Lady Wildcats start slow, fall 55-44 to Kouts in PCC Semifinal in Girls Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-22-2011

KOUTS (55) Jenna Jessen 4-1-9, Esaten McNeill 1-2-5, Lexi Sipel 6-14-26, Paige Tribble 2-2-6, Shelby Jones 2-3-9, Sabrina Theis 0-0-0, Katie Parks 0-0-0, Keren Kandel 0-0-0.. TOTALS: 15 (22-32) 55.

HANOVER (44) Becky Fortner 3-0-6, Kayla Garthus 2-0-4, Blayr Poston 2-1-5, Rylie Singleton 1-0-2, Megan Kirn 1-0-3, Emily Blue 3-1-7, Kristin Roper 1-0-2, Katie Dominguiez 2-0-6, Tiphani Ward 3-0-9, Kim McKeague 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (2-8) 44.

FREE THROWS: KOUTS (22-34, 64.7%) Jessen 1-4, Sippel 14-19, McNeill 2-2, Tribble 2-5, Jones 3-4; HANOVER (2-8, 25%) Blue 1-2, Roper 0-2, Singleton 0-1, Garthus 0-1, Poston 1-2.

FOULED OUT: HANOVER (2) Blayr Poston (4th Q) 3:31 left; Katie Dominguuez (4th Q) 1:08.

3-GOALS: KOUTS (3) Shelby Jones 2, Easten McNeill; HANOVER (6) Tiphani Ward 3, Katie Dominguez 2, Megan Kirn.

LaCROSSE (27) Christine Malecki 2-1-5, Gabbie Sievers 2-1-5, Quinn Fox 3-1-7, Taylor Guse 3-1-7, Shelby Rushnok 1-1-3, Jessica McDowell 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11 (5-9) 27.

HANOVER (56) Becky Fortner 3-1-7, Kayla Garthus 4-0-8, Blayr Poston 2-5-9. Rylie Singleton 3-1-9, Megan Kirn 1-0-2, Emily Blue 0-2-2, Kim McKeague 2-0-4, Kristin Roper 1-0-2, Katie Dominguez 2-0-4. TOTALS: 21 (9-14) 56.

FREE THROWS: LaCROSSE (5-9, 55.5%) Malecki 1-1, Sievers 1-2, Guse 1-2, Rushnok 1-2, Fox 1-2; HANOVER (9-14, 64.2%) Fortrner 1-2, Poston 5-8, Blue 2-2, Singelton 1-2.

REBOUNDS: LaCROSSE (25) Guse 9, Sievers 8, Fox 4, Rushnok 2, McDowell, Malekci; HANOVER (34) Roper 8, Garthus 7, Ward 4, McKeague 3, Fortner 3, Poston 3, Blue 4, Kirn, Dominguez.

STEALS: LaCROSSE (6) Guse 2, Malecki, Sievers, Fox, Rushnok; HANOVER (9) Fortner 3, Poston 2, Singleton, Kirn, McKeague, Dominguez.

ASSISTS: LaCROSSE (1) Guse; HANOVER (10) Poston 3, Fortner 3, Dominguez 2, Blue, Singelton.

3-GOALS: LaCROSSE (0) HANOVER (5) Tiphani Ward 3, Rylie Singelton 2.

"As soon as you realize how good we can be," coach Doug Nelson reported of his post-game talk, "we'll be okay. A lot of our kids were playing in the conference tournament for the first time and it showed."

The first 10 minutes were dismal for HC, which trailed 24-10 against a Kouts team that featured five seniors, most of whom played on last season's 19-4 team. But Hanover, which has only three seniors and just one who starts in guard Becky Fortner, mounted repeated rallies that brought life to a quiet game in the small Washington Township gym.

"I think we really came together in the second half," said Fortner, who will leave school never having reached the PCC title game. "Coach said at halftime, 'I don't know what you guys are doing out there.'"

Hanover began to rally late in the first half when junior forward Emily Blue scored three baskets and foul-plagued Blayr Poston drove the length of the floor to score at the buzzer, cutting the Kouts lead to 27-16. The Fillies, who play a mid-afternoon game at Hanover (1 p.m. - JV) next Saturday, extended their lead to 32-16 midway through the third quarter as 5-foot-1 junior Lexi Sippel took advantage of HC turnover for two early baskets. But a three-point jump shot by HC soph Tiphani Ward started a surprising 16-5 run that closed the lead to 37-32 with 7:11 left in the game.

Kouts played a zone defense against HC leading scorer Blayr Poston, to prevent her from driving to the basket. When Poston, a 5-foot-7 dribble-drive player, was not in the game, Kouts switched to more of a man-to-man defense.

Trouble was, Poston wasn't in the game a lot. The HC soph drew her third foul with 6:41 left in the third quarter and picked up her fourth foul with 3:18 left in the third period. Hanover actually made up ground on the scoreboard while Blayr sat on the bench, but they were not going to beat Kouts without her.

"We have got to figure out a way to keep Blayr in the game," said Nelson, who watched Poston foul out with 3:31 left in the game and Kouts leading 48-38.

"She's got to understand that we need her in the game at the end. And that a steal in the second quarter is not so important."

With the score 37-32 and Poston sitting, Sippel grabbed a loose ball and converted a three-point play to make it 40-32. That started an 11-0 Kouts run before Poston could re-enter the game with 4:50 to play. Poston's driving layup cut the lead to 58-45 with 4:08 to go, but she departed for good with 3:31 left on a rebounding foul. Nobody on the Hanover side was thrilled with the officiating, which saw the Fillies get 32 free throws and Hanover shot only eight in a typical rough-and-tumble PCC playoff game. Also a factor was that Kouts sank 22 of 32 from the line, while HC was just 2-of-8.

Since the final margin of victory was basically the first quarter margin, HC fell victim to a shaky start. They seemed nervous shooting and passing early in front of the semifinal night crowd of about 400-500 but settled down to make six three points field goals.

"We've played in front of good crowds before," Nelson said. "When are we going to get used to it? Tiphani ht some shots. Katie Dominguez hit some shots. Everybody's going to pay a lot of attention to Blayr, but we have an offense for that. But she has to be on the floor."

PCC NOTES: This was the seventh consecutive season that Hanover Central has lost to Kouts. The last HC win was the 53-52 victory by the Lady Cats in the 2004 PCC championship game.

Hanover plays at Boone Grove Thursday night with the JV game beginning at 5:30 p.m. This is the annual 'Coaches against Cancer' fundraiser where the girls all wear pink and fans are asked to buy T-shirts and donate to the National Cancer Society.

There's nothing good about playing road high school basketball on Monday night. Blessed by drawing the last place team, LaCrosse, and by not having to play at 5:30 p.m. after an hour long drive, Hanover Central coasted to an easy 56-27 win in the late game Monday.

This was not a memorable game. HC led 6-0, 14-2 and 21-4 after the first quarter against an over-matched LaCrosse squad that dressed just eight players.

"After we got ahead 21-4, it's hard to keep any intensity," admitted Hanover coach Doug Nelson. "You've got to play against the game, not against your opponent."

The 2011 state tournament draw will be revealed Sunday, Jan. 30 and the announcement show will be televised on Lakeshore Pubic TV (Comcast Cable Channel 17) at 6 p.m.

Hanover is the three-time defending champion in 2A Sectional 33, but River Forest (10-6) and Wheeler (10-7), two teams HC has defeated, now have better won-loss records. Nelson is a little concerned about playing at Bishop Noll, a place HC does not visit regularly.

"We've got to get down there and get on the floor to practice," Nelson said of playoff week. "I think that's important."

Hanover has a rare starting lineup in that it includes all four classes. Senior Becky Fortner starts with junior Emily Blue, sophomores Tiphani Ward and Blayr Poston plus freshman Kristen Roper. Most small schools have a varsity player from each class but few end up starting one of each. Of the 10 Hanover players who played Friday, three are seniors, three are juniors, two are sophomores and two are freshmen.

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Revised: January 22, 2011 .