GREENFIELD — Hannah Farrell has been busy.
For the fourth year, the defending Hancock County Girls Basketball Player of the Year spent her spring and summer competing in AAU as a member of the Indy Magic. This summer was a little different, though.
This was her last season of AAU play, and it was a memorable one.
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“It went pretty good. Definitely busy,” Farrell said. “We played in tough tournaments against good competition. I feel like as a team, we played really well together. We had players from all over the state, so that was fun. I feel like I played pretty well, personally. I was a little slow coming back from my ankle, but I was fine once I got back into it.”
The Greenfield-Central standout missed much of the spring part of the AAU schedule with an ankle injury. Once she got back, she was full speed ahead.
Farrell earned multiple distinctions during the summer for her strong play, especially as the season neared its end.
“She lit it up in July, man. She showcased it offensively, her whole repertoire,” Indy Magic coach Kelvin Scott said. “The ball handling, the jump shot, her point guard skills … Her honors speak for themselves. She made two all-tournament teams.”
The Indy Magic competed as a Blue Star travel team this year and were chosen to participate in the first year of the Blue Star League. League play consisted of 24 teams from 16 different states split into two divisions.
The Magic competed in the Blue Division, finishing seventh with a 5-6 record. They participated in the invite-only Blue Star Nationals in Washington, D.C., from July 24 through July 26, capping their summer with a strong tournament run. Scott’s team went 1-2 in pool play and picked up a No. 5 seed, then won its first three elimination games before falling in the finals of the Blue bracket.
Farrell was named to the All-Star team for her pool, one of four total Indy Magic players to earn that distinction across two different pools.
“It’s super cool, a great honor,” Farrell said of her most recent accolade. “I appreciate it a lot.”
The event was both the end to the AAU season and the end of the AAU career for the Magic point guard. Farrell has been on Scott’s team since the spring before her freshman year of high school, after she quit travel softball to focus on basketball.
“It’s crazy. I have been with them for four years,” Farrell said. “This was my fourth summer with Coach Scott. I feel like they were just the best program I could have been a part of. They really develop you as players and as people.”
She took on more of a leadership role this year, along with more responsibility on offense for the Magic. She was an important piece to the Magic’s success, one that won’t be easy to replace.
“Hannah’s a special kid. Easy to coach,” Scott said. “I’m blessed because she’s an intelligent kid that knows the game. It’s kind of easy teaching those kinds of kids. She’s a pleasure to coach. She’s kind of like me — we’re both attentive to details.
“Hannah was a diamond in the rough. It’s going to be tough not having her around.”
During her final AAU season, Farrell caught the attention of some college coaches and saw her recruitment start to pick up. She has three official offers, including her first Division 1 offer from Bellarmine University, which will make the move from D2 after this year.
She’s also picked up offers from D3 (Trine) and IU East (NAIA). While she said she hopes to commit before her senior basketball season gets underway at Greenfield-Central so she can just focus on her high school season, she also isn’t in a rush.
“(Recruiting) has been going pretty well. July obviously helps with that,” Farrell said. “I’ve had a few offers and I’m just looking for the best fit right now. It’s been pretty stressful, but it just takes time. I’ve learned that it’ll come to me when it’s the best fit. I’ve just got to be patient.”
Wherever she inevitably ends up, Farrell’s AAU coach is confident he’ll see success in his point guard’s future.
“I think she’s got a big basketball future ahead of her,” Scott said. “Hannah’s got pro-like skills that she brings out occasionally. I’m looking for her to do big things. The only thing that’s going to stop Hannah at the next level is Hannah. Every year she was with me, she’s added something to her game. That lets me know she’s receptive to what you tell her, and she goes out and does whatever she can to improve that.”
This summer, Farrell said she improved on her dribbling, which got better and tighter due to the tougher defenses she was playing against. She still wants to improve on her three-point percentage, which she struggled with early on due to her ankle injury but got better as she got healthy.
After wrapping up her AAU career with an all-star nod, the defending county Player of the Year has some specific goals in mind both on and off the court for her senior year at Greenfield-Central.
“I hope to achieve good grades, that’s number one,” she said. “Basketball-wise, I really want to win a sectional. That’s the goal.”