Lady Wolves humble Wildcats, 62-40 in girls basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-30-2010

CEDAR LAKE, IN (01-28-2010)  This was a night when you could feel the length of the season.  It was about eight degrees outside last Thursday and while the game was not out of reach until the final few minutes, both sides fumbled and stumbled a little bit.

On nights when neither team plays well, the better team almost always wins.  That was the case last Thursday as Boone Grove completed a 12-game run through Porter County Conference foes with a 62-40 win on the road at Hanover Central.

"I don't know the last time we had a good hard practice," said Boone coach Candy Wilson after her side won for the fifth time in 11 days. "This wasn't pretty tonight.  But we've done every thing we wanted to do (Boone has one game left on Feb. 4 vs. North Judson) so far."

Hanover (9-8) battled Boone to a 17-17 tie after one quarter and they were only outscored 18-17 in the third period by the fifth-ranked Wolves (19-1).  HC had five shots at the basket, trailing by 10 with five and then four minutes to play.  But they just didn't have enough to beat a Boone team that should be undefeated.

"We should have beaten Crown Point," smiled Wilson, recalling a 60-59 road loss on Dec 12, which is now 13 victories ago.  "This is the best all-around team I've had.  We're not really led by one player."

Hanover coach Doug Nelson said basically the same thing.

"They have a very good team," he said of Boone.  "They've got a lot of players who can do a lot of good things.  We've got a tough schedule the rest of the way.  Kouts (14-3) and Kankakee Valley (11-7) and Morgan Township (4-11).  And we just don't seem to be getting better.  We keep making the same mistakes."

If these two teams meet again, which is a possibility in the Class 2A Culver Regional, it should be noted that this isn't a total mismatch.  HC got eight points from 5-foot-10 Abby Schweitzer and seven more from guard Kayla Higginbotham in the first period to earn the home team a 17-17 tie.  But Boone's 5-foot-11 sophomore Brittany Shaffer scored seven in the second quarter as Boone, which is shooting for the school's second (Boone was 20-1 in the 2005 regular season) 20-win regular season, scored seven points in the second quarter as the PCC champion Wolves built a 10-point lead.

To oversimplify this game, Boone's Emily Bobrowski kept stealing the ball.  Eight times in the game and six time in the second half.  And will all due credit to Bobrowski, an up-and-coming sophomore guard, Hanover Central kept making passes that could be stolen.

Both theses teams are favored win their Class 2A Sectional next month, but Boone is a lot more confident about it than the Lady Cats are.  In the third quarter, Schweitzer added nine points to keep HC in the game in front of a small midweek crowd.  But Hanover scored just one point in the final quarter and it was hard to tell why.

"I don't think they were just going through the motions," insisted Nelson.  "We just keep doing the same things wrong.  If you don't make a ball fake before you pass, you will get it stolen.  Last time we played them (last season) we beat them."

"But we are very inconsistent.  I really haven't watched any of the teams in our sectional lately.  I don't know how they're playing.  But we've got to pick up our game."

Boone has such an edge with 6-foot-1 Strilich, 5-foot-11 Shafer and 5-foot-10 Kelly Dobson and Claudia Cooper, whose wingspans allow them to get pass deflections on teams that aren't fundamentally sound.  With guards like Bobrowski, Megan Dewell, Jordan Chester and Mary Kieffer, the Wolves can survive foul trouble and defense a productive opponent of any size.  But now they simply await their fate (the state tourney pairings are announced Monday, Feb. 1) and the home finale against North Judson on Feb. 4.

"We're pretty much working on shooting now," said Wilson.  "Post shooting.  Coming off picks.  If we don't know our defense by now, we're not going to know it."

In the last 15 years, Hanover (9-7) has always had a schedule that is back-loaded.  They play four games in the final two weeks after the PCC Tournament, including a Saturday afternoon game on the final day of the season.

"We need to change that," Nelson said, citing the risk of a minor injury that could blow up playoff hopes.  "Nobody wants to play that day.  Everyone in your sectional is in the stands watching you."

"As soon as we learn and understand the value of a possession, we'll stop throwing the ball away."

CAT/WOLF NOTES:  Boone Grove is happy to be in the Hebron Class 2A Sectional this year.  They don't have to host the tourney, but Hebron high is two miles from the Boone school building.  It's a perfect scenario.  But Boone coach Candy Wilson still is wary of a first round bye in the six-team Class 2A Sectional 34.

"I don't know," she said.  "If we get a bye, we get more than a week off.  That doesn't always work for us."

Wilson, finishing her 13th season with her eighth PCC title, understandably wasn't excited about the prospect of a 20-1 regular season.  Boone was 20-1 five years ago and finished 21-2 after an upset home court loss to Wheeler.

"I don't even look at records until the season is over.  We've had a lot of good years.  It's all about what we do now."

Boone and Hanover raised $183 for the American Cancer Society in another "Coaches vs. Cancer" fundraiser.  Donations were collected and pink "Hanover vs. Boone, Coaches vs. Cancer" T-shirts were sold.  This is the third consecutive year that this match up was used to raise funds for the fatal disease that touches most families.

"Just about everyone on our team has had someone in their family with cancer," said Wilson.  "I think we'll always do it on this day."

"Nelson added, "We sold out of (pink) T-shirts.  For a Thursday night, we had a pretty good crowd."

Hanover will be home for the sectional and they are a slight favorite against Noll, Wheeler, Lake Station and River Forest (13-5).  RF defeated Hanover in the season opener, but HC senior Abby Schweitzer, who is being recruited by Division III Manchester, did not play on that night.

"I'm glad we're here," said Nelson of the sectional.  "A lot of things can go wrong if you're traveling.  You're shooting at rims here that you shot at all season."

(2A) Boone Grove (19-1)
Coach: Candy Wilson, 186-103 (13th year)

Nov. 13 (W) 58-32 Calumet (14-5)
Nov. 14 (W) 44-40 Highland (5-12)
Nov. 17 (W) 50-35 at River Forest (12-5)
Nov. 21 (W) 73-39 Hebron (6-12)
Dec. 1 (W) 51-49 Kankakee Valley (11-7)
Dec. 4 (W) 68-30 at Washington Twp. (4-13)
Dec. 12 (L) 59-60 at Crown Point (9-9)
Dec. 15 (W) 55-49 Kouts (14-3)
Dec. 17 (W) 46-38 Morgan Twp (4-11)
Dec. 18 (W) 58-18 LaCrosse (1-16)

South County Tournament
Dec. 22 (W) 45-36 Kouts (14-3)
Dec. 22 (W) 52-37 Hebron (6-12) FINAL

Jan. 12 (W) 72-28 at Lake Station (4-13)8
Jan. 14 (W) 52-45 Wheeler (8-10)
Jan. 16 (W) 63-40 at South Central (8-10)

Porter County Conference Tournament
Jan. 18 (W) 56-39 Kouts (14-3)
Jan. 22 (W) 59-38 Hebron (6-12)t
Jan. 23 (W) 65-37 South Central (8-10) FINAL

Jan. 26 (W) 69-44 at Lowell (4-13)
Jan. 28 (W) 62-40 at Hanover Central (9-8)
Feb. 4 vs. North Judson (8-9)

Hebron (2A) Sectional
(with Culver, Winamac, North Judson, North Newton, and Boone Grove)
Feb 10 (Wed) quarterfinal - 7:00 p.m.
Feb 12 (Fri) semifinals - 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 13 (Sat) championship - 7:00 p.m.

Culver (2A) Regional
(with sectional winners from Jimtown, Eastside, Hebron and Hanover Central)
Feb 20 (Sat.) semifinals - 11:00 a.m.
Feb. 20 (Sat.) championship = 7:00 p.m.

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