about being a high school basketball hero in the small southern Indiana community. 

"There's signs all over people's houses," said senior forward Emma Hart. "They're donating cookie cakes, paying for our dinners and doing all the fun stuff for us."

"They're so excited for us," said senior guard Riley Rarick. "Like, this is actually my first full day in school this week because we've just been doing so much with our community."

For 9th-year head coach Matt Vick, the community support is really important. 

"Like I've always said, there's not much to do in Borden so our town supports our athletics 100 percent," said Vick. "These girls have ate like kings this week because everybody wants to donate money or donate food and it's been very nice to have the support by our community. To me I think that's the most important thing the girls will remember from this whole thing."

What the community will remember is a group of seniors that changed the fortunes of this program on the day they arrived. All five starters are seniors, four of them started as freshman. Three have reached the 1000-point mark in their careers and they've done a lot of winning. 

"If you would have asked the parents about four years ago, you know, we should have been to every state final," said Vick with a smile. "We knew we had a really good group and had the potential to make it up to Gainbridge and we were fortunate enough to win it all last year. This year I feel like we had a huge target on our back because we pretty much brought the whole team back. We had some major injuries this year and we got through it and we're just starting to play some of our best basketball at the right time."

Those seniors admit this year has been a little tougher, dealing with expectations and some people expecting another championship. But, they have been together and played together for in some cases eight years, and that familiarity and the bond they have built has helped them get through any tough times that have come. 

The team hopes their bond gets them through one more 1A title game as the Lady Braves meet Fremont at 10:30 Saturday morning at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Eastern (Pekin) is also playing for a state championship. They play Oak Hill for the 2A title at 12:45 pm. 

For more information about the games, click here.

Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.