Saturday, 12-18-2004 in Cedar Lake

CROWN POINT (67) Kaitlyn Sertich 6-3-15, Cassie Pruzin 6-2-15, Hannah Plumley 3-0-9, Stephanie Poulous 3-1-9, Courtney Perry 2-0-4, Jackie Clements 2-0-4, Anjellica REspond 1-0-2, Amanda Moore 2-0-5, Kaitlin Sautter 1-0-2, Jill Weiand 1-0-2, Michelle Lipton 0-0-0, Ashley Zaucha 0-0-0, Brooke Seils 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-6-67

HANOVER CENTRAL (34) Alisha Staley 1-0-2, Kristy Ostrowski 1-0-2, Christie Wick 3-0-9, Samantha Plant 0-2-2, Heather Rebeneck 5-2-12, Krysta Rickey 2-3-7, Christy Bader 0-0-0, Andria Trock 0-0-0, Chrissy Huffnagle 0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-6-34

FREE THROWS (CP) 6-9, 66.7% - Sertich 3-3, Pruzin 2-2, Poulos 1-2, Perry 0-2. (HC) 7- 11, 63.6% -
Rebeneck 2-3, Rickey 3-4, Wick 0-2, Plant 2-2.

REBOUNDS – CP (37) Weiand 8, Plumley 7, Clements 6, Perry 5, Pruzin 3, Sautter 3, Sertich 2, Lipton, Poulos, Moore.
HANOVER (17) Wick 5, Rebeneck 4, Ostrowski 3, Plant 2, Staley, Trock, Rickey

ASSISTS – CP (13) Pruzin 6, Plumley 2, Clements 2, Lipton 2, Sertich
HANOVER (5) Wick 2, Rickey 2, Ostrowski.

STEALS – CP (10) Pruzin 4, Plumley 3, Perry 2, Sertich; HANOVER (7) Rebeneck 2, Wick 2, Rickey 2, Ostrowski

3-point GOALS - CP (6) Plumley 3, Poulos 2, Pruzin, Moore; HANOVER (3) Wick 3.

CEDAR LAKE (12-18-2004) - With three minutes left in the first half Saturday, 2A Hanover Central trailed big 4A neighbor Crown Point only 21-16 and HC was thinking about making a highlight for their season.

That thought turned out to be the highlight of the evening for the home team.

CP (10-2) would scored 10 of the last 13 points of the first half and add on the first seven points of the second half and before you could look around, the game was effectively over for Hanover (5-3) with the score at 38-19.

It's not that the outcome was unexpected. CP has now won all three meetings since this series was restarted three years ago. It's just that HC coming in with a three-game win streak and CP having played Michigan City the night before, there was a thought this game might be a littler closer, especially with CP playing their fifth game in 10 days.

“Quite honestly,” said May. “We should have lost one game (of the five). We're going to lose some. But we could have won either one of those (losses to 2A No. 6 Boone Grove and 4A No. 8 Valparaiso) games. We got some shots tonight and made them. That's the difference.”

“We're not going to yell and scream at them. We're just going to use the bench and make changes if we can't get things done.”

Hanover coach Chris York wasn't discouraged with the loss or the margin of defeat. HC was looking forward to a Wednesday night (Dec, 22) makeup game with fast-rising Lowell (6-3) and the eight team Momence, Ill. Holiday Tournament Dec. 29-30.

“I was pretty happy with our play in the first half,” he said. “I didn't think it was their press exactly. It was the decisions we made after we broke through the press. We threw the ball away or we threw it right to them. But this was good for us. Nobody can press us like this except (Porter County Conference rival) Boone Grove.”

A quiet crowd of about 500 watched CP jump to leads of 10-3 and 21-10 before back-to-back three-point goals by Hanover senior Christie Wick cut the lead to five points.

But 6-foot CP sophomore Anjellica Respond grabbed an offensive rebound and scored before CP scoring leader Cassie Pruzin hit a short jump shot and Kaitlyn Sertich sank two free throws for a 27-16 lead.

At the start of the third quarter, Sertich scored after two CP offensive rebounds and added a jump shot seconds later for a 35-19 lead. When Hannah Plumley sank a long three-pointer from the left wing, Hanover called time out with the score 38-19.

Hanover Central truly has just one lead guard in 5-5 junior Krysta Rickey. Wick is the closest thing the Lady Cats have to a back up lead guard. CP used a man-to-man full court press with an ad-lib double-team format. CP girls would leave their defensive assignment to help out on the ball-handler. Hanover had not faced a good pressing team all season and it showed.

One other factor was that Crown Point shot the ball well from the outside. CP hit no three-point baskets in their 36-26 loss to Valparaiso but they made seven against Hanover Saturday.

“We scouted them,” smiled York, “and those players didn't hit those shots.”

This was the first game all season where Hanover got blown out. The Lady Cats other two losses were 58-54 to Wheeler in overtime and 45-43 to Kouts in a Saturday afternoon game after a Friday night Homecoming win over Hebron.

By the time you read this, they've probably forgotten this game.

At least that better be the case with Lowell (6-3) set to host HC Wednesday night.

Crown Point headed home for Christmas with a 10-2 mark, their best record after 12 games since they were 11-1 in the 2001 season that saw them winning their last sectional championship and losing to Highland 48-35 in the briefly instituted (and then discarded) one-game home site regional final at Highland.

The Lady Bulldogs needed the time off with the rush of December games. Senior Jill Weiand has been playing hurt the last three games.

CP had to travel on consecutive nights. The wins over Michigan City and Hanover Central, though expected, were welcomed after losses to Boone Grove (11-0) and Valparaiso (10-1).

“We played Michigan City last night and they played a 2-3 zone,” said May. “Tonight, we come here and they're playing a 1-3-1 which left our elbows (wing shots) open. It was good for us to play against some different things.”

CAT & DOG NOTES:  One bright spot for HC was center Heather Rebeneck, who scored 12 points with three rebounds and two steals. Rebeneck, who plays with a bandaged right hand, has scored 10 or more points four times in eight games. The 5-8 junior played very little on the varsity last year but is now a key member of the team.

“Heather has been great for us,” said York. “She's a physical presence for us.

CP starters Jill Weiand and Hannah Plumley both scored season high point totals Friday at Michigan City. Weiand scored a career-high 20 points while Plumley came home with 14, including two three-point baskets, along with four rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs had a big second half, outscoring the Wolves 33-20.

Crown Point has outscored 12 foes by a combined score of 186-83 in the third quarter this season. Only Kankakee Valley, which outscored CP 8-5 in the third quarter of a blowout 60-27 CP win of Nov. 13, has outscored CP in any third period this season.

Hanover Central drew Peotone in the quarterfinals of the eight-team single-elimination Momence Holiday Tournament beginning on Dec. 29. The semifinals and finals are Dec. 30.

CROWN POINT Girls Basketball (10-2)

	Coach Tom May  (25 years, 414-147 )
	Start times are Varsity starting times

Date	Location ALL CAPS = Duneland Athletic Conference game	Time / Result
Nov. 12	Hebron {1A}	W, 67-48
Nov. 13	Kankakee Valley {3A}	W, 60-24
Nov. 19	at PORTAGE {4A	W, 63-21
Nov. 20	Warsaw {4A}	W, 58-53
Nov. 26	CHESTERTON {4A}	W, 55-35
Nov. 30	Lowell {4A}	W, 60-42
Dec. 3	at LaPORTE {4A‡	W, 41-30
Dec. 10	LAKE CENTRAL {4A}‡	W, 53-38
Dec. 11	at Boone Grove {2A}	(OT) L, 52-57
Dec. 14	VALPARAISO {4A}‡	L, 26-36
Dec. 17	at MICHIGAN CITY {4A}‡	W, 54-42
Dec. 18	at Hanover Central {2A}	W, 67-34
Dec. 29	at MERRILLVILLE  {4A}‡	6:00 pm
Jan. 5	PORTAGE {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 8	at CHESTERTON {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 14	at LAKE CENTRAL {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 21	MICHIGAN CITY {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 25	LaPORTE {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 28	at VALPARAISO {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 4	MERRILLVILLE {4A}‡	7:30 pm

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Revised: December 19, 2004 .