Lady Bulldogs avenge prior loss in 53-49 win over HC to win 'Winter Classic'

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-30-2015

Hanover's Carley Siems (12) considers strategy against Crown Point's Hannah Albrecht (11) in last week's 'Winter Classic' at Hanover Central. HC and CP met in the final game. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Hanover's Sarah Blue (31) gets a shot up over Crown Point junior Sydney Taylor (14) in last Wednesday's Hanover-CP game in Cedar Lake. Crown Point jumped to an early 11-0 lead.

Crown Point's Hannah Albrecht (11) tries to head off Brooke Sterkowitz (11) last week at Hanover Central. In Hanover's 68-60 win at CP, Sterkowitz scored 29 points. Last week, the CP defense held the HC senior to 15.

Crown Point's Andrea Kutemeier(30) stays in front of Hanover Central Lisa Gac (24) during the 'Winter Classic' championship game last week. CP never trailed in a 53-49 victory.

CP's Hannah Albrecht (11) tries to get by Carley Siems (12) in last week's holiday tournament championship game. Albrecht led all scorers with 18 points.

Hanover's Brooke Sterkowitz (11) goes in for a layup in last week's CP-Hanover game. The basket pushed Sterkowitz over the 1,000-point mark for her four year varsity career. She is only the fourth HC girl to score 1,000 points.

Lowell's Jocelyn (Jo Jo) Bobos, right, was named to the 'Winter Classic' all-tournament team last week. Lowell won twice in three games to place fifth.

Crown Point's Mya Scheidt (23), Katie Pawlowksi, Caitlin Phillips (10) and Hannah Albrecht (11) stand for the national anthem. Pawlowski missed the tournament with an injury.

CP's Sydney Taylor (14) and Hannah Albrecht (11) were named to the all-tournament team at Hanover last week.

Crown Point's junior varsity won the Winter Classic last week. Elle Van Deel (10) and Taylor Tindall (15) hold the championship trophy.

Hanover's Juli Bartoszek (10) and Skyler Gomez (23) made the junior varsity all-tournament team in the 9th 'Winter Classic' last week in Cedar Lake.

Crown Point's Megan Morgan (20) and Hannah Albrecht (11) went home winners from the Hanover Winter Classic last week. Albrecht was named the MVP of the eight-team tournament. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Copyright © 2015 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved. Revised: January 03, 2016 .

9th annual HANOVER CENTRAL Winter Classic
Dec. 22-23, 2015 in Cedar Lake

12-22 (Tu) HANOVER 62, Washington Township 31
12-22 (Tu) Knox 58, LOWELL 49
12-22 (Tu) CROWN POINT 72, Griffith 24
12-22 (Tu) Hobart 51, Whiting 17

Consolation
12-22: LOWELL 52, Washington Township - 43
12-22: Griffith 54, Whiting 45

Semifinals
12-22: HANOVER 54, Knox 21
12-22: CROWN POINT 33, Hobart 17

12-23 (Wed) 7th place: Washington Township 59, Whiting - 37
12-23 (Wed) 5th place: LOWELL 52, Griffith - 31
12-22 (Wed) Hobart 44, Knox 32. (3rd place)
12-23 (Wed) CROWN POINT 53, HANOVER 49 (championship)

CP (11-4), Hanover (15-2), Knox (6-10), Hobart (3-12), Washington Township (9-8), LOWELL (3-11), Griffith (1-15), Whiting (1-12)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015 - 'Winter Classic' Final game at CEDAR LAKE, IN

HANOVER (68) Breanna Kerley 4-0-8, Lisa Gac 4-0-8, Brooke Sterkowitz 4-5-15, Alex Glidewell 2-4-10, Sarah Blue 0-0-0, Carley Siems 1-2-5, Jessy Siems 1-0-3, Kayla Davis 0-0-0, Alyssa Gill 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (11-11) 49.

CROWN POINT (60) Sydney Taylor 1-4-6, Hannah Albrecht 4-7-18, Katelyn Hadu 0-0-0, Kennedy Krutz 0-1-1, Andrea Kutemeier 2-0-4, Megan Morgan 3-3-12, Mya Schiedt 4-1-12, Caitlin Phillips 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14 (16-26) 53.

FREE THROWS: HANOVER (11-11, 100%) Brooke Sterkowitz 5-5, Carley Siems 2-2, Alex Glidewell 4-4 CROWN POINT (16-26, 61.5%) Hannah Albrecht 7-9, Sydney Taylor 4-6, Megan Morgan 3-6, Mya Scheidt 1-3, Kennedy Krutz 1-2.

REBOUNDS: HANOVER (27) Gac 9, Sterkowitz 4, Glidewell 4, Kerley 4, Carley Siems 3, Jessy Siems, Davis, Blue; CROWN POINT (27) Albrecht 9, Kutemeier 5, Taylor 8, Scheidt 2, Morgan 2, Phillips.
ASSISTS: HANOVER (6) Jessy Siems 2, Carley Siems , Alyssa Gill, Kayla Davis, Lisa Gac, CROWN POINT (5) Albrecht 2, Taylor , Scheidt 2.

BLOCKED SHOTS: HANOVER (4) Gac 4; CROWN POINT (2) Taylor 2.

3-GOALS: HANOVER (6) Sterkowitz 2, Alex Glidewell 2, Carley Siems, Jessy Siems; CROWN POINT (9) Hannah Albrecht 3, , Megan Morgan 3, Mya Scheidt 3.

FOULED OUT: CP (1) Sydney Taylor (4th Q) 3:13 left.

KNOX (21) Hannah Coad 4-3-11, Mikala Shidler 2-2-6, Maddy Hewlett 1-0-2, Kirsten Bauer 1-0-2, Lindsey Simpson 0-0-0, Leslie Kroft 0-0-0, Hayley Thompson 0-0-0, Mckenzie McIntire 0-0-0. TOTALS: 8 (5-9) 21.

HANOVER (54) Breanna Kerley 2-0-4, Lisa Gac 5-0-10, Brooke Sterkowitz 9-2-25, Alex Glidewell 2-0-5, Sarah Blue 0-3-3, Jessy Siems 2-0-5, Kayla Davis 0-2-2, Carley Siems 0-0-0, Alyssa Gill 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20 (7-11) 54.

FREE THROWS: KNOX (5-9, 55.5%) Coad 3-4, Shidler 2-3, Kroft 0-2; HANOVER: (7-11, 63.6%) Blue 3-4, Davis 2-2, Sterkowitz 2-4, Gac 0-1.

REBOUNDS: KNOX (29) Shidler 9, Kroft 7, Coad 4, Blue 4, Simpson 3, Hewlett 3, McIntire 2, Bauer. HANOVER (36) Gac 11, Kerley 6, Sterkowitz 5, Glidewell 3, Kerley 4, Carley Siems 2, Gill 3, Davis 2.

ASSISTS: KNOX (2) Hannah Coad, Leslie Kroft. HANOVER (5) Carley Siems 2, Brooke Sterkowitz, Alex Glidewell, Alyssa Gill.

BLOCKED SHOTS: KNOX (2) Mikala Shidler 2, HANOVER (6) Lisa Gac 6; CROWN POINT (2) Taylor 2.

3-GOALS: KNOX (0) HANOVER (7) Brooke Sterkowitz 5, Alex Glidewell, Jessy Siems.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - 'Winter Classic' semifinal game at CEDAR LAKE, IN

HOBART (17) McKenzie Funes 1-0-3, Brooke McDonald 2-0-4, Paige Nestich 1-0-2, Hayley Collins 1-0-2, Jessica Parlock 0-1-1, Nicole Leonard 1-2-5. TOTALS: 6 (3-6) 17.

CROWN POINT (33) Caitlyn Phillips 1-0-2, Hannah Albrecht 3-0-7, Sydney Taylor 5-1-11, Megan Morgan 1-0-2, Mya Scheidt 2-0-5, Andrea Kutemeier 2-2-6. TOTALS: 14 (3-5) 33.

FREE THROWS: HOBART (3-6, 50.0%) Hayley Collins 0-2, Jessica Parlock 1-2, Nicole Leonard 2-2. CROWN POINT (3-5, 60.0%) Sydney Taylor 1-3, Andrea Kutemeier 2-2.

REBOUNDS: HOBART (17) Funes 4, McDonald 4, Collins 3, Govert 2, Nestich, Flaherty, Parlock, Leonard; CROWN POINT (18) Taylor 6, Morgan 4, Krutz 3, Albrecht 2, Kutemeier 2, Scheidt.

ASSISTS: HOBART (1) Collins; CROWN POINT (5) Albrecht 2, Scheidt, Morgan, Taylor.

STEALS: HOBART (3) McDonald, Govert, Collins; CROWN POINT (5) Albrecht 3, Taylor 2.

3-GOALS: HOBART (2) Funes, Leonard. CROWN POINT (2) Albrecht, Scheidt.

FOULED OUT: None.

CP (11-4) jumped ahead 11-0 in the first 5:45 before HC top scorer Brooke Sterkowitz sank a three-point shot. Hanover (15-2) closed the gap to six in the first half and four several times in the fourth quarter, but Crown Point (11-4) held on and took home the school's first holiday tourney title since they won the old Lady Bulldog Classic in 2001.

Crown Point senior guard Hannah Albrecht drove the length of the floor for a basket and a three-point play with 1:13 to go, giving CP a 48-42 lead when it appeared that the home team was rallying to even the game up. Albrecht scored eight of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to help break Hanover’s 11-game winning streak.

“It's not often you get to play for a championship,” said CP coach Chris Seibert who watched his team beat Griffith 72-24 and Hobart 33-17. “I thought the girls played well. We faced some adversity in a hostile environment and we came out on top. Coach (Doug) Nelson does a great job here and they are going to make noise come tournament time.”

“We were hyped up,” said Albrecht after the game. “They were hyped up. Revenge is sweet. We all want it. I thought this was a very big win for us."

“Hannah’s a good guard,” said HC coach Doug Nelson. “She’s a clutch guard. A player we can learn from. A money player. She wanted the ball in her hands and everybody in the gym knew she’d have it.”

Albrecht, a four year varsity player for CP, was named the tournament MVP, the first award or title she’s ever been a part of in high school.

“I don’t know anything I’ve won,” she smiled after the game. All through my high school. I can't remember anything else. This was a good tournament and they (Hanover) are a very good team. It's an honor to win."

Hanover could not make any of their first half dozen shots and they made only five shots from the field in the first half. Unlike the game on November 20, when Sterkowitz scored 29 points, CP’s matchup zone obsessed on the HC leading scorer, even willing to give up some open three point shots away from the side where Sterkowitz was.

“That’s his philosophy,” said Albrecht of coach Chris Seibert, “Match up. It's been working a lot better than obviously it was the first time we played them. Sometimes we switched off on her and sometimes I just took her.”

“The biggest thing now,” said Seibert, “is that we understand the matchup better. When I watched the film of the first game (vs. Hanover), I didn’t have confidence in our ability to play it so we went to a box-and-one and a ‘man’ (man-to-man defense). We tried everything. Tonight we stuck with what we’d been working on. We didn’t make any wholesale changes. We just grasped the concept better.”

Sterkowitz scored 15, but she made just four shots from the field. Hanover sank six three point shots, five in the second half. But the visitors held on for a big win.

For Hanover Central (15-2), the loss was disappointing, but not damaging. The immediate 11-0 deficit indicated that HC was not quite ready for championship action. But Hanover played three quality quarters against a good 4A school and were a couple of missed shots (especially a 20-foot three-point try by Alex Glidewell with the score 48-44 in the final minutes) from defeating their big neighbor school twice in one year.

“We had a situation where one stop here and one stop there. One basket here. One basket there, could have changed things,” Nelson said. Hanover used a very small lineup to rally with sisters Carley and Jessy Siems, Glidewell, Sterkowitz and Breanna Kerley, no one taller than 5-foot-8.

“We had to do that when we got behind,” said Nelson. “We had to try to score. This was a good learning game.”
 
Seibert has to be happy with Crown Point’s record. CP hasn’t won more than 14 games since 2005 and they won just 12 last season. Seibert’s Portage teams never won more than 13 games in any of his six seasons.

“I think the girls understood that with a new coach coming in there would be some ups and downs,” he said. “So our number one goal was to be playing our best at sectional time. I know its cliché, but we really want to take it one game at a time. It's on to Morton on (January) fifth.”

CAT/DOG NOTES: Hanover Central’s Brooke Sterkowitz passed the 1,000-point mark for her career in the second quarter. Brooke is the fourth HC girl to score 1,000 points. The others are Melanie Brumbaugh (2000), Jordan Kramer (2009) and Blayr Poston (2013).

Crown Point’s Hannah Albrecht gave credit to senior Andrea Kutemeier, who is getting extended playing time filling in for injured senior Katie Pawlowski at the ‘big’ forward position.

“We need her,” Hannah said. “She’s a strong girl. I’m happy she’s looking to score and she’s getting boards for us. We really need her right now.”

Pawlowski, who averages 7.3 points per game and is 18 of 42 from three-point range, may be back by the second week in January, according to coach Chris Seibert.

"We’ere hoping to get her back at Michigan City on Jan. 8.”

Crown Point hosts Morton (10-2) on Tuesday night, Jan. 5.

It was good to have Crown Point, Lowell and Hanover Central in the same building, but it's not certain that Crown Point will be back in 2016. Coach Chris Seibert of CP wasn’t the one who signed CP up for the Hanover tourney. That was done before he became the new Crown Point coach last spring.

After CP’s tourney win last week, Seibert said his team enjoyed the tourney, but he also spoke highly of the eight-team Northridge holiday tournament, where the coach took his Portage teams the last five years.

Lake Central, Andrean and Portage play in this year’s Northridge Holiday tournament Dec. 29-30, a tourney where each team gets to play four times in two days. This year, a school could play in both the Hanover and Northridge tourneys, but schedules may conflict in future years.

Seibert has concerns about playing Hobart during the regular season, in the holiday tournament and again in sectional play.

Of course, if CP switched to Northridge they would run the risk of playing Portage three times.

Hanover has a very difficult end to the schedule with Munster (7-6), 1A No. 6 Marquette (10-1) and East Chicago (10-4) set to play in January.

Hobart won two of three games at the Hanover holiday tournament and it's an indication they are much better than their record. Five girls listed on the tournament roster were unavailable due to injury, including senior guards Dajah Hill and Kalsey Harvey, juniors Alaina Richter and Ali Simons.

In Hobart’s two games against CP, Hobart has lost 33-17 and 40-30.

“It was a good tournament. Good crowd tonight," observed HC Coach Nelson. "Hobart and Lowell would have brought better crowds if they’d have been winning. Knox is competitive. Griffith will get better.”

Many commented on the first day ‘banquet” between the first and second rounds of play. All eight teams stayed in the HC school building for a community lunch. Former Valparaiso coach Greg Kirby and ex-Wheeler and Notre Dame star Becca Bruczewski were the featured speakers. By all indications, it was well-received.

Hannah Albrecht said she enjoyed playing the holiday tournament in South Lake County after traveling to the Noblesville Holiday Tournament in 2014.

“Obviously it's different,” she said. “That was tougher competition, but I think we got more out of this. I liked it because it was closer to home and with a new coach this year, I think it was just easier to be here. Five minutes away. For people to watch us, that’s better than three hours.”