Lady
Bulldogs 2-0 after strong start, including 75-40 win over Kankakee ValleyLady
Bulldogs 2-0 after strong start, including 75-40 win over Kankakee ValleyA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
11-14-2010
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Kankakee Valley (0-2) | 5 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 40 |
| CROWN POINT (2-0) | 18 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 75 |
Saturday, November 13, 2010 - Non-conference game at CROWN POINT, IN
KANKAKEE VALLEY (40) Tiffany Conley 3-0-7, Tori Van Vuren 3-1-17, Sammy Sullivan 2-0-6,
Morganne Sytsma 1-0-2, Hailey Ruesken 1-4-6, Taylor Patrick 2-0-4, Shelby
Hickman 2-0-4, Stacey Heerma 0-2-2, Amy Hamstra 1-0-2. TOTALS: 15 (7-12) 40.
CROWN POINT (75) Kelly Gross 3-0-7, Courtney Kvachkoff 8-0-16, Michaela Prough
4-0-8, Hayley Bordui 2-0-6, Kendall Brown 2-4-8, Sarah Rivich 4-0-9, Zarah
Cecich 2-2-6, Alexis Joseph 4-0-8, Lisa Kurth 1-2-4, Jordan Blue 1-0-2, Kelly
Maddalone 0-1-1, Madeline Moore 0-0-0. TOTALS: 31 (7-15) 75
FREE THROWS: KV (7-12, 58.3%) Tiffany Conley 0-2, Tori VanVuren 1-2, Hayley
Ruesken 4-4, Stacey Heerma 2-4;
CROWN POINT (7-15, 46.6%) Lisa Kurth 2-2,
Kendall Brown 2-4, Zarah Cecich 1-3, Kelly Gross 1-2, Kelly Maddalone 1-3,
Courtney Kvachkoff 0-1.
REBOUNDS: KV (32) Tiffany Conley 5, Tori Van Vuren 6, Sammy Sullivan 2, Hailey
Ruesken 4, Taylor Patrick 4, Shelby Hickman 2, Stacey Heerma 6, Amy Hamstra 3;
CROWN POINT (29) Michaela Prough 6, Kelly Gross 4, Zarah Cecich 4, Alexis Joseph
4, Madeline Moore 4, Courtney Kvachkoff 3, Hayley Bordui, Sarah Rivich, Lisa
Kurth, Jordan Blue.
ASSISTS: KV (10) Tiffany Conley 3, Stacey Heerma 3, Tori Van Vuren 2, Morgane
Sytsma, Taylor Patrick;
CP (15) Kelly Maddalone 5, Hayley Bordui 3, Sarah Rivich
2, Kelly Gross 2, Kendall Brown, Lisa Kurth, Madeline Moore.
STEALS: KV (4) Tiffany Conley. Morganne Sytsma, Hailey Ruesken, Stacey Heerma;
CROWN POINT (17) Courtney Kvachkoff 5, Kendall Brown 4, Hayley Bordui 3, Sarah
Rivich 2, Jordan Blue, Alexis Joseph, Lisa Kurth.
BLOCKED SHOTS: KV (1) Amy Hamstra; CROWN POINT (7) Michaela Prough 3, Alexis
Joseph 2, Zarah Cecich, Kendall Brown.
3-GOALS: KV (3) Sammy Sullivan 2, Tiffany Conley; CROWN POINT (4) Hayley Bordui
2, Kendal Brown, Sarah Rivich.
 |
| CP's Kelly Gross (10) high-fives Hayley Bordui (25) as Courtney Kvachkoff (20) and Kendall Brown (22) are introduced as part of the Lady Bulldogs starting lineup Saturday against KV. (Photo by Mark Smith) |
A little more intensity on defense after the issue had been decided. KV ended up
with 35 turnovers even though CP played every girl who was in uniform. There's
no difference between defeating an out-manned opponent by 25 or 45 points, but
on the opening nights of the season you want to establish what you have.
You also saw Crown Point in a new defense. No matter who was in the game, CP
often dropped into a 1-3-1 halfcourt defense, which basically is aligning
players in a large cross on half the court. When you trap ball handlers in
between the arms of the cross. With tall starters like 6-foot-1 Michaela Prough,
6-foot Hayley Bordui, and 5-10 Kendall Brown, that defense really seems to fit
Crown Point's personnel.
"We're very long and we're very athletic," said second year coach Mike Cronkhite.
"We'll try to use that to our advantage obviously. We put that (1-3-1) in with
about just a handful of game left in the D-1 camp this summer in Fort Wayne. We
looked really good this summer. We just tried it on a whim and we looked so good
in it, we've been in it ever since."
CP led 4-0 before KV's Sammy Sullivan sank a three-point shot. Crown Point,
which returned four of five starters and 12 varsity players from last season,
then ran off 11 points in a row to take a 15-3 lead on a basket by Prough, who
had six points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in the first quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the first 16 points of the second period before KV's
Hailey Ruesken hit two free throws with 2:07 left in the half. Courtney
Kvachkoff scored eight of her 14 first half points in the second quarter.
CP also did not start a true center, even though they have centers on the
roster. Prough can play the post but she's a forward. Brown, Bordui, Kvachkoff
and Kelly Gross, who scored 18 in the season opening win over Hebron, are all
really guards. Most girls basketball teams don't have a true center. Most of the
time, CP can get away with five perimeter players.
"I started five athletes," Cronkhite said, not wanting to label them by
position. "We're 1-through-12 deep. We have people at every position. I believe
we have all the positions filled. We have all the pieces. The way we want to
play, we can use everybody. We have six footers on the bench and that's a pretty
good weapon to have when you get into the Duneland Conference."
As Cronkhite suggests, everything that occurred in these first two victories
must be painted with the brush of what's to come. State-rated Merrillville
(2-0), highly-regarded Michigan City (2-0) and rival Valparaiso (1-2) are teams
CP must play twice and they don't see them at all until mid-December. The Lady
Bulldogs were 9-0 two years ago and finished at 12-9. These girls know what's
ahead.
Bordui, Lisa Kurth and Sarah Rivich played lead guard for CP. Bordui is a
shooter. Kurth is the strongest physical player and Rivich is the fastest and
best at stealing the ball.
"They all see the floor well," Cronkhite said. "We're looking for the options
off our break. They all work hard. We knew that our point guard position had to
be stronger, especially in the Duneland. We did a lot of off-season workouts and
you can see we definitely improved at that position. Hayley's an extremely
difficult match-up."
"We're going to get as many people minutes as we can," added Cronkhite. "We're
trying to find combinations. We have really good practices with this many good
players."
CPLB NOTES: Courtney Kvachkoff scored 10 points and posted seven
rebounds and seven steals to lead Crown Point to a 74-33 victory over Hebron in
the CP season opener Friday night.
Kelly Gross scored 18, including four three-point goals while Kendall Brown scored all nine of her points in the first quarter as CP jumped to a 22-11 lead. Senior Kelly Maddalone, a 5-foot-5 guard who is on the varsity for the first time, had five second half assists in a reserve role against Kankakee Valley. All of them were passes to the post off the side of the floor and at least three were to center Alexis Joseph.
"She's very smart," said Cronkhite. "Her GPA is through the roof and she knows what she's doing. She does a lot of good things out there."
2011 CROWN
POINT Lady Bulldogs (2-0)
Coach: Mike Cronkhite (
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