Lady Wildcats advance to 2A Sectional title game before falling 50-44 to Wheeler

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
02-13-2011

HANOVER (50) Kayla Garthus 2-0-4, Blayr Poston 6-6-19, Kim McKeague 2-0-4, Becky Fortner 4-0-8, Emily Blue 2-0-4, Kristen Roper 1-4-6, Tiphani Ward 0-1-1, Rylie Singleton 0-2-2, Katie Dominguez 0-0-0, Megan Kirn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (13-31) 50.

BISHOP NOLL (44) Rose Mullaney 7-5-20, Elena Palomo 1-2-4, Milana Golich 1-2-4, Charlotte Williamson 2-0-6, Tate Hickey 1-0-2, Asya Hobbs 3-0-6, Carolina Gonzalez 1-0-2, Kelsey Heintz 0-0-0, Eileen O'Neill 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (9-13) 44.

FREE THROWS: HANOVER (13-31, 41.8%) Poston 6-9, Becky Fortner 0-6, Blue 0-2, Dominguez 0-2, Roper 4-8, Ward 1-2, Singleton 2-2.
NOLL (9-13, 69.2%) Mullaney 5-5, Palomo 2-2, Golich 2-3, Gonzalez 0-2, Hickey 0-1..

3-GOALS: HANOVER (1) Blayr Poston; NOLL (3) Charlotte Williamson 2, Rose Mullaney.

HANOVER (50) Kayla Garthus 0-0-0, Blayr Poston 5-7-19, Kim McKeague 0-0-0, Becky Fortner 0-0-0, Emily Blue 0-1-1, Kristen Roper 2-2-6, Tiphani Ward 2-0-5, Rylie Singleton 1-0-3, Katie Dominguez 0-0-0, Megan Kirn 0-0-0, Nikki Hahn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 10 (10-14) 34.

WHEELER (52) Nickole Finch 7-5-21, Allison Urycki 3-0-6, Lauren Johnson 0-2-2, Tijana Raketic 1-3-5, Sarah Baker 1-0-2, Christina Gandy 0-1-1, Mackenzie Smith 0-1-1, Brooke Hutchins 2-0-4, Mari Medina 0-0-0, Whitney Mass 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16 (12-26) 44.

FIELD GOALS: HANOVER (10-14, 71.4%) Poston 7-9, Blue 1-2, Roper 2-3; WHEELER (12-26, 46.1%) Nickole Finch 5-10, Johnson 2-4, Raketic 3-4, Gandy 1-5, Smith 1-2 , Baker 0-1.

3-GOALS: HANOVER (4) Blayr Poston 2, Tiphani Ward, Rylie Singleton; WHEELER (2) Nickole Finch 2.

Bishop Noll (2A) Sectional
River Forest 48, Lake Station 38
HANOVER CENTRAL 50, Hammond Noll 44
Wheeler 47, River Forest 31
Wheeler 42, HANOVER CENTRAL 34 (title)

North Newton (2A) Sectional
Culver 55, Hebron 31
Winamac 58, North Newton 22
Culver 41, BOONE GROVE 34
Winamac 39, North Judson 36
Culver 34, Winamac 25 (title)

Fairfield (2A) Sectional
Westview 48, Bremen 41
Jimtown 44, LaVille 21
Fairfield 49, Westview 32
Fairfield 42, Jimtown 35 (title)

Prairie Heights (2A) Sectional
Prairie Heights 54, Fremont 40
Garrett 55, Eastside 33
Churubusco 56, Prairie Heights 46
Garrett 65, Central Noble 24
Garrett 75, Churubusco 28 (title)

CLASS 2A Culver Regional
Fairfield [17-3] vs. Garrett [22-2]
Culver [23-1] vs. Wheeler [13-9]
CLASS 2A Lewis Cass Regional
Tipton [19-4] vs. Wabash [22-1]
Seeger [19-4] vs. Bishop Luers [20-2]

CLASS 2A Lawrence Central Regional
Indian Creek [15-5] vs. South Ripley [18-4]
Northeastern [16-6] vs. Winchester [19-4]

CLASS 2A Forest Park Regional
South Knox [13-9] vs. Covenant Christian [18-6]
Forest Park [17-7] vs. Brownstown Central [20-5]

Jumping to a quick lead and surviving some scary foul shooting, the Bearcats (12-9) pulled away from Hanover in the final moments for a 42-34 victory and Wheeler's fourth sectional girls basketball championship.

Hanover Central (10-10), winner of the last three Class 2A Sectional 33 playoffs, made just 10 field goals and, while they battled all the way, just could not score enough to win against an energized foe.

"We just couldn't make shots," said HC coach Doug Nelson, whose school moves from 2A to 3A in the basketball playoffs in 2012.

"We got into a position where all we could do is screen for Blayr (Poston) and hope she could make plays. We've got to develop some more people. We stood around and watched Blayr a lot."

Wheeler coach Mark Bruner, who is also coach of the Bearcats state champion softball squad, said that success in Indiana basketball is a big deal.

"It's a completely different animal," Bruner said in the middle of the post game celebration in the old Noll gym. "We got off to a good lead and then we could make shots. In the end, we were up about four and then we couldn't make any free throws. That girl is an 80% foul shooter.

"That girl" is 5-foot-11 freshman Nickole Finch, an up-and-coming 'small forward" with a lot of potential who posted 21 points, despite going 5-of-10 from the foul line. Hanover trailed 37-34 with a minute to play and they got a three-point shot from Tiphani Ward, which kicked out and the Bearcats closed out the win with offensive rebounds on missed free throws.

"We didn't block out there at the end," said Nelson. "You can't win if you don't have the ball. But we've got to develop some other offensive threats. Especially if we're moving up to 3A."

Wheeler was 8-7 after a loss to Calumet on Jan. 15, and while they certainly will be a major underdog at the Culver Regional against the host team, sixth-ranked Culver (23-1), just reaching the regional is a big positive for a program that presently has just one senior, guard Brooke Hutchins.

Hanover graduates Kim McKeague, Megan Kirn and starter Becky Fortner and Nelson said he was very appreciative of their efforts.

"We asked three girls who had never been scorers before to contribute on offense," he said. "They gave it everything we had. I just hoped they'd get a reward for their hard work"

Nelson also thought that HC's struggles at the sectional (they were 13 of 31 from the line against Noll in the semifinals) may have been understandable.

"We start two sophomores and a freshman, even though we've won here three years in a row," he said. "We've got some nice young people, but they are very young and some of them haven't been in this position before."

Hanover's next girls basketball playoff game will be against a team they have never seen in the post-season before. Since class sports playoffs began in 1997, Hanover Central has always been a 2A school. Due to enrollment increases, they are 3A as of this fall.

"I think we'll be in the Calumet Sectional," said Nelson, "with Andrean and KV. I don't think it'll be the Hammond Sectional (with Gary Roosevelt, West Side and Lew Wallace plus Hammond schools Gavit, Hammond and Clark). And Bowman will replace us here. But we don't know yet."

SECTIONAL NOTES: Wheeler and Culver will play the second game in Culver, which is on Eastern Standard time, Saturday morning at about 11:30 Lake County time. Culver's only loss is to 3A crosstown rival Culver Academy.

In the semifinals, Hanover committed 25 turnovers, but edged a spirited Noll team 50-44. Rose Mullaney scored 20 for Noll (6-14) and HC missed 18 of 31 from the line. Blayr Poston had 19 for Hanover, while leading just 36-34 after three quarters.

This is Hanover's fourth consecutve season with double figure win totals and double figure loss totals. HC was 13-10 last year, 12-10 in 2009 and 12-11 in 2008.

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Revised: February 16, 2011 .