Lady
Bulldogs defeat Andrean in first road game of year, 59-51 in overtimeLady
Bulldogs defeat Andrean in first road game of year, 59-51 in overtimeA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
11-15-2010
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| CROWN POINT (3-0) | 11 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 59 |
| ANDREAN (0-2) | 16 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 51 |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - Non-conference game at Andrean in MERRILLVILLE, IN
CROWN POINT (59)
Kelly Gross 4-8-17, Courtney Kvachkoff 7-5-19, Madeline Moore 2-3-7, Lisa Kurth
2-3-7, Sarah Rivich 2-0-4, Kendall Brown 1-1-4, Hayley Bordui 0-0-0, Michaela
Prough 0-0-0, Alexis Joseph 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (20-28) 59.
ANDREAN (51) Kelsie Plesac 3-5-11, Nritany Anderson 3-2-8,. Anna
Nicksic 1-1-3, Aleena Spina 1-0-2, Natasha Zurek 9-2-23, Diane Rembert 1-0-2,
Colleeen Daugherty 0-2-2, Jessica Gray 0-0-0, Abby Quint 0-0-0, Shelby Strickler
0-0-0, Brianna Doyle 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (12-16) 51.
FREE THROWS: CP (20-28, 71.3%) Gross 8-10, Brown 1-2, Kvachkoff
5-6, Kurth 3-6, Moore 3-5. ANDREAN (12-16, 75%) Plesac 5-5, Anderson 2-2, Zurek
2-5, Nicksic 1-2, Daugherty 2-2.
REBOUNDS: CP (35) Kvachkoff 7, Gross 6, Moore 6, Kurth 6, Rivich
2, Bordui 4, Joseph 2, Prough, Brown; ANDREAN (31) Zurek 9, Nicksic 8, Anderson
6, Plesac 3, Daughery 2, Spina 2, Quint.
ASSISTS: CP (8) Bordui 3, Gross 3, Kurth 2; ANDREAN (8) Zurek 3,
Nicksic 2, Pleasac 2, Strickler.
STEALS: CP (9) Kvachkoff 3, Kurth 3, Prough, Bordui, Rivich;
ANDREAN (12) Zurek 5, Nicksic 2, Plesac 2, Spina, Rembert, Gray.
3-GOALS: CP (3) Kelly Gross, Kendall Brown, Lisa Kurth; ANDREAN
(3) Natasha Zurek 3.
FOULED OUT: ANDREAN (2) Brittany Anderson (4th Q) 4:51 left;
Aleena Spina (OT) 2:53 left.
"We knew it would be tough here," said CP coach Mike Cronkhite. "They're pumped to play Crown Point. We got their best shot tonight. On their home floor. I know Merrillville beat them on Saturday (Nov. 13) but any time you're playing a team with the caliber of point guard as (Andrean's Natasha) Zurek and you beat them? I'll take that nine times out of nine."
For the Class 3A 59ers, losing their first two games to 4A Merrillville and Crown Point are not the end of the world. Losing to good 4A teams will help Andrean when they face the largely 3A Northwest Crossroads Conferernce and the all-3A Sectional 17.
"I understand that," said longtime Andrean coach Ken Markfull. "But I don't think they (his players) do. They need a win."
Crown Point had some ballhandling problems, but they showed great depth with senior Lisa Kurth and sophomore Sarah Rivich making big plays in the final 12 minutes. Cronkhite made some excellent substitutions and got 19 points off the bench, including 12 after halftime. Point guard starter Haylei Bordui struggled with the Andrean defense and CP went to the senior Kurth, who had eight points, six rebounds and three steals.
Junior Michaela Prough didn't start fast as the 59ers built a 15-6 lead and senior Madeline Moore came off the bench to collect seven points and six rebounds. Andrean built that 15-6 lead in a physcal, foul-filled contest in the tiny Andrean gym. Courtney Kvachkoff led a 14-3 run that pulled the Lady Bulldogs to a 20-18 lead late in a ragged second quarter.
Andrean led 33-29 on a fast break layup by Brittany Anderson, but CP rallied to tie the game at 33 on a 'back door' layup from Kelly Gross and a steal and breakaway layup by Sarah Rivich. Zurek almost won the game for Andrean. With the score tied 33-33, the 5-foot-8 senior fired in a 35-foot shot that she may or may not have gotten off before the buzzer. The basket counted for a 36-33 lead.
Then in the fourth quarter, with CP leading by three points, the Niners (0-2) rushed the ball up the floor with eight seconds to go. Zurek, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and five steals, fired in a three-point shot to tie the game 48-48 and send it to overtime.
"That was pretty awesome," said Kvachkoff of the third quarter shot. "But you can't really guard that. Then she did it again. She's a great free throw shooter but I probably should have fouled her."
In the overtime, CP scored the first eight points including two free throws and a basket from 5-foot-5 senior Kelly Gross, who finished with a season high 17 points. Gross, who hit just one field goal in the first half, was 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final quarter and overtime.
"That's why we want her out there at the end. We want her to get fouled."
Junior Courtney Kvachkoff, probaby the only CP player who could consistently create her own shot, scored 11 of her 19 points after halftime and CP (3-0) finally wore down the 59ers. CP is 3-0 for the fourth year in a row and for the sixth time in eight years. None of those seasons ended in DAC or sectional titles. Is this year going to be different?
"I think we have more experience on the floor," Kvachkoff said. "I think we have more basketball intelligence."
Cronkhite said, "We were 3-0 last year, too. Now it starts."
DOG NOTES: I doubt that anyone from Crown Point thought that
Natasha Zurek's half court shot at the end of the third quarter was legal.
There's no video tape for the referees to look at, but from the naked eye, odds
are the ball was released after time ran out.
"Oh, well," said CP coach Mike Cronkhite, who protested the call in vain between the third and fourth quarters. "It didn't hurt us in the end."
Andrean's Aleena Spina is a 5-foot-5 senior who is a transfer from Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights.
"She went to my grade school," said 59er senior Natasha Zurek. "We played
together. I've known her almost my whole life. She wasn't happy there, so she
decided to come here for her senior year. She didn't say much abut it. She just
wasn't happy there anymore."
Kvachkoff said she didn't notice coaches from Valparaiso and Merrillville in the
stands.
"I really didn't se them," she said. "I don't think anybody else is playing tonight except Portage. Nervous? I might have been if I'd known they were here."
Coach Cronkhite knew they were here.
"Chesterton, Valparaiso. Merrillville. They were all here. That's okay. The first off night we get, we'll be at a Merrillville game."
Kvachkoff said it's still a big deal for CP to play Andrean.
"Oh yeah," she said. "It's exciting. I know Kelsie Plesac and Tasha Zurek. We all went to St. Mary's (grade school)."
Kvachkoff, who had scored 45 points (15 ppg.) after three games, likes this year's 3-0 team better than last year.
"I'm excited," Kvachkoff said. "I
think this is going to be a good year. We didn't sit down and set goals, but in
our minds, I think we're thinking that this is the seniors' last chance. We want
to make it special for them."
Natasha Zurek is the older sister of Mason Zurek, Andrean's junior football
halfback who ran for 1500 yards in 12 games this fall, but saw his season end in
a stunning 28-21 loss to St. Joseph's on Nov. 12.
"Its hard for him," she said. "Because he's always been on good teams, even when I played. And his teams always seem to lose at the regional."
Wait a minute, girl. What do you mean, when YOU played?
"Yeah," Natasha said matter of factly, "I played Pop Warner football for three years."
Andean coach Ken Markfull commented.
"So, do you think she's going to be intimidated by anything on the court?"
Zurek may play with a face mask all season. She's broken her nose twice and her style of play suggests she'll do it again. She missed eight of her first 10 shots from then field against CP, but she says the mask wasn't the issue.
"I've been playing with it since
last March," she explained. "I was just 'off.' I broke my nose during the
sectional last year."
Crown Point and Andrean agreed to play for three years with the third game
coming next season. They will probably continue the series after that,
especially if they can move the game to a weekend.
"This is a neat little gym. Good crowd. That's part of it."
Andrean coach Markfull would like to play this game later in the season because he has CP between Merrillville and Munster. But Crown Point's schedule is much tougher after the first of the year. CP plays Valparaiso, Michigan City and Merrillville twice in the last 12 games of the 20-game regular season.
"That's why they want to play us now," he said. "I understand that. But we finally moved West Side to later in the year. We start with Merrillville, CP, Munster, Portage and Boone Grove. We don't get to play Hebron."
Cronkhite did suggest he'd like to rearrange the start of the Lady Bulldog season.
"This four game stretch including Friday-Saturday-Tuesday. That's tough for us," he said. "We saw a little of that tonight. First road game. After a couple of easy victories. Not taking anything away from Hebron or KV. They're up and coming. First road game. Hard fought victory. We'll take it."
2011 CROWN
POINT Lady Bulldogs (3-0)
Coach: Mike Cronkhite (
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