Lady Bulldogs beat KV 53-41, start season 2-0

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - Non-conference game at CROWN POINT, IN

KANKAKEE VALLEY (41) Ashley VanKley 3-0-6, Marissa Butler 5-7-17, Brandee Hudspeth 4-5-15, Kendie Teborg 1-0-2, Katrice Patrick 0-1-1, Sammy Sullivan 0-0-0, Pam Zuchowski 0-0-0, Brooke Wireman 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 13 (13-22) 41.

CROWN POINT (53) Kelly Gross 2-1-7, Maegen Maloney 1-0-2, Flori Garcia 3-2-8, Sydnee Reeves 3-0-6, Clare Grubnich 1-0-2, Daniela Tarailo 9-0-19, Zarah Cecich 2-0-4, Alle Geisen 2-0-4, Madeline Moore 0-1-1, Victoria Connelly 0-0-0, Alexis Joseph 0-0-0, Kelsey Batz 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 23 (4-9) 53.

FREE THROWS:  KV (13-22, 59.0%) Hudspeth 5-8, Butler 7-10, Patrick 1-4. CP (4-9, 44.4%) Garcia 2-2, Gross 1-2, Moore 1-2, Tarailo 0-1, Cecich 0-2.

REBOUNDS:  KV (21) Butler 8, VanKley 4, Zuchowski 4, Hudspeth 3, Patrick, Wireman;  CP (29) Tarailo 8, Garcia 4, Moore 4, Gross 3, Cecich 2, Reeves 2, Joseph 2, Grubnich, Maloney, Geisen,  Batz.

STEALS: KV (7) Butler 5, VanKley, Turburg;  CP (8) Tarailo 2, Gross 2, Garcia, Geisen, Gross, Moore.

ASSISTS: KV (5) Hudspeth 4, Zuchowski;  CP (9)  Moore 3, Gross 3, Garcia 2, Tarailo.

BLOCKED SHOTS: KV (3) Butler 3,  CP (0).

TURNOVERS:  KV (5-4-2-2) 13; CP (3-1-3-3) 10.

3-GOALS:  KV (2) Brandee Hudspeth 2; CP (3) Kelly Gross 2, Daniela Tarailo.

FOULED OUT:  None.

Friday, November 14, 2008 - Non-conference game at CROWN POINT, IN

HEBRON (38) Stacey Blank 0-4-4, Kara Cunningham 1-0-3, Molly Marshall 3-5-11, Rebah Seidler 2-0-4, Kelli Matheney 4-6-14, Alex Shircliff 1-0-2, Alyssa Sheets 1-0-2, Lynn Takarski 0-0-0, Cassie Brown 0-0-0, Julie Huettner 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 11 (15-29) 38.

CROWN POINT (56) Maegen Maloney 5-0-13, Kelly Gross 3-5-12, Flori Garcia 1-0-2, Sydnee Reeves 2-1-5, Daniela Tarailo 8-1-17, Madeline Moore 0-1-1,  Zarah Cecich 1-0-2, Alle Geisen 1-0-2, Clare Grubnich 1-0-2, Kelsey Batz 0-0-0, Victoria Connelly 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22 (7-16) 56.

FREE THROWS:  HEBRON (15-29, 51.7%) Blank 4-7, Marshall 5-8, Matheney 6-11, Seidler 0-1, Huettner 0-2. CP (7-16, 43.7%) Gross 5-8, Moore 1-3, Reeves 1-1, Garcia 0-2, Tarailo 0-2.
3-GOALS:  HEBRON (1) Kara Cunningham; CP (5) Maegen Maloney 3, Kelly Gross, Daniela Tarailo.

FOULED OUT:  None.

CROWN POINT, IN (11-15-2008) With the 14-game Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) season and an IHSAA limit of 20 regular season games, Crown Point's basketball schedule can't change very much.  Under the present schedule CP begins the girls basketball season with Hebron and Kankakee Valley, two much smaller schools.  So, the goal for Crown Point is to go 2-0 the first non-conference weekend.  It gets a lot tougher after that.

KV started fast but Crown Point (2-0) responded and rolled over the Kougars 53-41 Saturday night as the Lady Bulldogs started as they wanted to in the 2008-2009 season.  CP played well most of the game.  The Lady Bulldogs were up 48-26 with seven minutes to play before KV regrouped for a late rush.  But there was no doubt that Crown Point would go 2-0 for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

"We hope all weekends are two-game sweeps," said CP coach Scott Reid.  "But, of cOurse, we know what's coming up.  The Duneland Conference is the Duneland Conference."

"We open Friday with Portage and we know what they're going to do.  They play awfully goOd 'D' and they'll do all the things they're supposed to do.  But lets move ahead step by step. Day by day.  Practice on Monday."

It's hard to judge CP on the first weekend because KV and Hebron, who Crown Point defeated 56-38 in the season opener Friday, while quality teams in their leagues, would not beat anyone in the Duneland Conference one time out of 10.

KV quickly led 8-2 and 10-4 as CP seemed passive and didn't contest the driving Kougars, who were coming off a 50-38 loss to DAC power Valparaiso three nights earlier.  But after junior Marissa Butler's free throw gave KV an 11-8 lead, Crown Point scored 14 points in a row as 5-10 senior Daniela Tarailo and sophomores Alle Geisen and Zarah Cecich all contributed two baskets to the run.

In the third quarter, senior guard Flori Garcia cashed in a couple of steals for baskets as the home team built the lead to 20 points.  Butler, a 5-10 left-handed junior, scored 11 second half points and added a couple of steals and blocks to rally her side, but the Kougars didn't have the depth to beat CP.

"We had a 12-point loss to Valpo and a 12-point loss to Crown Point," said KV coach Mike Sampson.  "Moral victories.  We don't really want them, but that's not bad."

"We had to put Marissa in the post tonight and she really doesn't play there.  She did OK.  Some of our girls were a little banged up from playing against (Valpo's 6-foot-4 junior Stephanie) Lang the other night.  We'll be OK."

Crown Point showed some new outside shooting in the first weekend with soph guard Kelly Gross collecting 19 points in the first two games.  CP is small for DAC play and that's where big sophs Moore and Zarah Cecich have to contribute behind 5-10 senior Sydnee Reeves, who will play a lot of the '4' position.  The Lady Bulldogs have some depth and speed and can create mismatches if the intensity level is higher than it was Saturday.

"It was loud in here last night," said Tarailo, who scored 36 points in the first two games.

Tarailo is going to have to score for Crown Point to win and that's a hard sell to all concerned.  The 'model' or prototype of a CP conference victory has to include 15-20 per game from its top senior.  The 'unselfish' and 'multi-faceted' Daniela was an all-area player last season, but CP won six games and was 1-13 in the DAC.  CP's league and sectional are as big and talented as they have ever been.  Lady Bulldogs who score in non-conference play may to be able to get on the board against Division One players like Chesterton and Michigan City have or giant post players like Lake Central and Valparaiso have.

"Daniela does a lot of other things," said Reid.  "Sometimes that goes unnoticed.  But we need her to score.  I don't want her shooting when there's three people on her.  Her shot's improved and that's because she worked hard on it.  That's no secret.  Last year, she was a stand still shooter but she's really worked on that."

"She is an unselfish kid.  She wants to distribute the ball.  But you'll see the other girls screening for her.  They want her to score.  And when she does score it opens up everything for everybody else.  She had 17 last night and 19 tonight.  That's pretty good."

Tarailo said, "We have to start better in the first quarter.  We have five seniors but we still have to jump on things right away."

"I thought Alle Geisen got things going," added CP's Reid.  Madeline Moore played well.  She's a  very smart player.  She's always in the right spot.  We didn't start very quickly.  We've got to work on that.  At the varsity level, it doesn't matter who you're playing.  They're coming at you.

"KV didn't come in here afraid of us, said Reid.  We won't see many better athletes than 21 (Marissa Butler).  We're learning all the time.  But once we got it going, I thought we had eight or nine kids who played well."

CPLB NOTES:  Crown Point's starting five for both non-conference games were the five seniors:  Clare Grubnich, Flori Garcia, Maegen Maloney, Daniela Tarailo and Sydnee Reeves.  Coach Scott Reid understandably plays down who is starting for his team, largely because of the unusual age makeup of the squad.  CP has no junior varsity basketball players and the first time a sophomore starts ahead of a senior, everybody is going to notice.

In Saturday's game against KV, the five seniors plus sophs Zarah Cecich, Alle Geisen, Kelly Gross and Madeline Moore shared most of the playing time.

"It's a nice problem that we have," said Reid.  "Kids coming off the bench who will play.  But we decide that in practice."

"There are some positions we look at.  The one (lead ball handler) two (wing) three (wing), four (big forward) and five (center) but really we're just looking for kids who will get after it. When we get after it, we look pretty good.  Kids are working hard and buying in.  KV was a pretty good team."

Daniela Tarailo says the D-1 summer camps are worth it.

"I went to the one in Fort Wayne and you do nothing but play," said Tarailo Saturday.  "I wish I'd have done that all through high school.  You get to play with and against a lot of good players.  It really helps you."

"We have 10 girls who are all about the same height," said Tarailo.  "I'm okay with everybody.  I really think it's who ever is going good.  I don't think about 'I like this match up' and "I don't like that one'.  Sometimes somebody gets on a roll and you get them the ball, but I think I'm OK with everyone.  I like the team chemistry.  We spent a lot more time together this summer and I think that's helped."

The goal of the game is to win, not to have balanced scoring or make everybody happy.  Or to make a certain amount of passes, run plays for non-scorers or take time off the clock.  At the high school level where the game is being taught, even the terms are pejorative.  Shooting and scoring is termed being 'greedy' while passing off to some one else who misses a shot is called being unselfish.  Players don't miss that message.

"We're all friends," said Daniela.  "Maybe some will get upset that I take too many shots but I think in the end, they'll be okay with it if we win.  It's a lot easier to take your a shot when you are the oldest on the team.  I don't have to worry about seniority.  As a sophomore (former coach ) Tom May told me to take my shots.  I look back and I regret not doing it."

CP has a lot of the same players they had last year and it's hard to see them overcoming other DAC teams who also have a lot of the same players returning.

"We had a lot of girls going different ways last year, she said. "They all wanted to win, but we are a different group this year.  We had 10 juniors last year and we have five seniors.  We have some great sophomores who are going to be good the next two years.  But I think the bond that we've made can make us good this year."

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Revised: November 05, 2009 .