Andrean's first visit to Hanover Central gym results in 57-43 win over Lady Cats

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-25-2007

Saturday, 12-22-2007 -  Girls basketball at CEDAR LAKE, IN

ANDREAN (57)  Natasha Zurek 2-8-12, Jacklyn Gonzalez 5-0-10, Kelleigh McCrea 4-0-9, TaJee Jones 0-3-3, Kelly Tunberg 2-3-7, Brittany Andersen 2-0-4, Jiori Orfanos 2-3-8, Marissa Hulpa 1-0-3, Amy Blane 0-1-1, Kelsie Plesac 0-1-1, Kristina Kauffman 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  18 (19-25) 57.

HANOVER (43)  Jordan Kramer 3-7-15, Lindsay Martinez 2-3-7, Chrissy Homolka 3-0-7, Danielle Graham 2-1-5, Tori Dahlin 2-0-4, Shannon Kiraly 1-2-4, Meghan Parks 0-1-1, Anna Plassman 0-0-0, Abby Schweitzer 0-0-0, Kourtney Lindley 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  13 (13-20) 43.

FREE THROWS:  ANDREAN (19-25, 76%)  Zurek 8-9, Jones 3-4, Tunberg 3-5, Orfanos 3-3, Plesac 1-2, Blane 1-2.
HANOVER (13-18, 72.2%)  Kramer 7-8, Parks 1-2, Graham 1-3, Martinez 2-2, Dahlin 0-1, Kiraly 2-2.

REBOUNDS:  ANDREAN (23) Zurek 7, Jones 5, McCrea 3, Anderson 2, Blane 2, Plesac 2, Hulpa 2;  HANOVER (18)  Kiraly 6, Dahlin 4, Homolka 2, Kramer 2, Graham 2, Parks 2.

ASSISTS:  ANDREAN (7)  Zurek 3, McCrea 2, Orfanos, Blane;  HANOVER (4) Kramer 2, Martinez, Homolka.

STEALS:  ANDREAN (12) McCrea 4, Zurek 3, Gonzalez 2, Blane 2, Tunberg;  HANOVER (5) Parks 2, Graham, Homolka, Dahlin.

BLOCKS:  ANDREAN (4) Zurek 3, McCrea; HANOVER (3) Kiraly 2, Homolka.

TURNOVERS:  ANDREAN (5-6-5-6) 22;  HANOVER (6-6-9-5) 26.

3-GOALS:  ANDREAN (2) Kelleigh McCrea, Jiori Orfanos;   HANOVER (4) Jordan Kramer 2, Lindsay Martinez, Chrissy Homolka.

CEDAR LAKE, IN (12-22-2007) - It's my opinion that late Saturday afternoon basketball might be a good idea.  I don't want anybody to play at 10 a.m. on the weekend, but it never made any sense to me to play high school basketball at 7:30 Saturday night after the boys and girls have sat around doing nothing all day.  I think 3:00 p.m. varsity games Saturday could be the wave of the future.  The wave didn't arrive in time for Saturday's Hanover Central-Andrean contest.

The game lacked the energy there should have been between two nearby schools.  The game also lacked the energy Hanover needed to have any chance for an upset.  Andrean took the short ride home with a much-needed 57-43 win over the Lady Cats.

The Niners (3-8), who are rebuilding after an 18-5 season last year and have lost three games by three points or less, were still a little too big and strong for Hanover, which has no one taller than 5-foot-8.  In Andrean's first visit to the new Hanover Central gym (and perhaps their first girls basketball visit to Hanover overall) the Niners perimeter players, seniors Kelleigh McCrea, sophomore Jacklyn Gonzalez and freshman Natasha Zurek helped the visitors slowly build on an early lead.

Hanover Central (6-4) never led in a game that illustrated the different levels of play there are in Indiana basketball.  Hanover is 1-1 against 4A schools but they are a 2A school playing largely a 2A slate.  Andrean plays largely a 4A schedule.

"Our schedule is really, really rough," said longtime Andrean coach Ken Markfull.  "We started with Hebron, but then we played Merrillville, Gary West Side, Munster, Portage and  St. Joseph's.  We can compete, but our kids are new and when one little things goes wrong, they go downhill sometimes."

HC coach Doug Nelson, himself a little subdued after minor surgery last week, thought his girls weren't that excited about facing one of Northwest Indiana's premier programs (33-13 the last 2 seasons, 134-73 the last nine years) for the first time.

"Maybe it was me," Nelson said.  "But we weren't moving real well today.  We want to play the better teams, but we want to step up when we play them and we didn't do that today. You don't want to shy away from them."

"I would hope they don't need me to yell at them to get them playing.  That really wasn't going to happen today.  I'd bet if I asked the girls that something else was going on with them that I don't know about.  They didn't seem to have their thoughts into the game today."

Hanover trailed 8-2 when a run that included baskets by Shannon Kiraly and Jordan Kramer cut the lead to 12-11 at the end of one quarter.  Andrean's Marissa Hulpa hit a three-point basket for a four-point lead and HC could not produce much, other than 8-of-11 first half free throws.

In the third quarter, 5-foot-8 freshman point guard Natasha Zurek teamed with McCrea and helped open up the lead with the help of nine third period HC turnovers.  The size of Zurek and McCrea, as well as 5-foot-10 senior backup center TJ Jones hurt the home team after the break.  The Niners rarely let Kramer or Homolka get set for three point shots and Andrean's perimeter people were simple bigger and faster than HC backcourt people like Lindsay Martinez and Danielle Graham and just as skilled or more so.

"When you play the better programs your negatives start to show," said Nelson, "and that's what happened today.  That's the kind of challenge you should want."

With the 59ers leading 32-25, Gonzalez made a diving move towards the basket and scored while tripping over a Hanover defender who tried to slide in front of her.  The Niner junior appeared to land on her head and play was stopped over 20 minutes while she was attended to.  Emergency medical people arrived and strapped the Andrean girl into a stretcher, carrying her away to the hospital.  Everyone went home for the day unaware of Gonzalez' condition.  While HC drew within 37-29 and 40-30 after that, the mood of the afternoon changed a little and the outcome of the game became obvious.

It was odd to see Andrean playing at Hanover Central.  Despite the fact that the schools are less than 10 miles apart, the schools have not met in any team sport in Cedar Lake in this decade.  It's a glimpse into the future because Hanover will be a 3A team in the next decade.

"That's one of the reasons we wanted to play them," said Markfull.  "They aren't always going to be a small school.  They're coming to our place next year."

NINER-CAT NOTES:  Andrean junior Jacklyn Gonzalez suffered a head injury in the third quarter of Saturday's game driving for a layup and colliding with a Hanover player.  Gonzalez, a 5-foot-5 guard, had to be strapped into a stretcher and carried into an ambulance for the short trip to St. Anthony's Medical Center in Crown Point.

"The Hanover girl came up to me after the game and apologized," said Andrean coach Ken Markfull, "but it wasn't her fault.  She was just playing the game.  Jacklyn kinda led with her head.  It was scary because she tried to sit up and she got dizzy.  It was a little frightening."

The biggest surprise with Andrean this year is to see former all-stater Jamie Gutowski back as the junior varsity coach.  Gutowski, a four-year varsity player for coach Ken Markfull from 1999 to 2002, has a masters degree from Valparaiso University where she played four years for coach Keith Freeman.  But she still agreed to come back and be the JV coach when Markfull had no one else.

"Its fun because at this level there's so much to teach," said Gutowski, who was a varsity assistant coach at VU for one season.  "When you get to college, it's all about putting people in the right places.  You don't have to teach the fundamentals.  Here, it's still a very big learning process.  They have to learn to pass and catch and dribble before you can do anything else."

"I remember fundamental drills from when I played.  They listen to me.  I can joke around.  I'm still in their age demographic area loosely.  But when I get serious, they get serious."

"There's pros and cons with both.  If you get players when they're young, you can teach them a lot of things.  In college it's certainly a business and certainly a livelihood.  The time demands are extreme.  It's fun.  If I'd coach at any school, I'd want it to be Andrean.  The character of the kids, you can't ask for anything better.  The parents are the same."

"The kids don't know me and sometimes that's better.  Kelsey Plesac (Andrean freshman) is my cousin.  She's one of those kids who is still growing into her body.  She certainly has potential.  Natasha Zurek is very good.  She's got good skills for a freshman.  Her mom is a coach and you can see that."

Markfull is very excited to have Gutowski as the JV coach.

"You can't do any better than that," he said.  "She's exactly what you want.  A former player, a college player.  Someone like her.  I kept asking her and she agreed to do it."

"I'm learning things from her just listening to her every day.  She's got so much experience.  She is perfect for the job.  I cant believe she agreed to do it."

Gutowski admits: "I didn't really plan on it.  He (Markfull) called me and asked me.  The person he thought was going to be the JV coach left and he didn't have anybody else.  It was a last minute thing.  It was close to the season."

"I'm in a job search now.  I just got my Masters Degree in December.  If I'm taken out of the area, I can't but if I'm still around next year and I have the time available, I'd have to consider it.  I can't commit or de-commit to anything for the future."

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Revised: December 29, 2007 .