Hobart slows down Lady Bulldogs en route to 50-40 win at Crown Point

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-30-2011

HOBART (50) Taylor James 6-2-14, Kim Tokarski 2-6-10, Sarah Blandford 5-0-13, LaKenya Perry 0-3-3, Amanda Coons 1-1-4, Alycia Corral 2-0-4, Gracye Roach 1-0-2, Morgan Flaherty 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17 (12-19) 50.

CROWN POINT (40) Kelly Gross 3-0-8, Courtney Kvachkoff 6-3-15, Kendall Brown 1-0-3, Madeline Moore 1-0-2, Lisa Kurth 1-0-3, Zarah Cecich 1-0-2, Hayley Bordui 2-0-5, Michaela Prough 1-0-2, Sarah Rivich 0-0-0, Alexis Joseph 0-0-0, Kelly Maddelone 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (3-8) 40.

FREE THROWS: HOBART (12-19, 63.1%) James 2-3, Tokarski 6-8, Perry 3-4, Coons 1-4; CROWN POINT (3-7, 42.8%) Kvachkoff 3-5, Brown 0-1, Cecich 0-1.

REBOUNDS: HOBART (17) James 5, Blandford 4, Tokarski 3, Perry 2, Coons, Roach, Corral; CROWN POINT (11) Brown 5, Kurth 2, Prough 2, Moore, Rivich.

ASSISTS: HOBART (8) Corral 3, Tokarski 3, James 2, CROWN POINT (9) Gross 4, Brown 2, Kurth 2, Bordui.

STEALS: HOBART (10) Corral 4, James 2, Blandford 2, Perry, Coons; CROWN POINT (3) Gross 2, Brown.

3-GOALS: HOBART (4) Sara Blandford 3, Amanda Coons; CP (5) Kelly Gross 2, Hayley Bordui, Kendall Brown, Lisa Kurth.

CPLB_vs_Hobart_Stats_01-27-11.pdf

CPLB_at_Valpo_Stats_01-28-11.pdf

CPLB_at_Merr_Stats_02-04-11.pdf

CPLB_20-game_Regular_Season_Stats_02-07-11.pdf

CROWN POINT (01-27-2011) Sometimes you lose because you play badly. Sometimes you play well and lose to a good team. Sometimes it's hard to tell. Crown Point didn't play that badly at times Thursday, but they couldn't say they played well against Northwest Crossroads Conference champion Hobart.

And they did lose to a good team. Hobart's 12th win in a row was 50-40 over Crown Point in CP's final home game of the season.

You get the impression that Hobart isn't a vastly superior team. You got the feeling that the Brickies play near the maximum level of their ability. On another night, the Lady Bulldogs could have won. You also get the feeling that Hobart (17-1) has left 17 other opponents with that feeling.

"They make you play their game," said Crown Point coach Mike Cronkhite, who has watched his team lose five of its last six games. "That 6-0 run at the start of the third quarter got us in trouble. They're very good. When the only team you've lost to hasn't lost in two years, you're pretty good."

Hobart forced 23 turnovers and their man-to-man defense is very disruptive. Crown Point led 14-11 after one quarter as Kelly Gross had five points and two assists in the first period.
But Hobart kept stealing the ball. CP would switch which player would bring the ball up the floor, but whoever it was, Hobart's defender caused her major problems.

In the second half, Hobart kept the steals coming and CP's 64 points per game offense was locked down. Hobart has a team that's hard to control because they don't have one great scorer since top player Amanda Corral left with a season-ending knee injury in November. But they get points off the defense and they score enough.

"Sarah's a good shooter," said Hobart coach Mike Hamacher of Sarah Blandford, who scored 13 points. "Taylor is a good shooter, too. Teams want us to shoot the ball (rather than drive to the basket) but she can shoot it."

Hobart plays the way you'd want your team to play and they are very confident in what they can do. As it turns out, Hamacher sacrificed a perfect regular season by scheduling Ben Davis (19-0), the two-time 4A state champ, which has won 78 games in a row. Hobart lost 57-32. Hamacher believes it was worth the trip to Indianapolis.

"I think so," he explained. "I couldn't find boys who could put pressure on us like that. Now, when we play Merrillville, our girls will say, 'They're quick. But they're not as quick as Ben Davis.'"

Hobart is good. But are they state class good? They're going to need "region" officiating to win the Chesterton sectional and Valparaiso regional. They play a lot of very effective hands-on defense on the perimeter and they use largely six players. But that's what the "four corners" is for.

Leading 16-14 early in the second quarter, Hamacher wanted Crown Point in a man-to-man defense, which suits Hobart's ball handlers and speed. CP wanted to play the 1-3-1 zone they've played all season. So Hobart's Kim Tokarski held the ball near the time line and CP's five players stood back and watched for about five minutes. As the crowd of about 200 talked among themselves, the clock ran down to the final 30 seconds of the half. Tokarski was called for traveling with 20 seconds to go. Hobart ended up with an 18-15 lead at the half, but they may have won the "war" because none of their players tired or got into foul trouble late in the game.

Crown Point obviously needs a late season boost. They've had another roller-coaster season and they can't take the late slump any more personally than they took the 9-0 start.

"We just want to be playing our best the second week of February," said Cronkhite.

CPLB NOTES: Crown Point bounced back with a 57-56 victory over Valparaiso the next night (Friday), holding off a Valparaiso rally in the final quarter.

Courtney Kvachkoff scored 18 for the Lady Bulldogs, who built a 17-point second quarter lead at 33-16. Valpo (7-12, 4-9 DAC), led by Arianna Paul's 15 points, 14 rebounds, six steals and four assists, rallied early in the third quarter and throughout the fourth period.

When Valpo closed the lead to 40-39, CP, led by Kvachkoff and Michaela Prough (15 points) built the advantage up to 52-40 after three quarters. In the final seconds, Paul's game-winning basket was nullified by a traveling violation and CP held on to sweep the season series from the Vikings. CP won 56-54 on Dec. 14 in Crown Point.

Crown Point senior Lisa Kurth will play for Manchester College this fall. Kelly Gross is undecided on her college future, but she will continue her basketball career. Madeline Moore and Kelly Maddalone will attend Butler as students only and Zarah Cecich is being recruited as a volleyball player.

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Revised: February 07, 2011 .