ANOTHER LEVEL: Hard work leads to standout season for Cougars junior

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GREENFIELD — It’s a tough question to answer, one that the Greenfield-Central coaching staff has sort of figured out.

Who do you put up against your star guard, Hannah Farrell, in one-on-one games during practice? The answer that they’ve come up with, sometimes at least, is themselves.

First-year coach Bradley Key knows how good Farrell is, how competitive she can be. He says he has a 4-3 advantage against his star player in head-to-head competition, and he wants to keep his lead.

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That’s why he’s sort of ducking her.

“They get competitive, but I make sure to let her know when I win,” Key said. “She’s getting better at talking a little bit to me when she starts to win. I don’t want to play her right now, because I’m afraid that she’ll beat me. I’m waiting until I get back in shape.”

It’s hard to blame him. Farrell, who led Hancock County in scoring last season while earning all-county and all-conference honors, has taken a huge leap this season in her junior year.

She leads the county in scoring yet again, this time at 21.3 points per game, about seven more than last season. She leads the county in steals with 3.7 per game. She’s second in assists at 3.1 per contest, third in rebounds at 8.3 per game, and ranks in the top 10 in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage.

Key knows that not many players are going to be able to beat Farrell, which is why either he or assistant coach Jordan Lewis, a former Greenfield-Central player who played at Evansville, will take to the court.

The junior enjoys the challenge of facing off against her coaches.

“I love playing against my coaches one-on-one,” Farrell said. “It is super competitive and if I can pull out a win it is always a plus. They push me very hard to be a better player not only during one-on-one but every other aspect of basketball as well.”

When she does go up against some of her teammates, it’s challenging for them, to say the least. It has its ups and downs.

It’s a learning experience.

“We’ve actually played together since I was in 5th grade at St. Michaels, so we’ve played together for a while,” sophomore Addie Hill said. “Playing one-on-one against her, it sucks, because she’s the best defender. It’s also good, because it pushes me a lot. Just picking up little things from her. She’s amazing at finishing, which is something I want to improve on.”

Having a player of Farrell’s caliber is a luxury Key hasn’t had in his coaching career. This year, his first at Greenfield-Central, is his 10th as a head coach.

Farrell is on another level from anyone he has coached before.

“I’ve never had anyone remotely close to the talent level she has,” Key said. “Not just the talent level, but the work that she puts in by herself. I don’t know if I’ve seen a better player at getting to the basket than what she can do. I try to kind of tell her hey, a 15-foot pull-up would be nice, but it’s hard to convince her of that when she’s able to get through people all of the time. It’s remarkable.”

A new role

This year, Farrell has been put in a new role, one she’s never had to take on before.

Just a junior, she’s been thrust into a leadership role, taking the reins from her older sister, Jessica, a 2018 Greenfield-Central graduate, and leading the Cougars herself this season.

There aren’t a lot of weaknesses in Farrell’s game, but both player and coach agree that her vocal leadership is an area to work on.

“It’s definitely different,” Farrell said. “I have to be vocal and everything, and if not, he’ll get on me about it. I’d say that’s one of the things I definitely have to work on this year to take my game to another level. I can’t say I’ve had to take this role before this year, so I’ve just been trying to work on it my best.”

Coming into this season, Key knew that he had a young, fairly inexperienced group taking the court. Several players that are in the regular rotation through 19 games had very little varsity basketball experience coming into the year.

That meant he would be counting on Farrell to help lead the team, help guide them through the transition.

She embraced that.

“All those little things that you want a player to do, Hannah is doing it. Your typical gym rat,” Key said. “What I really like is she always wants to come in early and shoot, but she’s brought other players in with her. Kind of developing that culture, and that’s what you want as a new coach, you want to have someone to point to to say if you want to be good, we’ve got to put in the work.”

She sets the example for her teammates. She’ll give them rides to and from practice. She’s friends with them off the court.

She puts in the work to improve not only her game, but her team.

“Physically, she is always giving 100 percent effort,” Key said. “That’s probably one of the neatest things to see. There is never a question that Hannah is giving all-out effort, all the time. I think that really pushed kids like Crystal (Peterson) or Addie to get to that next level.”

“She’s an awesome teammate,” Hill said. “She’s super competitive, always wants to get better. She always pushes her teammates to get better, as well.”

Keep fighting

When Key took over at Greenfield-Central this year, he talked to Farrell and gave her some feedback. He saw that she only made eight 3-pointers all of last season and he wanted to improve on that.

She took that to heart. That’s the type of player she is. Key said if you give her one small bit of feedback, Farrell will work tirelessly to improve.

She’s hit 38 3-pointers this year already. She matched her season total from last year in one game this year, breaking the school record with eight 3’s against Connersville.

“That’s not by accident. That has nothing to do with me,” Key said. “When I first talked to her, I said, ‘Hey, if you’re going to be a good player, you’re going to have to be able to knock down shots.’ She took that internally, and all summer, worked on her 3-point shot.”

Farrell views herself as a person who always sets goals and just works to achieve it, no matter what. She’s always been that way. She’s always operated that way.

She wants to improve her game with the goal of playing at the next level. She’s willing to put in the work to do that.

That’s what she thinks has made the difference this year, helping her numbers skyrocket from what was an already impressive sophomore season.

“I honestly feel like it’s the work I put in. No off days,” Farrell said. “I played AAU over the summer, transitioned into open gyms, the season. It’s just a full process.”

She plays with some of the better players in the area and the state during AAU basketball. She plays for the Indy Magic, and last season she played alongside New Palestine’s Leah Seib, the reigning Hancock County Player of the Year, and New Castle’s Cameron Tabor, one of the state’s premier players.

Joining her on the Magic this year is one of her best friends, Jordan Reid, another New Palestine standout. She has the opportunity to elevate her game in AAU, playing against a different level of competition, while then helping elevate her Greenfield-Central teammates.

“Hannah can play with anyone in the state. It’s been fun this year to watch her,” Key said. “We’ve won eight games and have really struggled at times, but without Hannah, I don’t know where we’d be.”

As the Cougars continue to grow and build for the future, Key said that he is glad that he gets another season with Farrell, to help develop the program further and get the Greenfield-Central girls basketball program moving in the right direction.

Being as competitive as she is, this season hasn’t always been easy on Farrell. But she will keep working hard, striving to be better, pushing to get the Cougars more wins and hopefully make some noise in the postseason.

“It’s been tough, but you’ve just got to keep pushing, keep practicing, keep putting in work,” Farrell said. “Just keep fighting. We’ve had some rough patches this season, like all teams do, but keep pushing hard for sectional.”

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Tonight, Hannah Farrell leads the Cougars (8-11, 1-4 HHC) into a county rivalry game against the county’s second-leading scorer, Lexi Shelton, and the host Mt. Vernon Marauders (15-4, 3-1). 

What: Greenfield-Central at Mt. Vernon girls basketball

When: Tonight, 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. varsity

Where: Mt. Vernon High School

Cost: $5

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