Now a head coach, former Washington all-stater wins Indiana basketball state title

In his first season as a basketball head coach, Matt Roth hit nothing but net.

The former Washington high school and Indiana University sharpshooter coached Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian to Indiana's Class 2A state championship on Saturday in Indianapolis.

No. 3-ranked Blackhawk Christian (27-3) defeated No. 1 Linton-Stockton 52-45 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It was the school's third state title after claiming championships in 2019 (Class A) and 2021 (2A).

This championship is the first under Roth, 33, who took over for Marc Davidson who died of cancer last spring at age 49.

"I'm just so proud of our guys, what they've endured over the last two seasons, losing someone so special — a father, a coach, a dear beloved brother Blackhawk," Roth said after the game via Bally Sports Indiana. "They worked their tail off, and they earned this."

'A home run’: Matt Roth learned from Marc Davidson, leading Blackhawk Christian

As a high school senior in 2007-08, Roth averaged 21.4 points and 4.3 made 3-pointers per game to lead the Panthers to a 26-5 season and the Class 3A state finals. The first-team all-stater remains Illinois' all-time leader in made 3-pointers. Roth played under late Washington coach Kevin Brown, who died of brain cancer in 2019.

As a senior at Indiana in the 2011-12 season, Roth led the Big Ten Conference in 3-point shooting at 54.5% as the Hoosiers went 27-9 and reached the Sweet 16.

After college, Roth started coaching with Davidson at Blackhawk Christian. He got married in 2014 to former IU basketball and volleyball player Lindsay Enterline. They have three children, ages 8, 6 and 4. Roth stayed involved in basketball as a trainer and later a referee with his father-in-law, Bob Enterline. But he had an itch to get back into coaching and joined the staff at Indianapolis Heritage Christian for a season in 2021-22.

Roth was hired at Blackhawk Christian last May, just five days before Davidson lost his battle with cancer. Roth is an elementary and middle school physical education and health teacher at the school. He said the return to Blackhawk has been “a home run.”

Game details: Matt Roth leads Blackhawk Christian to state title in first season

“I know many years ago my calling was to invest in kids,” he said. “I did it as an assistant and did it in sports medicine when I had a great opportunity in Fort Wayne.

"But for the day to day, being there and investing in a program and the youth, ultimately the best move was getting into school and getting to be able to teach and just falling in love with the process of building up the youth. It’s been a home run in that sense that everything worked out.”

Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Matt Roth leads Blackhawk Christian to Indiana state basketball title