Lady
Bulldogs defend home court, stop Wolves 53-40Lady
Bulldogs defend home court, stop Wolves 53-40A USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
12-10-2007
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| BOONE GROVE (5-3) | 13 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 49 |
| CROWN POINT (4-5) | 23 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 53 |
Saturday, December 8, 2007 - Non-Conference game at CROWN POINT, IN
BOONE
GROVE
(49)
Jessica Dowdy
3-1-9, Jessica Fauser 1-0-3, Kelly Dobson
1-2-5, Emily Strilich 0-2-2, Kristyn Kessler
2-0-4, Caitlyn Wilcox 2-0-4, Brittany Dewell
2-7-11, Jordan Chester 1-0-2. TOTALS: 12
(12-20) 40.
CROWN POINT (53)
Flori Garcia 3-6-13,
Daniela Tarailo 3-2-9, Maegen Maloney
5-3-15, Samantha Polus 2-0-4, Nicci Brown
1-0-2, Jessica Martinez 1-4-6, Sydnee Reeves
1-0-2, Madeline Moore 0-2-2, Clare Grubnich
0-0-0, Lauren Seils 0-0-0, Kelly Gross
0-0-0.
TOTALS: 16 (17-19) 53.
FREE THROWS: BOONE (12-20, 60%)
Dewell 7-11, Dobson 2-2, Strilich 2-2, Dowdy
1-2, Wilcox 0-2, Fauser 0-1;
CROWN POINT
(17-19, 89.6%) Maloney 3-3, Garcia 6-6,
Martinez 4-6, Tarailo 2-2, Moore 2-2.
REBOUNDS: BOONE (26) Dewell 7,
Dowdy 4, Kessler 4, Fauser 4, Strilich 3,
Wilcox 2, Cantwell, Dobson.
CROWN POINT
(28) Polus 6, Maloney 4, Brown 4, Garcia 3,
Tarailo 3, Reeves 2, Grubnlch 2, Thomas 2,
Moore, Martinez.
STEALS: BOONE (7) Fauser 2, Dobson
2, Kessler, Dowdy, Chester; CROWN POINT (7)
Tarailo 3, Maloney 2, Martinez, Grubnich.
ASSISTS: BOONE (6) Fauser 2,
Kessler, Strilich, Wilcox, Chester; CROWN
POINT (6) Garcia 2, Tarailo 2, Maloney,
Polus.
BLOCKED SHOTS: BOONE (4) Strilich
4; CP (3) Brown 2, Tarailo.
3-GOALS: BOONE (4) Jessica Dowdy 2,
Jessica Fauser, Kelly Dobson; CP (4) Maegen
Maloney 2, Flori Garcia, Daniela Tarailo.
FOULED OUT: BOONE: Jessica Dowdy (4th Q) 1:39 left.
CROWN POINT
(12-8-2007)
This was one
of those games that you forget about as soon as its over. Two
strangers passing in the night. Same
time next year. Write if you get a chance. For Boone it was the second of
a 4-game-in-eight night stretch. For
Crown Point, it was the second of a 5-game-in-nine-day marathon.
For
both, it was non-conference.
So you take out of it whatever you want to take out of it.
The home team expected to win. The
visitors didn't
seem sure and that was the difference. Boone, as has been their habit in
games at CP, fell behind early and never quite caught up, falling 53-40 to
their big neighbor. And
as much as you discuss the aspects of this game, it was only a snap shot of
what's to come.
"Intimidated' is too strong a word, but Boone (5-3, 3-0 PCC) was nowhere near as confident as they'd been two nights earlier on the road in a 52-26 rout of Washington Township. But if they rebound to win a Porter County Conference (PCC) showdown with Kouts (6-1, 2-0) Tuesday night, what happened against CP will disappear.
Crown Point (4-5, 0-4 DAC) desperately needed a win in front of a second half of the season that is intimidating, to say the least. With two games left against speedy Merrillville (6-1) and two more against even more speedy Michigan City (5-1), including a match next Friday (12-14-2007), the Lady Bulldogs must beat all nonconference foes, no matter who they are and the hot-shooting, 23-point first quarter was welcome.
"You've got to
be happy with this one," said coach Scott Reid.
"If
you watch us play, you'll hear me yelling at our players to shoot the ball.
I
didn't have to do that tonight.
That's
a very good team for us."
Crown Point is difficult to understand.
The
Lady Bulldogs lost in overtime Friday night at Lake Central in a game where
they started
very poorly offensively and fell short with a desperate rally. CP has had
major offensive problems all season,
but Saturday night, facing a team they clearly thought they could beat, the
Bulldogs led Boone 16-2 late in
the first
quarter.
"And Boone is every bit as good a team as Lake Central," said Reid. "If you can figure it out, please send the answer to me."
With the score 3-2, Crown Point scored 13 consecutive points to take a 16-2 lead with 3:10 left in the first quarter. Boone closed to within 14-13 on some hot shooting by senior guards Jessica Dowdy and Jessica Fauser, but CP ran off nine more points in a row. Junior Maegen Maloney scored 13 first quarter points while Daniela Tarailo and Flori Garcia combined for 12 points and four assists in the first half.
Nobody believes that Washington Township and Crown Point are in any way similar. But Boone, which lost 67-43 at Crown Point two years ago and 48-38 at CP four years ago, has no explanation for not being able to, at least, play well at CP.
"Except for Brittany (Dewell), we didn't show up," said Boone coach Candy Wilson, who has watched her team beat Crown Point at Boone in 2006 and 2004. "I have no answers. I don't know what to say. Their faces are strange. I don't know what it is when we come in this gym. We could have beaten them. And we're behind 16-2. Then we get within four (31-27) and we act like we're 20 points behind. We didn't run what was called. We weren't in the right spots on defense. You name it. We didn't do it. I'm baffled by this."
Boone Grove could not get their tall sophomores Emily Strilich and Kelly Dobson started offensively. Neither had a basket in the first half. But Boone did score five in a row to pull within 31-27 on a basket by Dobson with 4:20 left in the half. But the Wolves failed on five consecutive possessions with the score 31-27 and CP scored eight points in a row to take a 38-27 edge.
"I thought that Jessica Martinez and Flori Garcia disrupted everything they tried to do in the second half," said Reid. "And that was the difference in the game."
That and foul shooting. CP was a season-best 17-of-19 from the line.
"We practice
them a lot," said Garcia, who scored a season-high 13 points. "Everybody
made their shots tonight. It wasn't like they had a bad defense,"
she said of
the 16-2 start.
"But
we did get off to a good start."
Crown Point's going to have to play a lot better than they have.
Even
if they defeated Valparaiso Tuesday night (12-11-2007),
they will be only .500 heading into a formidable final 10 games, which
features the entire DAC, Merrillville and Michigan City twice and upstart
Hanover Central (7-1).
The Bulldogs are aware they must perform better on offense. Even in the win Saturday night, CP scored only 16 field goals and just four in the second half.
Boone Grove simply has to experience more of the tough assignments they had Saturday night on the road. Teams like Winamac (9-0) await in the sectional while Kouts (5-1) and Hanover Central (7-1) await in PCC play. The Wolves didn't act like a team that had a five-game winning steak or a team that was the three-time defending PCC champion.
"I'm a talker," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "And I was at a loss for words."
CP-BOONE NOTES: This is a transition year for Boone Grove and the future is very bright. Boone Grove has no juniors in the basketball program. So other than senior guards Jessica Fauser and Jessica Dowdy and senior forward Kristyn Kessler, every other varsity and JV player has two full seasons of eligibility after this one.
Junior Clare
Grubnich started the game at center with guard Flori Garcia and the junior
trio of Sydnee Reeves, Daniela Tarailo and Maegen Maloney. The 23 first
quarter points was a season-high in any quarter for CP.
Samantha
Polus had started the first half dozen CP games. Boone has started the same
five players, sophomore Emily Strilich and Kelly Dobson began Saturday
night's game with seniors Kristyn Kessler, Jessica Fauser and Jessica Dowdy.
CP's Tarailo had 29 steals in nine games for the Lady Bulldogs. Tarailo was
22 of 28 from the free throw line after nine games.
Boone Grove drew Hebron in the second semifinal game of the South County
Tournament at Hebron on Friday,
Dec. 21.
Kouts
plays Morgan Township in the first game at 6:00
p.m.
The
consolation game starts the championship double header the next night, also
at 6:00
p.m.
CP's 17 of 19 from the foul line was a vast improvement over the 57-of-97
free shots they made in the first eight games.
Garcia
was 12 of 15 (80%) after nine games.
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