Portage upsets Lady Bulldogs 55-49 in Sectional Semifinals

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
02-12-2011

CROWN POINT (55) Kelly Gross 5-4-16, Courtney Kvachkoff 2-2-6, Kendall Brown 1-2-4, Madeline Moore 2-1-6, Michaela Prough 4-1-9, Sarah Rivich 1-0-2, Alexis Joseph 2-2-6, Hayley Bordui 0-0-0, Lisa Kurth 0-0-0, Zarah Cecich 0-0-0, Kelly Maddalone 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17 (12-15) 49.

PORTAGE (55) Carly Bermes 3-4-12, Tori Bliss 10-2-23, Alyssa Tampier 0-1-1, Nicki Monahan 4-5-15, Hannah Glos 2-0-4, Heather Zengler 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (12-21) 55.

FREE THROWS: CROWN POINT (12-15, 80%) Gross 3-5, Brown 2-2, Prough 1-2, Kvachkoff 2-2, Joseph 2-2, Moore 1-2.
PORTAGE (12-21, 57.1%) Bermes 4-6, Bliss 2-4, Tampier 1-5, Monahan 5-6.

FOULED OUT: CP (1) Kendall Brown (4th Q) :25 left.

3-GOALS: CROWN POINT (3) Kelly Gross 2, Madeline Moore; PORTAGE (5) Carly Bermes 2, Nicki Monahan 2, Tori Bliss.

CPLB_20-game_Regular_Season_Stats_02-07-11.pdf

PORTAGE (02-11-2011) The more you play a team then more likely it is they will beat you. That seems such a simple and obvious thought. But we saw it again at the Class 4A Portage Girls Basketball Sectional semifinals late Friday.

Crown Point, which had dominated Portage twice during the 14-game double round-robin Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) regular season, just could not get started in a third meeting, losing 55-49 in the Class 4A Portage Sectional semifinal, a shocking end to the 2011 season.

"We were 1-10 at one point this season," said a very happy Portage coach Chris Seibert. "Only the people in our locker room thought we could get to this point. We hadn't seen Crown Point in a month. They were the first team we doubled up on (played for the second time in the DAC). At the start of the year, we had four or five defenses. Then we simplified it and just went man-to-man. You have to do that with their shooters. Playing good teams like we do in our conference has to make you better."

Crown Point's second year coach Mike Cronkhite was surprised, but he said the numbers don't lie.

"We were 2 of 13 in the third quarter," he said. "We got good looks. Nothing fell. We were 17 of 47. That's unofficial. We just didn't make shots."

Crown Point was outscored in every quarter and they never led by more than 26-22 late in the second quarter. Portage, playing largely with four sophomores senior guard Carly Bermes and big 6-foot senior center Tori Bliss (23 points, 14 rebounds) overcame 16 turnovers to pull the upset.

CP defeated Portage 73-55 and 72-59 during the regular season, so Cronkhite seemed to anticipate that someone would ask, 'Did the girls take Portage lightly?'

"Absolutely not," he said defiantly. "We did not talk about Saturday night (the championship game) all week. I must have watched 10 hours of film on them (Portage). You've got to give Portage credit. They played well."

It was a surprise that CP's full court pressure and half court 1-3-1 defenses did not rattle Portage as they did in the earlier meetings.

"We were more patient," said Seibert. "The idea of pressure is to speed you up and we were much more patient tonight."

CP, which was 9-0 to start the year, never led after halftime although they did forge a 40-40 tie with 2:53 left on two free throws by center Alexis Joseph, who played well off the bench. Leading 43-42, Portage scored six in a row to ice the game. The Bulldogs sank just eight field goals, scoring only 23 points in the second half.

Two other factors in the win were a small but loud Portage student cheering section and the home floor. It would not be accurate to say that Portage got the best of the officiating, but the younger Indians did seem better at home.

"Other than Bliss and Bermes (the two seniors), they had 47 three-pointers all year," said Cronkhite, who had clearly studied up on Portage. "But they hit shots tonight. They were comfortable on their home court."

Portage sophomore Nicki Monohan, a 5-foot-8 guard, scored 15, including two key second quarter three-point shots that kept CP from expanding their lead. Portage won four of their final five regular season games, but the 40-32 quarterfinal win over LaPorte gave no indication they could defeat CP.

This was a very tough loss for the Lady Bulldogs, who watched as DAC champ Michigan City and Northwest Crossroads Conference champion Hobart (20-2) were eliminated in the sectional quarterfinals before they got to play Friday. There was a large window of post-season opportunity here that CP could not climb through.

It won't be so large next season. Crown Point will return four starters, but Michigan City and Merrillville also have four starting players coming back next season and Merrillville will still have league MVP Raveen Murray (17 ppg.).

"We'll take a little while off and then we'll go back to work," said Cronkhite. "These are all great girls. I think they'd run through a wall for me."

CPLB NOTES: The Crown Point Lady Bulldogs losing at the sectional is not new. It is now 10 years since CP won the last of their 17 sectional titles in the 36 years of the state tournament.

Of the top four teams in the eight team Duneland Athletic Conference, three of them, CP, Merrillville and DAC champion Michigan City (19-3, 12-2 DAC) were all eliminated in the first two rounds of the eight-team Class 4A Sectional 2.

During the same sectional week, fifth place Lake Central (13-10, 6-8 DAC) won three times to win Class 4A Sectional One at Munster. In the other semifinal Friday night at Portage, Raveen Murray's steal and basket at the buzzer was disallowed giving Chesterton a 62-61 win. Merrillville led by six points at halftime, but Chesterton led 62-60 in the final minute.

Murray, the DAC's top player, was fouled, but she missed the second of two free throws. Murray stole the ball from Chesterton's Claire Holba. But her successful bank shot was ruled too late, giving the Trojans their second win in three tries against Merrillville (14-8, 9-5 DAC). Murray led all scorers with 30 points.

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Revised: March 07, 2011 .