Duneland Athletic Conference opener  -  Friday, 11-21-2003  at Crown Point

CROWN POINT (52)  Kaitlyn Sertich 3-0-7, Blayre Reeves 2-0-5, Stephanie Sandilla 0-0-0, Jill Weiand 2-2-6, Mallory Michaels 1-0-2, Hannah Plumley 2-1-5, Cassie Pruzin 10-2-25, Jackie Clements 1-0-2, Anjellica Rospond  0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-5-52

FTS: 5-9, 55.6% percent:  Weiand 2-4, Pruzin 2-2, Reeves 1-2, Michaels 0-1
FGs: 21-59, 35.6%  (Pruzin 10-21, Sertich 3-6)
REBOUNDS: Weiand 11, Reeves 10
ASSISTS: Pruzin - 4
STEALS: Pruzin - 8

FOULED OUT: None
3-POINT GOALS (5) Cassie Pruzin 3, Kaitlyn Sertich, Hannah Plumley

CROWN POINT (11-21-2003) -  Crown Point's Lady Bulldogs were not in top form in the home opener Friday.  A 30-15 half-time lead slipped to 34-29 before CP pulled away for the expected 52-39 victory. The Bulldogs moved to 3-0 behind 21 points and eight steals from junior Cassie Pruzin, but everybody knew that CP would not be tested until Saturday night's game at top-ranked Warsaw. But Friday had two themes and neither had to do with winning or losing.

This was the first varsity basketball game (witnessed by about 1,500) in the new $54 million dollar high school. Portage's Krystal Rigoni made the first basket, while CP's Kaitlyn Sertich made the first home hoop, a three-pointer. People didn't know exactly where to go in the pre and post game and not everybody knew how to operate everything. But a decent crowd looked small in the much larger home of Bulldog basketball. There's a lot more room in the stands and halls. And the playing surface is top flight.

This was also the night where past CP girls players were asked to come back in an honorary kickoff for the new gym. Some were not home from college and some have left the area but, without promotion other than word-of-mouth, about 50 former players, including most of the 1985 state title team and many of the 1997 state finalists did return and were introduced to the crowd at half-time.

"I wish I could have seen a little more of it," said Portage's veteran coach Renee Turpa. "It's good. Tom (May) does a good job of promoting girls basketball. The building is kinda like Chesterton. I was saying to Tom, 'You waited forever.' The other building was horrendous. They deserve it. They waited it out and got a nice, first class facility."

Long time coach Tom May said the night had another benefit for present players.

"I want our kids to see that the players go on to do this and that," said May. "I was really pleased that all the the players came back tonight. There is more to this than just ourselves. We told the kids. You're not playing for yourselves. You're playing for all the people who have come before you. You have an obligation."

"We did a little chewing on them at half-time. They were sitting back and watching Cassie do everything."

Pruzin did put a lot of numbers on the scoresheets. Playing 29 of the 32 minutes and committing three turnovers, the 5-7 three-year starter hit 10 of 21 from the field, adding eight steals, four assists and four rebounds. With the rest of the team hitting 11 of 38 from the floor, Pruzin was clearly the difference.  "Portage played us hard and as energetically as any of the teams we've played so far. Give credit to Renee and their players. They never did give up."

"They're playing hard," said May. "But, except for a couple of girls, we weren't playing very well. There's a difference between playing hard and playing well.  Everybody is supposed to play hard. That's a given."

CP played better with reserve players like Mallory Michaels and Hannah Plumley in the lineup, although most of CP's eight players are interchangeable. The players seemed a little nervous.

"I don't think we were," said Michaels, who played 16 minutes off the bench. "I don't think we thought Portage would be very good. We didn't get that excited abut Kankakee Valley. That's been a problem for us. We don't get that excited about teams we don't think are that good. Portage was better than we thought."

Michaels knew the history of a lot of the players who were introduced at half-time. "Coach May talks about them all the time. It was great to actually see them all. We knew a lot of them." 

LADY BULLDOG NOTES:  Portage is very small. "We have three girls on the roster who are less than 100 pounds," said coach Renee Turpa. "We're fighting over the small jerseys. That's not good. You want the girls fighting over the extra large jerseys.

"What a year for us to start the double round-robin (14 games against the the seven DAC members). Did you see my move-in (guard LaTasha Sanders). She's 5-3 and a senior. That's the kind of move-ins we get. LaTasha's fast but she's small."

Whatever the outcome, Michaels welcomed the trip to Warsaw, which returned five starters from a 21-2 team. "We need to see tough teams but we need to see other teams. I think we're going to have a good year. I know some people think we're going to have a hard time in our league but I think we'll be pumped up for teams like Merrillville and Valparaiso."

	Coach Tom May (25 years -390-137) Assistant coaches: Beth Jacobs JV coach: Scott Reid   -  Freshman coach: Brian McClanahan 8th grade coach: Mike Malaski    -     7th grade coach: Angie Babjak
	2003-2004 Schedule
	Start times are JV starting times
Date	Location ALL CAPS = Duneland Athletic Conference game	Time/Result
Nov. 14	at Hebron (1-2)	W, 66-38
Nov. 15	at Kankakee Valley (0-1)	W, 62-31
Nov. 21	PORTAGE (1-2)	W, 52-39
Nov. 22	at Warsaw	5:30 pm
Nov. 28	at CHESTERTON	6:00 pm
Dec.  2	at Lowell	6:00 pm
Dec.  5	LaPORTE	6:00 pm
Dec. 12	at LAKE CENTRAL	6:00 pm
Dec. 13	Boone Grove	6:00 pm
Dec. 16	at VALPARAISO	6:00 pm
Dec. 19	MICHIGAN CITY	6:00 pm
Jan.  2	MERRILLVILLE	6:00 pm
Jan.  3	Hanover Central	6:00 pm
Jan.  7	at PORTAGE	6:00 pm
Jan. 10	CHESTERTON	6:00 pm
Jan. 16	LAKE CENTRAL	6:00 pm
Jan. 23	at MICHIGAN CITY	6:00 pm
Jan. 27	at LaPORTE	6:00 pm
Jan. 30	VALPARAISO	6:00 pm
Feb.  6	at MERRILLVILLE	6:00 pm
	CROWN POINT (4A) Sectional
2-10-4 (Tu)	Quarterfinals	6 or 8 p.m.
2-13-4 (F)	Semifinals	6 or 8 p.m.
2-14-4 (S)	Championship	7:30 p.m.
	Valparaiso (4A) Regional
2-21-4 (S)	Semifinals	11 a.m.
2-21-4 (S)	Championship	7 p.m.
	Plymouth (4A) Semistate
2-28-4 (S)	Semistate championship	(TBA)

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