H.S. Girls Basketball: Boone Grove 82, River 20

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr	Final
River Forest (0-1)	2	8	3	7	20
BOONE GROVE (1-0)	18	17	23	24	82

BOONE GROVE (82) Danielle Jacobs 2-0-4, Becky Keller 1-0-2, Amanda Jenkins 1-0-2, Rachel Jenkins 4-0-8, Lani Marsh 3-1-7, Candace Wyatt 1-2-4, Cortney Flanigan 3-2-8, Karissa Walter 7-3-18, Sara Martinovich 8-1-17, Megan Dewell 3-0-6, Beth Uterfranz 3-0-6. TOTALS: 36-9-82

FTS: 9-19, 47.3 percent (Lani Marsh 1-6, Karissa Walter 3-6, Cortney Flanagan 2-2, Sara Martinvich 1-2, Beth Uterfranaz 0-2)
TURNOVERS: 15
ASSISTS: Karissa Walter - 10, Cortney Flanigan 6
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (1) Karissa Walter.

RIVER FOREST (20) Jamie Dailey 1-0-2, Mikal Minarich 0-3-3, Danielle Kempski 1-0-2, Krystal Montes 3-0-6, Rachel Lightfoot 2-1-5, Paulina Ballesteros 1-0-2, Amber Morris 0-0-0, Lisa Wallace 0-0-0, Monica Solis 0-0-0.
TOTALS: 8-4-20

FTS:4-10, 40% (Mikal Minarich 3-4, Rachel Lightfoot 1-2, Krystal Montes 0-2, Danielle Kempski 0-2)
TURNOVERS: 35
ASSISTS: Kara Kessling - 9
REBOUNDS: Jamie Dailey - 4
FOULED OUT: None
3-POINT GOALS (0) None

PORTER TOWNSHIP (11-11-2003) - Whatever happens to Boone Grove in the season after the Wolves first ever run to the semistate, it's unlikely you saw a true indication of it on opening night. Boone Grove looked really good and River Forest was really bad. The final score of 82-20 was indicative of how the game went.

"I didn't see a whole lot wrong tonight," said seventh year coach Candy Wilson. "One thing. We are going to have to block out better this weekend. But there were good things."

In no particular order; junior guard Karissa Walter ran the floor and directed the offense, collecting 18 points, 10 assists and six steals. Junior Sara Martinovich scored a career-high 17, 13 in the second half. And 5-5 freshman guard Cortney Flanigan, a player with skills similar to Walter, scored eight points and passed out six assists in her varsity debut.

Boone Grove, which was 22-5 last year, raced out to leads of 18-0 and 28-4 and the Wolves' full court presses exposed River Forest's lack of ball-handlers. The score was 66-13 with six minutes to go as Boone consistently stole the ball and ran away for layups. The only draw back to beating anybody by 62 points is that success came too easy.

"I actually like to ease into things," Wilson admitted. "We need a game where we can play everyone. When you think about it (counting the scrimmage) we have four games in eight days. If we'd have had a real tough game tonight, we'd be in trouble. What if we'd have played Valparaiso tonight? Then this week would have been outrageous."

Boone Grove has senior Rachel Jenkins, nine juniors and Flanigan, who appears to be too advanced for the junior varsity. Five of the juniors, Walter, Martinovich, Becky Keller, Lani Marsh and Danielle Jacobs, played significant minutes on the team that won Porter County Conference (PCC), South County, sectional and regional titles last year. The schedule is almost identical to last season. Except for the Dec. 13 game at Crown Point, Boone will be favored to win them all. In basketball, it rarely works out like you plan it.

"Everybody says we're going to breeze through the league but you know it's not going to be like that," said Wilson. "I've been around too long now to believe that. This is always a competitive conference. I know that Hebron is out to get us. Just like we were out to get them for so long."

"Cortney picks things up very well," said Wilson. "She and Karissa compliment each other. She sees the floor very well. I want her to just be a varsity player. She doesn't need to play on the JV. She is four or five steps ahead of other players."

"We have a lot of kids playing varsity who had not played varsity before," she said. "The other night was ugly. We needed to get into 'game mode'. Rensselaer was physical, but we did some silly things. It wasn't us. We weren't in the right places on defense. It was nice tonight that I could play everyone. Fatigue will be a factor this week."

Looking ahead, this is not the last 50-60 point win for Boone this year. A half dozen teams on the schedule are badly overmatched. But Hebron, Hanover Central and Washington Township will pose significant challenges to Boone. Hebron hosts the South County Tournament in late December. Morgan Township, which debuts a good 5-10 guard in Angie Bush, hosts the first two rounds of the PCC tournament and Hanover hosts the Class 2A sectional.

WOLF NOTES: Washington Township's chances for success in the PCC dimmed when 6-foot-1 junior volleyball star Alisha Polite chose not to play basketball this year. The Senators were 36-11 the last two seasons and reached the semistate last year. Kouts has no seniors but five freshmen on the varsity.

Danielle Jacobs plays with a knee brace from a soccer injury. Jacobs, who appears to be taller than her listed 5-11, scored 28 goals for the Boone soccer team this year. Jacobs is the fastest player on the team from one end of the court to another and she should average 10 points on easy 'run out' baskets alone.

"Sara (Martinovich) did a lot of that tonight but Danielle is a much bigger target," said Wilson. "She's still not comfortable with her knee. It will come to her."

Season opener proves nice tune-up for Lady Wolves in 82-20 win over River Forest

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith