Dana Hunsinger Benbow | IndyStar

Akeem Glaspie, IndyStar

The first diagnosis came three weeks after she ran a marathon — Stage 3 lung cancer. Lung cancer invading the organs of a fit 42-year-old woman, a standout athlete and Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer, who had never smoked a cigarette in her life.

The second diagnosis came a few years later, after she had thanked God for her cancer-free body, it was back — Stage 4. The cancer had metastasized, spread to her bones and attached to her upper right bicep in the form of a massive tumor.

Provided by Team Courtney Strong

Courtney Cox Cole had been an athlete all her life, leading Noblesville High to three straight state finals, including a championship in 1987, and going on to play at Indiana University. Yet, she always said that no rival was as tough as cancer.

"I am playing against my biggest competitor. ... It is a constant mental game," Cole wrote in a series of columns she produced chronicling her health battle in the Hamilton County Reporter. "I am very thankful for my athletic background as it allows me to have an attitude to compete against this disease. It is definitely the toughest competition that I have ever encountered."

Cole, who was on IU’s 1991 WNIT runner-up basketball team and went on to become a local celebrity as one of the "sisters of savings" in radio ads for Hare Chevrolet, died Sunday at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville. She was 48.

Provided by Team Courtney Strong

Last week, Cole was admitted to the hospital with a pulmonary embolism and spent a night in intensive care. On Tuesday, Cole came home and was put on hospice care after doctors and family decided treatments should be stopped.

"Our focus is on keeping her comfortable and her spirits high," a post to the Facebook page Team Courtney Strong read Wednesday. "She sleeps quite a bit, but when she's awake, still has that awesome sense of humor."

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The post accompanied a photo of Cole with a basin on her head before leaving the hospital this week. On Saturday, she returned to Riverview and continued hospice care there.

"It is with extreme sadness that we relay the news of Courtney’s passing earlier this afternoon. She was a true warrior and champion at everything she did in life, including fighting this horrible cancer," a post to the Facebook page read Sunday evening. "She was surrounded by family and loved ones when she passed. Thank you so much for all your prayers and thoughts. She was a very loved woman by all, and we will miss her immensely."

'She was that good'

Todd Leary will never forget that fifth grader who showed up to try out for his boys travel basketball team at the Jordan YMCA on Westfield Boulevard.

"The best person that came to the tryouts was Courtney Cox. No one knew she was a girl, she had short hair and she was that good," said Leary, who played basketball for Bob Knight at IU from 1989 to 1994. "And our dads didn’t want to tell us she was a girl."

She was aggressive and fast and could read opponents and defend like no other. She easily landed a spot as a starter.

Provided by Todd Leary

"It was very difficult for my fifth grade ego to say she was the best player on the team," said Leary. "There was no doubt she was and somebody like that you never forget them."

He remembers Cole being quiet and shy back then. Of course, it had to be tough playing against the guys who deep down didn't really want her on the team, he said.

"We were all like 'This is stupid. This is ridiculous,' " Leary said. "But when we needed a basket, we sure as hell passed her the ball."

Once in high school, Cole scored a Noblesville record 1,869 career points and graduated as Indiana’s fourth all-time girls scoring leader.

She was a 1989 Indiana All-Star, named USA Today and Parade Magazine 1st team All-American, Gatorade Player of the Year and won a Dial Award for National High School Athlete Scholar of the Year.

IndyStar file photo

Cole's athletic prowess extended beyond the court. She was a two-time state golf champion at Noblesville and a three time all-Big Ten and three-time Academic All-American in golf at IU.

Her death comes just weeks after her Noblesville state champion teammate Krissi Davis died in her sleep at 51. The two played on the 1987 team that went undefeated.

Cole: 'Life is truly a gift'

Later in life, Cole's athletic feats were overshadowed by her role as businesswoman. For the past two decades, Cole has best been known as the co-owner, along with her sister, Monica Peck, of Hare Chevrolet in Noblesville.

The sisters were sixth-generation owners of the 172-year-old company, founded in 1847 as a buggy and wagon maker. They bought out their father, Dave Cox, in 2008 and then in 2017 sold the business to Duluth, Ga.-based Asbury Automotive Group.

Charlie Nye, Indianapolis Star

"It was a very emotional decision," Peck told IndyStar at the time. She said that Cole's health was not the sole factor for selling and that her sister was "good right now and continuing the fight."

As Sharon Smith worked in Noblesville and Hamilton County, it was tough to not run into Cole, who was active in volunteering and community betterment.

"When I think of Courtney, I immediately think of her smile," Smith said. "And her confidence and skill as a businesswoman."

Smith remembers meeting with Cole to discuss new ways the dealership could engage the community and always leaving fired up about the ideas they had discussed.

"Her energy, enthusiasm and love for Noblesville was infectious," she said. (This is) a very sad time for so many."

Around central Indiana, Cole and Peck took to the airwaves with quirky radio ads laced with bad puns, such as the one they did last year when Indy's streets were filled with potholes.

"Hi, Central Indiana, have you reached a "bump" in the road with our competitors? Tired of getting 'filled' with terrible deals? I'm Courtney Cole, and I'm Monica Peck, the sisters of savings. Hit the 'concrete' and take a path to a new or used car or truck."

Charlie Nye/IndyStar

Jerry Torr, a state representative from Hamilton County, said he would always hear about those commercials from friends and acquaintances.

"One day, I said to her, 'I never hear these sisters of savings commercials,'" said Torr, a Republican from Carmel. "She asked me what station I listened to. I told her WIBC, and she said, 'No wonder you don't hear them. That's not our demographic.' "

That sense of humor is what Torr will miss most about Cole. Even as she fought a disease she knew was going to end her life, it didn't wane.

"Just the courage and the positive attitude that she seemed to have kept through all of this," he said. "I'm sure there were times with close friends and family that were different than that. But being able to keep that sense of humor through it all was so admirable."

Cole would never take a day for granted.

"My biggest lesson is that life is truly a gift," she wrote after she found out her cancer had returned. "I have quickly learned that every day is a gift and it is up to us to make the absolute most of it."

Cole was the mother of two, daughter, Cayla, 17, and son, Blake, 14. In addition to her children, survivors include her parents, Dave and Jackie Cox, sister, Monica (Darren) Peck, her fiancé, Tom New, her niece, Sydney Peck, nephew, Alexander Peck and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visitation will be Sept. 27 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sept. 28 from 12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. at Noblesville First United Methodist Church, 2051 Monument Street in Noblesville. The funeral will be Sept. 28th at 1 p.m. at the church. A private graveside service will follow with a Celebration of Life reception from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Harbour Trees Golf Club, 333 Regents Park Lane in Noblesville.