Team /Record	1	2	3	4	Final
BOONE GROVE (16-7)	7	7	8	5	27
JIMTOWN (22-1)	2	11	13	12	38

Saturday, February 16, 2008 - Culver 2A Regional Semifinal at CULVER, IN

BOONE GROVE (27)  Kristyn Kessler 1-0-2, Kelly Dobson 4-1-9, Danielle Cantwell 1-1-3, Brittany Dewell 1-0-2, Jessica Dowdy 4-0-11, Jessica Fauser 0-0-0, Jordan Chester 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  11 (2-3) 27.

JIMTOWN (38)  Emily Stahl 2-2-6, Sarah DeShone 4-8-16, Katie Goward 3-0-8, MacKenzie Cook 4-0-8, Ali Johnson 0-0-0, Britney Stebbins 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 13 (9-12) 38.

FOUL SHOTS: BOONE (2-5, 40%) Kessler 0-2, Dobson 1-1, Cantwell 1-2;  JIMTOWN (9-12, 75%)  DeShone 7-8, Stahl 2-4.

REBOUNDS:  BOONE (16) Kessler 10, Dobson 4, Dewell, Dowdy;  JIMTOWN (25) Goward 8, Stahl 7, DeShone 5, Cook 2, Johnson 2, Stebbins.

ASSISTS: BOONE (6) Fauser 3, Dowdy, Dobson, Cantwell; JIMTOWN (3) Stahl 2, Goward.

TURNOVERS: BOONE (2-3-1-3) 9;  JIMTOWN (3-0-3-0) 6

3-GOALS:  BOONE (3) Jessica Dowdy 3;  JIMTOWN (2) Katie Goward 2.

Team /Record	1	2	3	4	Final
HANOVER CENTRAL (12-11)	10	14	11	6	41
GARRETT (22-3)	19	9	26	22	76

Saturday, February 16, 2008 - Culver 2A Regional Semifinal at CULVER, IN

HANOVER (41)  Danielle Graham 1-2-4, Anna Plassman 2-1-5, Tori Dahlin 2-3-7, Chrissy Homolka 4-1-10, Jordan Kramer 1-4-6, Lindsay Martinez 2-2-6, Shannon Kiraly 1-1-3, Megan Parks 0-0-0, Abby Schweitzer 0-0-0, Ashley Hahn 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  13 (14-20) 41.

GARRETT (76)  Lindsey Yarde 3-0-8, Stephanie Crawford 3-6-12, Kelsi Smurr 3-2-8, Courtney Wisel 4-2-10, Heather House 4-0-8, Kelly Singleton 0-2-2,  Madison Diederich 3-1-7, Megan Getts 4-0-8, Lauren Marshall 4-2-12, Ashley Overbay 0-0-0, Tatum Kelham 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 29 (15-24) 76.

FREE THROWS:  HANOVER (14-20, 70%) Kramer 4-4, Graham 2-3, Martinez 2-2, Homolka 1-1, Plassman 1-2, Dahlin 3-5, Kiraly 1-2; GARRETT (15-24, 62.5%) Crawford 6-6, Smurr 2-5, Wisel 2-5, Marshall 2-2, Diederich 1-3, Singleton 2-2. 

REBOUNDS:  HANOVER (24) Kiraly 6, Plassman 5, Dahlin 5, Graham 4, Homolka 2, Parks, Martinez;  GARRETT (30) Yarde 6, Wisel 6, Getts 6, Crawford 5, Smurr 4, Overbay, Marshall, Singleton.

ASSISTS:  HANOVER (4)  Kramer 3, Graham;   GARRETT (14) Wisel 6, Diederich 3, Yarde 2, Marshal 2, Kellum.

STEALS:  HANOVER (6) Graham 2, Parks,  Homolka;  GARRETT (12) Marshall 3, Kellum 2, Yarde 2, Wisel 2, Singleton, Diederich, House.

TURNOVERS:  HANOVER (11-4-3-9) 27;  GARRETT (3-2-1-2) 8.

3-GOALS:  HANOVER (1) Chrissy Homolka;  GARRETT (3) Lauren Marshall 2, Lindsey Yarde.

---

CULVER (2-16-2008)  It was hard to watch Hanover Central lose by 35 points the way they did in the Culver Regional. And it was hard to watch Boone Grove lose the way their did.

Hanover battled valiantly for a half, but then was steam-rollered 76-41 by 2A No. 8 Garrett, the champion of the Allen County Athletic Conference (ACAC).  Boone then jumped to a 7-0 lead and was within two point with two minutes left before losing 38-27 to 2A No. 4 Jimtown.

As both sides's buses chased the bright, cold February afternoon sun west bound back to Northwest Indiana, they had different regrets.

Boone senior guard Jessica Fauser held Sarah DeShone, who scored 20 in the 2A state championship game last year as a freshman, to just four points in the first three quarters. Jimtown, the state leader in defense (29 ppg.), holds the ball patiently on offense and limits possessions.  Boone played a triangle-and-two defense against DeShone (16 ppg.) and freshman guard Emma Stahl.  It kept Boone (16-7) even with a Jimtown team that had lost only to Class 3A Northwood (15-6) in 23 games.

"In the tapes we watched, I hadn't seen anyone try that," Boone coach Candy Wilson said.  "I'm sure they'd heard I do 'junk' defenses.  So they might have thought something was coming."

The Wolves didn't play that badly on offense.  They simply didn't get that any shots because of Jimtown's style of play, which features 40 and 50-second possessions and very short quarters.

"Dobson gave us a spark and Brittany Dewell gave us a spark off the bench," said Boone's Jessica Dowdy (11.2 ppg.), who sank three three-point baskets in the second half to keep the game close.  "But a lot of our shots weren't falling."

Garrett, the co-champion (with Leo) of suburban Fort Wayne's Allen County Athletic Conference, scored the first six points of the second half of the Hanover game to make it 34-24.  A later 12-0 run made it 52-32 in the final minute of the third quarter.  HC was overmatched speed and skill-wise, especially when they went to the bench.  Garrett led 9-2 in the first quarter, but HC did pull within 21-17 in the second period.  Hanover (12-11), which had lost nine games by 10 points or less, suffered their worst defeat of the season.

Garret pushed the ball inside to wide shouldered Kelsi Shurr for a couple of early third quarter baskets and then were able to slash into the lane on the dribble to get close chances.  Hanover became discouraged as the score mounted and they allowed a season high 48 second half points.

"We need our guards to carry us a little bit and when they don't do well, we didn't do well," coach Doug Nelson said.  "Our post players have been battling all year.  They're undersized against everybody.  It's hard to say anything bad about them."

HC was 14 of 20 from the line, but they lost the ball repeatedly before getting a scoring opportunity.  Truthfully, the Lady Cats have one lead ballhandler in Jordan Kramer (14.6 ppg.), who is also their leading scorer.  Kramer, a 5-foot-5 guard, was targeted by Garrett's best defenders.  It's very difficult for the lead guard to give the ball up, run through picks and screens and get it back in scoring position against quick teams, when there is no solid inside threat to play off of.  Wing shooter Chrissy Homolka, in her final game as a senior, had 10 points, but she was the only one creating her own shot, which was what HC needed when Kramer and Danielle Graham were locked up.

"They put it in another gear in the second half," said Nelson, "and we just stood there and watched them.  The back side of our press was getting eaten alive.  But our half court defense wasn't very solid either.  It's a learning experience for us to be here to learn the type of urgency you need to play once you get here."

When Garrett went to the bench in the fourth quarter, some of the Railroaders included 5-foot-3 freshmen like Heather House and 5-foot-11 center Megan Getts, who ran up the score.  Hanover seemed powerless to stop them.  HC had the worst record of any of the 64 teams left in the state tournament at the regional level and they certainly were not favored to win against Garrett, a top-10 team that was 21-3 in 2007 as well.

"The margin of victory didn't matter to me," said Nelson.  "A loss is a loss.  Quite honestly, we didn't play well.  The team we were playing had a lot to do with that.  But we picked a bad day not to play well.  But the points, that didn't matter to me."

It did to me.  The 35-point margin of victory was HC's worst loss in four years and it was embarrassing because it didn't represent the way they'd played in every other game.  And it was ominous.  Each of the other three regional teams had four freshmen on the playoff roster.  Hanover had none.  HC graduates five seniors off this sectional championship team.  Boone loses three seniors, while Garrett and Jimtown -- both 20-game winners, lose only two players.  To be fair, the coaches of Garrett, Boone and Jimtown have been at their schools for more than a decade.  Nelson just finished his second season at Hanover Central.  He needs time.

"I want to thank our seniors for the effort they gave," he said.  "Tori Dahlin played well, especially in the second quarter.  I cant say enough about our seniors.  There's no way to express how much I appreciate it.  We just have to get better.  Last year we were 8-12.  This year we got here.  We have some younger post people and they're going to have to step up.  But we're going to have to get a lot better."

REGIONAL NOTES:  Boone was within 29-27 with two minutes left when sophomore guard Sarah DeShone picked up a loose ball and scored a three-point play to give the Jimmies a 32-27 lead with 1:40 left. 

"Somehow they just got the ball on that play," said Boone coach Candy Wilson.  "It was very frustrating."

Boone did miss 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Emily Strilich, who broke her right elbow one week earlier in the sectional championship win over Winamac.

"That mattered a lot," said Boone's Jessica Dowdy.  "We needed her down low.  It was horrible for her not to play.  We needed her height."

HC had maybe 100 fans in Culver for the 9:30 a.m. CST start.  Boone had perhaps 200 for the 11:30 a.m. start.  It was as good a weather day as you can expect in mid-February, with temperatures in the mid-20s under bright sunshine.  Jimtown had the largest fan following in the 3,500-seat Culver gym.  HC stayed at the same hotel in Rochester as Kouts, who were playing in the 1A Regional in Caston.  The Fillies also had a 9:30 a.m. CST start.  Nelson said the hotel stay, about 20 miles from Culver, went well and was uneventful.

"Last night we practiced here," said Nelson.  "We watched some film and then 'lights out.'"

There were plenty of empty summer cottages or condos available in Culver less than five minutes from the high school.  Trouble is, they cost about $1,000 a weekend.  Many who came to Culver for the first time were not even aware of the giant ice-covered lake (Indiana's second largest natural lake) a few blocks south of Culver High School, where the regional games were played.

Culver's 40-year-old gym (Culver high goes back to the 1920s, but the present school was built in 1968) seats 3,500 even though there are only 1,600 residents in the Marshall County town and just 300 students at the schools.

Culver Community high school is a consolidation of Monterey and Aubbenaubbe high schools.  Culver is the only high school in Indiana that has students from four (Starke, Pulaski, Fulton and Marshall) counties.  The town of Culver is named for Henry Culver, the nearby founder of the Culver Military Aacdemy.

Garrett beat Jimtown 46-44 in overtime for the regional title.  Boone Grove's Emily Strilich missed the regional after a broken elbow suffered in Boone's upset win over Winamac on Feb. 9.  She would not have played no matter how long Boone continued in the post-season.

"I fell hard on it against Winamac," explained Strilich, who attended the regional with her right arm in a cast. "I'll be okay in a few weeks."

"We missed her," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "She's almost 6-foot-1.  I don't think they have anybody who could have blocked her shot."

Candy Wilson said that her team which featured senior guards this year, will feature experienced forwards and now-sophs Strilich (8.2 ppg.), Kelly Dobson (12.7 ppg,.), 5-foot-10 Danielle Cantwell and freshman Brittany Dewell next season.  Dobson and Dewell can be guards, but right now, they are wing players at best.

"We've got to work on our ball-handling," Wilson said.  "But we've got a pretty athletic freshman class."

Boone had no juniors on the post-season roster.

---

CLASS SECTIONAL JOHN HARRELL'S INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GIRLS' SEASONS 2A 33 E-MAIL CORRECTIONS MAP TO SCHOOL 12-11 TOURNAMENT HISTORY HANOVER CENTRAL WILDCATS Coach: Doug Nelson, 20-23 in 2nd year at school, 35-50 in 4th year overall DATE OPPONENT RESULT / CST OA 52.8, DA 46.3 Nov. 6 at River Forest {2A}  W   79-  23   Nov. 16 at Wheeler {2A}  W   52-  34   Nov. 21 Lowell {4A}  W   45-  20   Nov. 24 at Hammond Gavit {3A}  W   46-  42   Nov. 28 Calumet {3A}   L   57-  62   Nov. 30 at Hebron {2A}‡  W   45-  41   Dec. 8 LaCrosse {1A}‡  W   53-  29   Dec. 11 at North Newton {2A}   L   52-  58   Dec. 15 at Crown Point {4A}   L   37-  46   Dec. 22 Andrean {3A}   L   43-  57   Dec. 28 Hammond Clark {3A}  W   78-  39  tournament Dec. 29 Griffith {3A}   L   42-  50  tournament Jan. 5 at Washington Twp. {1A}‡  W   43-  40   Jan. 10 at South Central (Union Mills) {1A}‡   L   59-  66   Jan. 14 (n)South Central (Union Mills) {1A}   L   45-  47  tournament Jan. 24 Boone Grove {2A}‡ ot  L   66-  67   Jan. 26 at Kouts {1A}‡   L   51-  57   Jan. 31 at Kankakee Valley {3A}   L   51-  57   Feb. 2 Morgan Twp. {1A}‡  W   51-  36   Feb. 5 at Wheeler {2A}  W   47-  43  sectional Feb. 8 (n)Lake Station {2A}  W   68-  26  sectional Feb. 9 (n)Hammond Noll {2A}  W   64-  48  sectional Feb. 16 (n)Garrett {2A} L   41-  76  regional ‡PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE GAME

CLASS SECTIONAL JOHN HARRELL'S INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GIRLS' SEASONS 2A 34 E-MAIL CORRECTIONS MAP TO SCHOOL 16-7 TOURNAMENT HISTORY BOONE GROVE WOLVES Coach: Candy Wilson, 152-95 in 11th year at school DATE OPPONENT RESULT / CST OA 49.9, DA 40.4 Nov. 9 Calumet {3A}   L   34-  40   Nov. 10 Highland {4A}   L   34-  55   Nov. 13 at River Forest {2A}  W   52-  24   Nov. 17 Hebron {2A}‡  W   56-  36   Nov. 20 at LaCrosse {1A}‡  W   56-  22   Nov. 27 Kankakee Valley {3A}  W   63-  47   Dec. 6 at Washington Twp. {1A}‡  W   52-  26   Dec. 8 at Crown Point {4A}   L   40-  53   Dec. 11 Kouts {1A}‡   L   44-  50   Dec. 13 Morgan Twp. {1A}‡  W   60-  34   Dec. 21 at Hebron {2A}  W   53-  42  tournament Dec. 22 Kouts {1A}   L   39-  45  tournament Jan. 3 at South Central (Union Mills) {1A}‡  W   50-  31   Jan. 8 at Lake Station {2A}  W   56-  26   Jan. 10 Wheeler {2A}  W   48-  33   Jan. 14 (n)Washington Twp. {1A} 2ot W   52-  49  tournament Jan. 18 (n)South Central (Union Mills) {1A}   L   48-  50  tournament Jan. 22 at Lowell {4A}  W   63-  38   Jan. 24 at Hanover Central {2A}‡ ot W   67-  66   Feb. 2 North Judson {2A}  W   35-  32   Feb. 8 (n)North Newton {2A}  W   66-  43  sectional Feb. 9 (n)Winamac {2A}  W   53-  49  sectional Feb. 16 (n)Jimtown {2A}   L   27-  38  regional ‡PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE GAME

 

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