Lady Bulldogs advance to 5-0 with 45-36 win over Chesterton

Friday, November 28, 2008 - Duneland Athletic Conference at CROWN POINT, IN

CHESTERTON (36) Dana Christensen 3-0-7, Morgan Palombizio 3-1-8, Abbe Skube 4-3-12, Clare Holba 2-3-7, Lindsay Hutner 1-0-2, Andrea LeVrio 0-0-0, Jessica O'Brien 0-0-0, Lindsey Gorman 0-0-0, Michele Fikete 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 13 (7-15) 33.

CROWN POINT (45) Flori Garcia 2-0-4, Zarah Cecich 1-2-4, Sydnee Reeves 2-1-5, Daniella Tarailo 4-3-12, Madeline Moore 5-2-12, Alle Geisen 1-3-5, Kelly Gross 0-3-3, Maegen Maloney 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 15 (14-21) 45.

FOUL SHOTS:  Chesterton (7-15, 46.6%) LeVrio 0-2, Palombizio 1-2, O'Brien 0-2, Skube 3-4, Holba 3-4, Hutnick 0-1;
CROWN POINT (14-21, 66.7%) Tarailo 3-4, Geisen 3-4, Gross 3-4, Moore 2-4, Cecich 2-2, Garcia 0-1, Reeves 1-2.

REBOUNDS:  Chesterton (26) Palombizio 9, Skube 6, Christensen 4, LeVrio 2, Gorman 2, Fekete, Hutnick, Holba.
CROWN POINT (23) Reeves 8, Moore 4, Garcia 3, Geisen 3, Cecich 2,  Grubnich 2, Gross.

ASSISTS:  Chesterton (6) Christensen 3, Palombizio, O'Brien, Holba;  CROWN POINT (8) Tarailo 4, Geisen 2, Garcia, Reeves.

STEALS:  Chesterton  (7) Christensen 3, O'Brien 2, Skube, Gorman;  CROWN POINT (8) Geisen 5, Moore 2, Tarailo.

BLOCKED SHOTS:  Chesterton (2) Palombizio, Skube;  CROWN POINT (4) Reeves 3, Geisen.

FOULED OUT:  Chesterton (1) Abbe Skube (4th Q) 0:07 left; CROWN POINT (1) Sydnee Reeves (4th Q) 0:45 left.

3-GOALS:  Chesterton (3) Dana Christensen, Abbe Skube, Morgan Palombizio;  CROWN POINT (1) Daniela Tarailo.

CROWN POINT, IN (11-28-2008) This was an impact win for the Lady Bulldogs (6-0) because they lost twice to Chesterton last season and were 1-13 in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC).  The victory was CP's second DAC triumph of the season so improvement has been etched in stone.

CP didn't play well offensively against the Trojans Friday (they had just 27 points after three periods), but that's even more encouraging.  The Lady Bulldogs traditionally won when they did not play a strong offensive game.  The Lady Bulldogs used a 9-0 run to take a 15-6 lead with 5:28 to go in the second quarter and Chesterton fumbled its way through the first half with 14 turnovers.

The Trojans started 6-foot senior all-conference forwards Morgan Palombizio and Abbe Skube with 6-foot-1 freshman Clare Holba for the first time.  It may be the last time.  Chesterton had a terrible time handling the ball in the first two quarters and they were lucky to trail just 22-13 at the intermission.

"I don't have any idea what happened," said longtime Chesterton coach Jack Campbell, whose team was coming off a 101-51 loss to ninth-ranked Penn on Nov. 22.  "That was seven days ago," he said.  "I don't think there was hangover."

In the first four games, CP won largely because Daniela Tarailo scored the points they needed.  Against the bigger Trojans, the Lady Bulldogs needed to take advantage of Chesterton double-teaming the ball outside.

"We've got to get some points in the paint," Reid said.  "And when we looked inside, we did get points.  There's a war going on inside.  We didn't press them full court because we wanted to slow them down.  We hoped to frustrate them a little."

CP is getting good play from the combination of 5-11 senior Sydnee Reeves and 5-9 sophomore Madeline Moore at the '4' position.  Reeves had five points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots while Moore scored nine of her 12 points in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter.

"We asked Sydnee to hit the boards and she did that for us," said Reid.  "And we asked Madeline to score and she can do that.  She's not really going to be intimidated by too many people.  We've been on her to try to score.  Sometimes she doesn't even look at the basket."

It was hard to tell if Chesterton's ineptitude (20 points after three quarters) was due to CP's defense or the Trojans' own struggles.  But that's always the case when these two teams meet.  Both teams beat each other into the hardwood.  But on this night, Moore got the ball to go in late in the game and when CP needed a defensive lift off the bench they got it from 5-foot-5 sophomore Alle Geisen, who stole the ball five times.

"Alle is a really good on-the-ball defender," said Reid.  "Maegen (Maloney) banged her head on the floor and we were worried about bringing her back into the game.  Alle came in and gave us minutes.  We've got a lot of people on the bench that we can bring in."

Crown Point needs everybody in a league where Chesterton and Michigan City both start two Divison I players.  The Lady Bulldogs are not going to win every game, but they seem to have confidence in every game.

"Confidence is the best thing that you can have," Reid noted.  "Bottom line:  We are finding ways to win games that we didn't win last year."

This wasn't a dominating win.  Neither were the wins over Portage and Warsaw.  It was a resourceful win and CP has to win the close ones because the second half of their schedule is intimidating with talent-laden Valparaiso, Merrillville and Michigan City coming up twice each in the last 10 games.

"This is a really nice win," said Reid.  "I have all the respect in the world for Chesterton and Jack (Trojan varsity coach Jack Campbell) and Fred (assistant coach Fred Mitchell).  This is one where the kids can smile and feel good about themselves."

CPLB NOTES:  Crown Point was 8-0 in 2005 when Cassie Pruzin, Kaitlyn Sertich and Jill Weiand were among the seniors.  When you look ahead on the CP schedule, they are facing Lowell (0-2) on Dec. 2 and LaPorte (0-4) on Dec. 5.  There is every opportunity for the Lady Bulldogs to be 8-0 when they play Lake Central on Dec. 12.  Reality may set in during the second half of the season when CP plays arch-rival Merrillville, Valparaiso and undefeated Michigan City twice each.

Many at CP could still not get over the Bulldogs' 71-62 overtime victory over Warsaw on Nov. 22, a game where CP trailed.

"The strangest game I've ever seen," said Reid.  "We didn't finish until 11:30 because they got here late when their bus broke down.  I don't ever remember us coming from 21 points behind."

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Revised: December 05, 2008 .