|
Team |
1st Qtr |
2nd Qtr |
3rd Qtr |
4th Qtr |
Final |
| BOONE GROVE (6-1, 2-0) | 28 | 11 | 19 | 21 | 79 |
| Wheeler (5-3, 1-2) | 8 | 14 | 15 | 24 | 61 |
Saturday,
Dec. 7, 2002 in Union Township
BOONE GROVE (79) AJ Puller 6-4-16, Karissa Walter 3-7-13,
Heather Moy 3-4-10, Jenn Keller 2-6-10, Lani Marsh 4-2-10, Rachel Jenkins 2-0-4,
Sara Martinovich 1-5-7, Becky Keller 3-1-7, Danielle Jacobs 0-1-1. TOTALS:
24-30-79
FTS: 30-52, 57.6 percent
TURNOVERS: 19
FOULED OUT: Rachel Jenkins - 7:39 left (3Q); Jenn Keller - 4:14 left (4th
Q).
3-POINT GOALS (0) None
WHEELER (61) Alyse Bruszewski 5-4-14, Maggie Schultz 3-0-6,
Lindsey Schiess 3-3-9, Allison Roper 3-1-9, Allison Goetcheus 5-2-12, Carissa
Altaras 2-0-4, Cassie Maglish 1-5-7, Jessica Svetich 0-0-0, Allison Hayes 0-0-0
. TOTALS: 22-15-61
FTS: 15-29, 51.7 %
TURNOVERS: 20
FOULED OUT: Allison Goetcheus - 2:00 left (3rd Q); Maggie Schultz - :48 left
(4th Q);
Allison Roper - 1:03 (4th Q).
3-POINT GOALS (2) Allison Roper (2)
UNION
TOWNSHIP (12-7-2002) - At the start of the season, Saturday's Boone
Grove at Wheeler game was to be for the league championship.
That had changed before the tip-off. Washington Township rolled over Wheeler
53-31 on Nov. 29 and, while The BearCats could've stayed in the Porter County
Conference (PCC) race by beating Boone Grove, you had more than a clue that it
wasn't going to happen. Washington Township's full court press had crippled
Wheeler, which does not have a true point guard.
Well, Boone Grove has a better full court press than Washington Township.
Boone didn't hit any three-point baskets. They committed 19 turnovers. And they missed 22 out of an outrageous 52 free throws. It didn't matter.
Boone's athletic ability and a tireless full-court press buried Wheeler in the first period and never allowed for a resurrection, winning a key PCC game on the road 79-61.
The Wolves, who were coming off a disappointing 67-57 loss at Kankakee Valley, raced out to leads of 16-4 and 30-8, dominated scoring forwards Alyse Bruszewski and Allison Roper by simply not letting the Bearcats get the ball into scoring territory.
"We knew we had to pressure their guards and put a lot of pressure on the basketball," said Boone coach Candy Wilson,"and obviously we were able to do a lot of that. We played without (point guard) Karissa Walter the second half. She hurt her finger. I think she'll be okay. She just cut it. We had some other people step up and play point guard and that was an adjustment."
The adjustment was all that kept Boone from wining by 30. Walter left late in the third quarter, which ended with Boone up 58-37. Without Walter, the PCC's premier point guard, and Jenn Keller (Jenn fouled out with 4:14 left), the PCC's premier athlete, Wheeler mounted a minor rally and pulled within 67-57 with 1:57 left in the game. But, with no lead guard to feed Bruszewski (7.6 ppg.) or Roper (13.1 ppg.) Wheeler was lucky to score 61 points. Coach Phil Misecko resorted to freshman guards Carissa Altaras and Allison Hayes (Hayes, while just 4-foot-10, is a brilliant ballhandler) but since that pair had played in an overtime win over Boone's undefeated JV, they have limited quarters for the varsity game and when Hayes time ran out, Wheeler was almost helpless.
Walter easily broke Wheeler's defenses and 5-10 senior AJ Puller (16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals) was especially effective moving and receiving the ball.
"They threw a box and one against us on Karissa, but we adjusted," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "That was the first time we'd seen that this year."
Sophomore Lani Marsh scored eight of her 10 points in the third quarter to help expand the lead as Boone utilized their strong sophomore class which includes Walter, Marsh, Danielle Jacobs, Becky Keller and Sara Martinovich.
"We didn't get off to a good start against KV (trailing 21-7 after one quarter," said Wilson. "And we told them that if they (the 4 senior starters) did not get off to a good start the sophomores are going to start from now on."
Against KV, we just assumed that our shots would get blocked (by 6-6 KV center Amanda DeVries) so we altered our shots and we couldn't hit anything. We fought back and went up by one in the third quarter. But they were in the double bonus, they hit some foul shots and we just couldn't catch them."
But, for Boone, it's more important to beat Wheeler than it is to beat KV. And though it took almost two hours and an insane 52 foul shots, five double figure scorers and an 18-point league win made it a big Boone afternoon. Walter's injury was the only downer of the day. After scoring 13 points and passing out four assists with five steals, Karissa hurt herself in a collision with a Wheeler player and she had two fingers on her left hand taped together while she sat out the fourth quarter, even as Wheeler began to edge closer to the lead.
"I thought this would be tough," said Walter, who could've gone back in the game if she absolutely had to. "I always get nervous for conference games."
"If
it's not a knee, " joked Wilson, "we tape it."
WOLF NOTES: Saturday was the date of Boone Grove's
homecoming, which is why the Boone-Wheeler game was played at the ungodly hour
of 1:30 a.m. "Now, they're definitely in dance mode," said Wilson, after the game.
"I haven't had a whole lot of trouble with this group. I threatened
them with death if I heard anything about the homecoming until the game was
over. They did well last year on this day and they got the job done today
as well. Girls tend to think about those things more than boys. It's just not a
good day to play a game. Especially this early in the morning."
Boone has only three three-point field goals all season (thru 7 games). They know there will be no championships unless they hit some long shots. "That's our big snafu this year," admits Wilson. "We've got to get that corrected. We want to shoot layups and we can get them if we're patient."
With Walter and Keller out, Boone was down to sophomore Becky Keller at the point and beyond that, it was probably AJ Puller. "AJ's a pretty good ballhandler, believe it or not," said Wilson. "She can do it if she has to. Actually AJ, Heather (Moy) and Sara (Martinovich) can all play the point."
Wheeler was the first winning team Boone has beaten all season. The Bearcats had eliminated Boone in the semifinals of the PCC Tournament last January. Boone has won 23 of their last 29 games. Boone Grove's three-day stretch of Washington Township on Thursday and Crown Point on Wednesday is their biggest home weekend of the year but the Thursday game is the significant one.
Boone will be heavily favored to win the PCC regular season title if they beat Washington Township and they will get to keep the PCC cup, a trophy that goes to the league's dominant team. Hebron held the cup for almost two years until Boone beat them in November. You take the cup by beating the team that has it and Boone has the cup right now. The team that has it paints in in their school colors."
"That cup has been red and white (Hebron's colors) for far too long," smiled Wilson.
Coach
Candy Wilson (6th year) 39-61 in 5 seasons
PCC games in CAPS, Home games in bold
11-12-2002: 58-28 at River Forest (2-5)
11-15-2002: 45-34 at Calumet (2-4)
11-16-2002: 71-47 at HEBRON (0-7)
11-22-2002: 62-55 at Knox (0-4)
11-26-2002: 89-34 LaCROSSE (0-5)
12-2-2002: 57-67 at Kankakee Valley (3-3)
12-6-2002: 79-61 at WHEELER (5-3)
12-12-2002 (Th) WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (4-3) 6 p.m.
12-14-2002 (S) CROWN POINT (5-2) 6 p.m.
12-17-2002 (Tu) KOUTS (0-7) 6 p.m.
12-19-2002 (Th) at MORGAN TOWNSHIP (1-5) 6 p.m.
South County Tournament (at Boone Grove)
1-3-2003: vs. Boone, Kouts or Morgan Township
1-4-2003: 6 or 8 p.m. (3rd place or championship)
1-7-2003 (Tu.) at North Newton (4-0) 6 p.m.
1-9-2003 (Th) SOUTH CENTRAL (1-5) 6 p.m.
1-15-2003 (W) Lake Station (0-6) 6 p.m.
Porter County
Conference (PCC) Tournament (at Morgan Township)
1-20-2003 (M) quarterfinals ( 6 or 8 p.m.)
1-21-2003 (Tu) quarterfinals (6 or 8 p.m.)
1-24-2003 (F) semifinals (6 or 8 p.m.)
1-25-2003: 6 p.m. (championship) at Boone Grove
1-30-2003 (Th) HANOVER CENTRAL (6 p.m.)
2-6-2003 (F) at North Judson (4-0) 5 p.m.
Boone Grove (2A) Sectional
2-11-2003 (Tu) Quarterfinals (6 p.m.)
2-14-2003 (F) Semifinals (6 p.m.)
2-15-2003 (S) Championship (7:30 p.m.)
North Judson (2A) Regional
2-22-2003 (S) Semifinals (11 a.m.)
2-22-2003 (S) Championship (7 p.m.)
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Revised: July 10, 2004
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