Fouls
spell downfall for Lady
Wolves, lose
to Kouts 45-39 in South County Championship gameFouls
spell downfall for Lady
Wolves, lose
to Kouts 45-39 in South County Championship gameA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
12-24-2007
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| KOUTS (11-1) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 45 |
| BOONE GROVE (7-5) | 8 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 39 |
Saturday, December 22, 2007 - South County Championship at HEBRON, IN
KOUTS (45)
Karley VanDyke 2-0-5, Jordan
Jessen 1-3-5, Hannah McNeil 1-2-4, Ann Marie
Keller 3-2-11, Juliette Keller 4-9-18, Megan
Rust 1-0-2, Courtney Bennett 0-0-0. TOTALS:
12 (16-28) 45.
BOONE GROVE (39) Jessica Fauser
1-4-6, Jessica Dowdy 2-5-9, Emily Strilich
2-0-4, Kelly Dobson 3-2-9, Kristyn Kessler
0-1-1, Caitlyn Wilcox 1-1-3, Brittany Dewell
2-1-6, Mary Kiefer 0-1-1. TOTALS: 11
(15-26) 39.
FREE THROWS: KOUTS (16-28, 57.1%)
Juliette Keller 9-14, Ann Marie Keller 2-6,
Jessen 3-4, McNeil 2-4.
BOONE (15-26,
57.6%) Kessler 1-2, Fauser 4-5, Dowdy 5-7,
Dobson 2-4, Wilcox 1-3, Dewell 1-2, Kiefer
1-3.
REBOUNDS: KOUTS (35) Jessen 12,
Van Dyke 9, Juliette Keller 4, Ann Marie
Keller 4, McNeil 4, Bennett 2.
BOONE (26) Strilich 6, Kessler 4, Dewell 4, Fauser 3,
Dowdy 4, Dobson 2, Kiefer 2, Wilcox.
ASSISTS:
KOUTS (4) Jessen 2, Bennett,
Juliette Keller; BOONE (4) Dowdy 3, Dobson.
STEALS: KOUTS (3) Jessen 2, Ann
Marie Keller; BOONE (5) Fauser 2, Dowdy,
Dewell, Dobson.
TURNOVERS:
KOUTS (4-4-4-4) 16; BOONE
(3-3-3-2) 11.
3-GOALS: KOUTS (5) Ann Marie Keller
3, Juliette Keller, Karley Van Dyke; BOONE
(2) Kelly Dobson, Brittany Dewell.
FOULED OUT:
KOUTS (2) Hannah McNeil
(4th Q) 3:11 left; Courtney Bennett (4th Q)
:50; BOONE (4) Emily Strilich (4th Q) 5:35;
Brittany Dewell (4th Q) 3:36; Kristyn
Kessler (4th Q) :25; Jessica Fauser (4th Q)
0:03.
HEBRON (12-22-2007) You know it's a good rivalry when one team beats another twice and the team that got beat still thinks they're the better team. That's why even though the coaches in the Porter County Conference (PCC) tire of these endless tournaments involving league schools, they are the trademark of the league.
Saturday, Boone Grove and Kouts battled deep into the night in the finals of the South County tournament in the new Hebron gym. Down 28-20 with 5:20 left in the third quarter, Kouts rallied to win 45-39 in a foul-filled, typical PCC Saturday night.
Kouts, which beat Boone 50-44 on Dec. 11, won the South County title for the
second consecutive year. But they know they also won the regular
season and South County matchups from Boone last year before losing by 21 in
the PCC's crown jewel, the eight-team single-elimination league championship
tournament in January.
"I know," said Kouts coach Mike Cronkhite. "I know. We'll cross
that bridge when we get there. And who knows. There's probably a
pretty good chance that we will."
Boone thinks it will. Even though it's about two miles from Hebron to Boone, it was a long ride home because the Wolves (7-5) were unhappy that four of their players fouled out and Kouts got 28 foul shots.
"I usually don't talk about the referees," said Boone coach Candy Wilson.
"We missed a lot of free throws, but all those fouls killed us."
The 28 fouls against Boone hurt the Wolves chances, particularly the fifth
on 6-foot-1 forward Emily Strilich with 5:35 to play and the fifth on
valuable sub Brittany Dewell with 3:36 to go.
This was a slow-moving game that had ebbs and flows. Kouts (11-1), which was 20-3 last season, inched ahead 13-9 early, but couldn't hit enough shots to open up a real lead. Boone rallied with a 12-4 run, largely on free throws to take a four-point halftime lead.
Senior guard Juliette Keller, who did not play in the 45-30 semifinal win over Morgan Township, scored all nine of the Fillies second quarter points to keep them close. When Kouts fell behind 28-20 early in the third period, Keller's sophomore sister Ann Marie Keller hit two three-point goals, one while being fouled (a four-point play) to pull Kouts even 28-28 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
Boone, led by senior guards Jessica Dowdy and Jessica Fauser, moved ahead 34-31. But after Strilich fouled out Kouts dragged themselves to victory, scoring the final 10 points on free throws, while the Boone bench simmered about call after call going against them.
"It was weird," said Wilson. "There was questionable officiating.
We had them trapped a couple of times and we get a foul."
The other story was Dowdy, who scored nine, but made just two free throws.
One stat sheet had Dowdy at 2-of-10 from the field and both of those were
running shots in the lane. Dowdy was the PCC's top three-point shooter
last season, but out of necessity, she's moved to point guard this year. It
may have made her easier to defense. At least for Kouts.
"I have nothing but the utmost respect for Jessica," said Cronkhite.
"She's done a great job for four years and we know there's not a better
shooter around when she gets set. Our goal was not to let her get her
feet set. From what I've charted and what I've scouted, she is not as
good a shooter when she can't set her feet, percentage-wise."
Kouts presses everyone, but they did not press Boone, in part, because they
did not want to trap Dowdy. If she passes out of the trap, you then have
Boone's top 3-point shooter roaming off the ball and running off picks for
three-point shots. If you let her walk it up and never leave her, she has
to shoot on the run.
"What we've seen is not her," admitted Cronkhite, with some concern. "She was 0-for-11 the first time we saw her and she didn't hit any 3s tonight. We know that's not normal."
Wilson thought that Dowdy's time will come against Kouts.
"I dont think they did anything special against her," she said. "She's getting shots. She had to pull the trigger a little faster than normal."
Kouts was 16 of 28 from the line while Boone was 15 of 26. Neither side was
proud of that. Even though Kouts was in the double bonus (where every foul
is a guaranteed two shots) midway in the final period, Boone did have
chances to win the game late. With Kouts leading 38-36 with 56 seconds
to go, Fauser missed a 1-and-1 free throw chance. After a jump ball,
Dowdy missed a 1-and-1 opportunity with 50 seconds left.
Then the game's most controversial play. Boone's Fauser and Kristyn
Kessler trapped Juliette Keller near the sidelines on the side of the gym
opposite from both benches. There did not appear to be any contact and
a 5-second held ball call seemed imminent.
But a foul was called on Kessler and Keller sank two free throws to make it
40-36 with 38 seconds to go. The Wolves closed to within 40-37 and
42-39 with 14 second to go, but Ann Marie Keller's foul shot with 12 seconds
left upped the lead to 43-39 and clinched the win.
On the line late Saturday was not only the South County title but the CC 'Kup',
the league's traveling trophy that Boone has owned most of the last four
years. The winner gets to decorate the 'Kup', a large beer mug, in school
colors and they sit it on their bench during games. Boone, the defending
PCC tournament champion, lost the 'Kup' in the regular season loss to Kouts
and they did not regain it last Saturday in the South County final. So
they have one chance to get it back at Janaury's PCC tournament. Which is
more important?
"I'd rather win all three," said Wilson, who simply did not think her side
deserved to lose. "I don't think we had a bad game. I think we
were taken out of the game (figuratively and literally) by the officials."
SOUTH COUNTY NOTES: Kouts coach Mike Cronkhite did not play top scoring senior Juliette Keller in the semifnals due to a torn calf muscle, but she played most of the way against Boone.
"I didnt know until about 3 p.m. today whether she could play or not," said
Cronkhite. "She actually said she was okay last night, but I just didn't
want to play her. What did she score? 17? 18? That's about her
average."
The attendance was about 300 for the South County finals. The
atmosphere was lively, but the crowd was not large. Hebron did not
open the upper deck or the bleachers at each end of the floor. Hebron will
host the PCC tournament in 2009.
Hebron (3-10) won the third place game 43-34, breaking an eight-game losing
streak.
Kouts'
victory over Boone was the Fillies' eighth win in a row.
The foul problems for Brittany Dewell might have been the most severe.
Dewell,
who has three double figure scoring games in December, drew
her third foul with 5:27 left in the second quarter and sat down until half
time. The 5-foot-8 freshman then drew her fourth foul with 6:37 left
in the third quarter and she sat down until the start of the fourth quarter.
"She had a very good game against them last time," said Wilson. "That hurt us a lot."
Dewell scored nine of her 12 points in the second quarter of the Wolves' 53-42 semifinal win over Hebron Friday night. 6-foot-1 Emily Strilich scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kelly Dobson scored a game-high 16 for the Wolves, who outscored Hebron 23-10 in the second quarter.
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Revised:
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