Crown Point wins defensive battle over LaPorte 43-39 with help from 74% free throw shooting

A USA-365.com Special Report by Dave Woodworth 
12-2-2005

Team /Record 1 2 3 4 Final
LaPorte (4-3, 0-2 DAC) 7 6 7 19 39
CROWN POINT (4-3, 2-1 DAC) 6 9 9 19 43

Friday, 12-2-2005 - Duneland Athletic Conference game at Crown Point

CROWN POINT (43)  Hannah Plumley 1-5-7, Jackie Clements 2-3-7, Anjellica Rospond 4-2-10, Courtney Perry 3-0-6, Stephanie Poulos 2-0-4, Amanda Moore 0-0-0, Ashley Zaucha 0-2-2, Michelle Lipton 1-4-6, Katie Kvachkoff 0-0-0, Danialla Tarailo 0-1-1.  TOTALS: 13 (17-23) 43.

LAPORTE  (39)  Cassie Cepeda 1-0-2, Julie Hart 0-0-0, Kassandra Gray 3-6-13, Erin Justice 1-0-3, Tara Buchanan 4-3-11, Sarah Dermody 0-5-5, Rebekah Spoor 2-0-5, Carly Levandoski 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 11 (14-20) 39.

FREE THROWS:  CP (17-23, 73.9%) Plumley 5-7, Lipton 4-6, Clements 3-4, Rospond 2-2, Zaucha 2-2, Tarailo 1-2, Perry 0-1;
LAPORTE (14-20, 70.0%) Gray 6-8, Dermody 5-6, Buchanan 3-4, Spoor 0-1, Cepeda 0-1.

3-GOALS:  CP (none);  LAPORTE (3) Gray, Justice, Spoor.

REBOUNDS:  CP:  (24)  Perry 9;  LAPORTE:  (18) Spoor 5.

ASSISTS:  Plumley (CP) 3; Cepeda (LaPorte) 2

STEALS:  CP: Poulos 4; LaPorte: Gray 2

FOULED OUT: Plumley (CP-late 4th Qtr); Dermody (LaPorte- mid-4th Qtr).

CROWN POINT  (12-2-2005) -  Coming off a Tuesday night 62-43 loss to the Lowell Red Devils, Crown Point started slowly against LaPorte.  However, after trailing 7-6 after a long, drawn-out first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs gradually built momentum en route to a 12-point lead mid-way through the fourth quarter before finally settling for a 43-39 win at Crown Point Friday night.  

Crown Point was finally able to use their height advantage and controlled the offensive boards 9-5 and out-rebounded LaPorte 24-18 overall.  The Lady Bulldogs also did a better job of feeding the ball to 5-foot-11 Courtney Perry and 6-foot Anjellica Rospond, who scored six and 10-points respectively.  The proactive movement under the boards was an improvement from Tuesday's contest at Lowell, as senior guards Michelle Lipton, Stephanie Poulos and Hannah Plumley each had some success in driving to the basket.  CP was able to draw 22 fouls, and made 17 of 23 freethrow attempts -- a considerable improvement over the 4 of 10 freethrow shooting at Lowell just three nights earlier.

Crown Point led only 15-13 at halftime, but built modest leads in the third and fourth quarters, only to see a stubborn Lady Slicers team refuse to roll-over, and managed to extend the lead only to 24-20 after three quarters.  

In the fourth, the Lady Bulldogs built up a 12-point lead.  But full-court pressure by the Lady Slicers forced some turnovers that in turn produced some easy baskets.  Very late in the game LaPorte came back to within 41-39 with less than 10-seconds remaining.  But the Lady Bulldogs managed to work the ball in-bounds and avoided getting fouled until just 0.8 seconds remaining when Kassandra Gray (13 points, 2 steals, 2 assists) finally dived at a fast-moving Michelle Lipton.  The senior 5-4 guard smoothly sank her two double bonus freethrows to provide the final margin of victory before Gray's final length-of-court, last-second desperation shot caromed off the backboard.

Crown Point improves to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in the DAC, while LaPorte falls to 4-3 on the season and 0-2 in the DAC.  The Lady Bulldogs have a few days to prepare for their next game at Lake Central Friday, Dec. 9 and a non-conference home date the following night against Boone Grove (Dec. 9) before traveling to highly regarded Valparaiso Tuesday, Dec. 13.

USA-365.com Notes:  The next Crown Point girls basketball game to be broadcast via the Internet on USA-365.com will be Michigan City at Crown Point on Friday, December 16.  Live coverage begins with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m. and the tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., CST.  

The first Crown Point boys basketball game to be broadcast via the Internet on USA-365.com will be Lake Central at Crown Point on Friday, December 9.  Live coverage begins with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m. and the tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., CST.  Dave Woodworth (play-by-play) and Mark Smith(analysis) return to call the action. The PODcast and story will be posted later that weekend on www.USA-365.com.   

CLASS SECTIONAL JOHN HARRELL'S INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GIRLS' SEASONS
4A 2 E-MAIL CORRECTIONS MAP TO SCHOOL 4-3
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
CROWN POINT
BULLDOGS
Coach: Tom May, 425-154 in 26th year at school
DATE OPPONENT RESULT / CST OA 50.0, DA 36.3
Nov. 11 at Hebron {1A}  W   47-  35  
Nov. 12 at Kankakee Valley {3A}  W   48-  28  
Nov. 18 Portage {4A}‡ W   60-  21  
Nov. 19 at Warsaw {4A} L   45-  61  
Nov. 25 at Chesterton {4A}‡ L   39-  40  
Nov. 29 at Lowell {4A} L   43-  62  
Dec. 2 LaPorte {4A}‡ W   43-  39  
Dec. 9 at Lake Central {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Dec. 10 Boone Grove {2A} 7:30 pm  
Dec. 13 at Valparaiso {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Dec. 16 Michigan City {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Dec. 17 Hanover Central {2A} 7:30 pm  
Dec. 28 Merrillville {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Jan. 5 at Portage {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Jan. 6 Chesterton {4A}‡ 6:00 pm  
Jan. 14 Lake Central {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Jan. 20 at Michigan City {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Jan. 24 at LaPorte {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Jan. 27 Valparaiso {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
Feb. 4 at Merrillville {4A}‡ 7:30 pm  
‡DUNELAND CONFERENCE GAME

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Revised: December 03, 2005 .