2004-05 Season opener   -  Tuesday, 11-9-2003 at Boone Grove

RIVER FOREST (29) Monica Solis 2-0-5, Mikal Minarich 3-1-7, Rebecca Dominguez 2-0-5, Julia Horn 1-0-3, Krystal Montes 3-3-9, Rocio Cisneros 0-0-0, Rachel Lightfoot 0-0-0, Amanda Russi 0-0-0, Maddy Hardin 0-0-0, Angel Trinidad 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-4-29.

BOONE GROVE (64) Becky Keller 6-0-15, Kara Kessler 1-1-3, Lani Marsh 3-2-8, Danielle Jacobs 5-0-10, Cortney Flanigan 1-0-2, Sara Martinovich 1-2-4, Megan DeWell 2-0-4, Karissa Walter 6-6-18, Brittney Roach 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-11-64. FGs: 25-58, 43.1%

FREE THROWS: RF (4-11, 36.3 %) Krystal Montes 3-6, Minal Minarich 1-3, Angel Trinidad 0-2. BOONE GROVE (11-18, 61.1%) Lani March 2-4, Karissa Walter 6-7, Sara Martinovich 2-02, Kara Kessler 1-2, Megan DeWell 0-2, Cortney Flanigan 0-1.

REBOUNDS: RF (17) Krystal Montes – 8 , Mikal Minarich – 2; BOONE GROVE (28) Karissa Walter – 7, Danielle Jacobs – 6, Cortney Flanigan – 5, Lani Marsh – 5.

ASSISTS: RF (8) Monica Solis 3, BOONE GROVE (14) Cortney Flanigan 7, Karissa Walter 3, Becky Keller 2.

STEALS: RF (7) Rachel Lightfoot 4; BOONE GROVE (23) Karissa Walter 11, Danielle Jacobs 4, Becky Keller 2, Cortney Flanigan 2, Lani Marsh 2, Megan DeWell 2.

THREE POINT GOALS – BOONE GROVE (3) Becky Keller 3, RF (3) Monica Solis, Rebecca Dominguez, Julia Horn.

PORTER TOWNSHIP (11-9-2004) -  There was no way to judge Boone Grove on this, the 2004-2005 season opener. They expected to beat River Forest. So when the final score was 64-29, everybody shook hands and went home to an entirely different set of realities.

River Forest was encouraged. An arson fire this month closed River Forest high school for awhile and made the school's gym unusable. The Ingots practiced away from home and the loss by 35 points was considered a step forward during a time of hardship.

“They beat us by 62 last year,” said RF coach Rich Heavilin. “WE brought three kids up who had no varsity experience and we had three girls who have absolutely no varsity experience.”

“They proved they wanted to play. We're not basketball players. We work hard. They listen. They work hard and they do the best we can.”

Boone Grove is at the totally other end of the spectrum. The Wolves, coming off a 17-8 season last year, have six seniors back including leading scorers Karissa Walter and 5-10 guard Becky Keller. Boone wants to win the Porter County Conference (PCC), sectional and regional championships like they did two years ago. They say it out loud because everybody else is saying it.

“I was pleased at the beginning and pleased at the end,” said Boone's eighth year coach Candy Wilson. “The middle was a little ugly. We pulled off our 1-3-1 trap defense. There was no point to it. Our starting five was pretty solid. When we started to substitute, things broke down.”

Boone ran out to a 17-0 lead after not scoring for the first 3:40. The smaller Ingots, with only 5-11 Mikal Minarich standing taller than 5-8, made a couple of nice entry passes and outscored Boone 10-9 in the middle of the second quarter The Ingots actually 'won' the third period 12-11 before the Wolves mounted an 18-3 fourth quarter.

Boone got some nice fast break baskets in the late going, sparked by Walter's 11 steals and sophomore guard Cortney Flanigan's seven assists. Boone, which forced 34 Ingot turnovers, wants to see transition baskets and better outside shooting to justify their No. 4 ranking state wide among 2A schools.

“A lot of people are going to play a zone,” said Wilson, who noted three area coaches in the stands scouting her girls. “And more zones and more zones. That's why I hate this first game. Nobody else plays on this night. They all get to come and see us. But we do have the advantage of getting a game in before we play everybody else.”

Boone was disappointed to lose an overtime championship game to Wheeler last year at the Hanover Central Sectional after losing a quarterfinal game to Hanover in the PCC Tournament. Wheeler was then bombed by eventual state champion Rochester and the Wolves were left to wonder why the best team didn't win the biggest games.

“We had them (high expectations) last year,” Wilson said. “That's just the way it is. We can't look ahead on anybody. Look at what happened to us at the PCC tournament last year. I don't even know if we looked past them. Everybody is 10 times more aggressive against you because they know you are the team to beat.”

Boone is the team to beat in the PCC, with Washington Township and South Central being the top contenders. Boone is favored in the sectional, with Wheeler as the No. 1 foe. The strength is two point guards, Walter, a four year starter and Flanigan, a skilled sophomore. Senior Lani Marsh and junior Kara Kessler are strong 5-10 post players while gifted 5-10 senior athletes Danielle Jacobs and Becky Keller excel as running, pressing wings. Throw in senior guard-wings Megan Dewell and Sara Martinovich and the Wolves have one of the best group of eight players this side of Class 4A.

“They're a darn good team” said Heavilin of Boone. “We're not going to see anybody who's as quick as they are. Karissa Walter just says 'Gimme the ball. Gimme the ball.' And she goes and gets it anyway she can.”

But Boone had all eight of their top players last year and they lost like Democrats when the big election was held. The hard part will be to wait two or three months before they can right a 12-month wrong.

Becky Keller said she isn't looking down the road. “I just say, 'Hey there's a game tonight. We've got to win.' I've looked forward to this. I couldn't wait to get started.”

WOLF NOTES:  Coach Candy Wilson recognizes that this season ends her first major career segment as a coach.

“This group is special,” she says. “Just because they were fifth graders when I took over. We've got a lot of good kids coming now. There's going to be a little gap after this group because we've got a very young JV and a very old varsity. But it evens out after that. It's an even flow. There will be good players coming all the time.”

“But it's hard because you feel like a little bit of your family is leaving every time (some kids graduate) and this is the personality of our group leaving. These six. After this, we'll have a new personality.”

River Forest's gym may be back in action sooner as opposed to later in their fire damaged school.

“It looks like we'll get back in a week or two. The floor is clear. The damage isn't actually on the playing surface. They're supposed to shore up the wall. The engineer says he can do it. The problem right now is that a lot of stuff from upstairs is in the gym.”

The fire originally looked like it would kick River Forest out of their gym for the entire season.

“That's what I thought, too,” said Heavilin. “Its encouraging. Every time they talk to us it looks a little better. Now, they say they can shore up the wall and they'll tear it down and rebuild over Christmas.

BOONE GROVE (1-0)

Coach CANDY WILSON (17-5 in 2003-04) 8th year

Nov. 9	River Forest {1A}	W   64-  29
Nov. 12	at Calumet {3A}	7:30 pm
Nov. 13	at Hebron {1A}‡	7:30 pm
Nov. 19	at Knox {3A}	7:00 pm
Nov. 23	LaCrosse {1A}‡	7:00 pm
Nov. 30	at Kankakee Valley {3A}	7:30 pm
Dec. 9	Washington Twp. {1A}‡	7:00 pm
Dec. 11	Crown Point {4A}	7:30 pm
Dec. 14	Kouts {1A}‡	7:00 pm
Dec. 16	at Morgan Twp. {1A}‡	7:00 pm
Dec. 29-30	South County Tournament
Jan. 4	at North Newton {2A}	7:00 pm
Jan. 6	South Central (Union Mills) {1A}‡	7:00 pm
Jan. 12	Lake Station {2A}	7:00 pm
Jan. 17-22	Porter County Conference Tournament
Jan. 25	at Wheeler {2A}	7:00 pm
Jan. 27	Hanover Central {2A}‡	7:00 pm
Feb. 3	at North Judson {2A}	6:30 pm
‡PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE GAME

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Revised: November 13, 2004 .