Lady Bulldogs reach 20-win mark, but fall to Pirates 53-45 in Sectional championship

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
02-11-2016

Crown Point's Hannah Albrecht (11) sinks two of her 19 pints in the first half against Merrillville. Albrecht scored 56 in the three sectional games at Valparaiso.

Crown Point's Andrea Kutemeier (30) tries to get around Merrillville's senior Ashiala Jackson (24) last week in the Class 4A Sectional championship game in Valparaiso. Jackson had 13 rebounds for the Pirates. (All photos by Mark Smith)

CP senior Megan Morgan (20) is the first line of defense against Merrillville in the Class 4A Sectional 2 championship game last Saturday. Morgan was 59 of 139 (42%) on the season in 3-point shots for CP.

CP's Mya Scheidt (24) faces double team defense against arch-rival Merrillville last Saturday. Scheidt played 26 games and averaged 5.6 per game for the 2016 Lady Bulldogs.

Merrillville's Ashiala Jackson (24) blocks out CP's Hannah Albrecht (11) in the sectional championship game last week. Merrillville won 53-45 for the Pirates fourth consecutive sectional title.

Merrillville's Amy Govert and Crown Points' Chris Seibert talk about the sectional championship game during warm ups Saturday in Valparaiso.

Crown Point's Hannah Albrecht (11) heads up the line of CP players saluting the flag during the national anthem Saturday in Valparaiso.

Merrillville forward Ashiala Jackson (24) holds the sectional championship trophy after Saturday's title game in Valparaiso.

Merrillville's Ashiala Jackson (24) gets a push in on Jessica Barclay (22) at the foul line during Saturday's sectional championship game the Pirates outscored CP 14-5 in the third quarter and topped the Lady Bulldogs 53-45.

Merrillville poses with the sectional trophy after defeating Crown Point 53-45 last Saturday. Pirates seniors and junior Jazmine Wright (holding the trophy) has played significant minutes on three consecutive sectional titles. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Copyright © 2015 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved. Revised: February 11, 2016 .

Saturday, February 6, 2016 - Class 4A, Sectional 2 Championship at VALPARAISO, IN

MERRILLVILLE (53) Kiarra Thompson 2-4-8, Jasmine Wright 5-6-17, Ashaila Jackson 6-2-14, Kristin McGee 4-0-9, Alexis Shirrels 1-2-5, Miracle Akins 0-0-0, Makala Pearson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (14-22) 53.

CROWN POINT (45) Hannah Albrecht 7-3-19, Meghan Morgan 2-0-6, Mya Scheidt 1-0-3, Katie Pawlowski 3-0-8, Sydney Taylor 2-2-7, Andrea Kutemeier 1-0-2, Caitlyn Phillips 0-0-0, Jessica Barclay 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (5-9) 45

FREE THROWS: MERRILLVILLE (14-22, 63.6%) Thompson 4-6, Wright 6-9, Jackson 2-2, Shirells 2-5; CROWN POINT (5-9, 55.5%) Albrecht 3-6, Taylor 2-3.

ASSISTS: MERRILLVILLE (6) Jasmine Wright 4, Kristin McGee, Miracle Akins; CROWN POINT (6) Hannah Abrercht (4) Mya Scheidt (2)

REBOUNDS: MERRILLVILLE (31) Jackson 13, Thompson 8, Shirrels 4, Wright 3, McGee 2, Pearson; CROWN POINT (22) Taylor 6, Scheidt 5, Pawlowski 5, Albrecht 4, Morgan 2.

3-GOALS: MERRILLVILLE (3) Alexis Shirrels, Kristin McGee, Jasmine Wright CROWN POINT (8) Hannah Albrecht 2, Megan Morgan 2, Katie Pawlowski 2, Sydney Taylor, Mya Scheidt.

FOULED OUT: CP (1) Mya Scheidt - 4th @ 1:10 left.

Class 4A VALPARAISO Sectional 2
Quarterfinals
CROWN POINT 71, Valparaiso 50
Portage 48, Chesterton 33
MERRILLVILLE 62, Kankakee Valley 49
Semifinals
CROWN POINT 58, Hobart 35
MERRILLVILLE 56, Portage 41
Championship
MERRILLVILLE 53, CROWN POINT 45 (title)


LaPorte Regional
Gary West Side (19-4) vs. Penn (24-2) 10 a.m.
MERRILLVILLE (19-6) vs. LaPorte (19-6) 12 noon
Championship – 7:30 p.m.

The Pirates, who, at full strength, had lost to Crown Point 61-53 on Jan. 16, played without senior Erika McClinton and won the biggest game of the season.

The ball-handling of junior guard Jasmine Wright and a strong effort from everyone else, helped Merrillville (19-6) grab their 4th consecutive sectional title 53-45 in a championship showdown of arch rivals in Valparaiso.

CP went scoreless in the first four minutes of each half and an 8-0 third quarter run gave Merrillville a 30-21 lead. CP sank five three-point shots in the second half to rally to within 39-37 late in the third period.

But Wright dribbled in and around the CP defense late, killing time and sank 6-of-9 from the line in the final four minutes of the game.

A crown of about 400-500 watched Hannah Albrecht score 17 in the first half until Merrillville went to a box-and-one defense to keep the ball away from her.

“I’m so proud of this team I don’t have the words,” said Merrillville coach Amy Govert. “Erika (injured forward McClinton) was really our overall most important player. People who watch us may not know that, but people close to the team know that. Last night (in the 56-41 win over Portage) we got beat up. And we were playing a team (Crown Point) that was playing extremely well.”

“That’s the best Crown Point has played in a long time. The confidence they had. The shooters they had. They kept hitting clutch 3s in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t put them away.”

“That’s a really good team that we just beat.”

Crown Point (20-6) didn’t lose because they didn’t shoot well from the outside. CP was 8-of-23 on bonus shots. The Bulldogs sank five three-pointers in the fourth quarter closing to within 39-37 on a long basket by senior Katie Pawlowski with 4:35 left, to within 43-40 on a three-pointer by junior Sydney Taylor with 2:50 to play and to within 46-43 on a three-point shot by sophomore Mya Scheidt with 1:33 left.

But junior Merrillville point guard Jasmine Wright scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half and, combined with 5-foot-11 forward Ashaila Jackson’s 14 points and 13 rebounds, the Pirates held off their arch rivals.

“We had the ball in the fourth quarter,” said CP coach Chris Seibert, who finished his first season as CP’s coach with 20 wins.

“We got to within three late in the fourth quarter. But we had a turnover or a missed shot. But we never gave up. We fought hard. I couldn't be prouder of the girls.”

Merrillville seemed to play a zone defense when they were ahead and a man-to-man defense when they trailed. Using just eight players, the Pirates didn’t want to go man-to-man all night.

But after Albrecht, CP’s 5-foot-8 senior, scored 17 in the first half, Govert changed her plans and went to a combination zone and man-to-man defense. A pseudo ‘box-and-one’ with one defender chasing Albrecht (15 ppg.) all over the offensive end of the floor.

“She ate us alive in the first half,” Said Govert. “I told her I had the utmost respect for her. I hope she does well at the next level. She had a great senior year. They had a remarkable run. We did a good job defensively in the second half making her give the ball up when she didn’t want to.”

“It wasn't a box-and-one. We just played our regular zone defense. WE call it ‘green.’ But we made sure we knew where she was at all times. We’d never played that defense before. But we tried it and it worked.”

“She was tremendous,” said Seibert of Albrecht. “She kept us in the game in the first half. She really attacked. In the second half, they sent two or three girls after her and she made the smart play. We got some open looks and we made some 3s to get back in the game.”

“They played some zone defense against Portage and they played some zone against KV. When we played the first time ( a 61-53 CP win), they played almost all man-to-man.”

“We knew we’d see zone, especially with the lack of depth they had.”

Seibert predicted that he’d eventually be very happy with his first season at CPHS.

“We weren’t sure what we were going to have our first year,” he said. “If you had told us we’d have had 20 wins, we’d have been very happy with it.”

“We’ll miss all six seniors. Hannah. Can't say too much about what she means to this program. A great student-athlete. She will be missed. But we have good talent coming back and a lot of girls will be able to expand their roles. I’m happy with the state of the program.”

DOG NOTES: CP, which won 20 games for the first time since 2001, fell short of winning a sectional title for the first time since 2001. The Pirates played without top scorer Erika McClinton who was injured in the semifinal win over Kankakee Valley. They meet LaPorte in the LaPorte regional semifinals at 12 noon Saturday, Feb. 13.

Merrillville coach Amy Govert wasn't surprised that Jasmine Wright made key free throws in the fourth quarter.

“She is our best foul shooter,” Govert reported. “She’s around 83%. WE had to have the ball in her hands.”

Crown Point (27 of 67 on three-point shots in the sectional) was 8-of-23 on three-point shots against Merrillville, 8-of-20 against Hobart and 11 of 24 against Valparaiso. For the season, the Lady Bulldogs were 169 of 508 on 3-point shots (33%) and 276 of 395 (70%) from the foul line.