Lady
Wildcats defeat Bishop Noll 64-48, win Wheeler 2A Sectional crownLady
Wildcats defeat Bishop Noll 64-48, win Wheeler 2A Sectional crownA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
02-11-2008
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Bishop Noll (8-14) | 14 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 48 |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (12-10) | 9 | 11 | 17 | 27 | 64 |
Saturday,
February 9, 2008 - Wheeler 2A Sectional Championship at UNION TOWNSHIP, IN
BISHOP NOLL (48) Nina Wills 4-5-14, Meghan Jagelski 3-0-8, Jennie Bell 5-1-11, Julianna Esquivel 1-0-2, Shanae Williams 2-6-10, Samantha Jaime 0-2-2, Kelly Heintz 0-1-1, Krystle Howard 0-0-0, Rose Mullaney 0-0-0, Kourtnee Smith 0-0-0, Charlotte Williamson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15 (15-25) 48. REBOUNDS: NOLL (24) Williams 9, Bell 6, Wills 4, Jagelski 4, Jamie; HC (41) Plassman 12, Graham 11, Kiraly 5, Homolka 4, Kramer 4, Martinez 2, Parks, Dahlin, Schweitzer. ASSISTS: NOLL (10) Williams 3, Wills 3, Jagelski, Mullaney, Esquivel, Bell;
HC (9) Graham 3, Kramer 2, Homolka 2, Plassman 2, 3-GOALS: NOLL (3) Meghan Jagelski 2, Nina Wills; HC (2) Chrissy Homolka, Jordan Kramer. FOULED OUT: HC (1) Shannon Kiraly (4th Q) 5:58 left.
HANOVER CENTRAL (68) Jordan Kramer 4-12-21, Anna Plassman 3-1-7, Shannon Kiraly 2-2-6, Megan Parks 2-0-4, Chrissy Homolka 1-1-4, Lindsay Martinez 1-2-4, Danielle Graham 5-6-16, Tori Dahlin 0-2-2, Kourtney Lindley 0-0-0, Abby Schweitzer 0-0-0, Ashley Hahn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (26-33) 64.
FREE THROWS: NOLL (15-25, 60%) Wills 5-8, Bell 1-6, Williams 6-7, Heintz 1-2, Jamie 2-2; HC (26-33, 78.7%) Graham 6-8, Kramer 12-15, Martinez 2-2, Homolka 1-2, Plassman 1-2, Dahlin 2-2, Kiraly 2-2.
STEALS: NOLL (8) Wills 4, Williams 3, Mullaney; HC (5) Plassman 2, Graham 2, Kramer.
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Lake Station (2-19) | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 26 |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (11-10) | 23 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 68 |
Friday,
February 8, 2008 - Wheeler 2A Sectional Semifinal at UNION TOWNSHIP, IN
HANOVER CENTRAL (68)
LAKE STATION (26)
Stefania Nikoloski 6-1-13, Brieana Pruitt 2-2-6, Mary Lou Cervantes 1-0-2, Natalie Llerena 1-0-2, Ashley Neyhart 0-1-1, Edna Walker 0-00, Nicole Soto 0-0-0 Karli Anderson 0-0-0, Salena Aguilar 0-0-0, Suzanne Miller 0-0-0, Jessica Wydmon 0-0-0. TOTALS: 10 (6-13) 26.
FREE THROWS: HC (14-26, 53.9%) Parks 1-1, Homolka 5-7, Graham 1-2, Lindley 6-6, Kramer 1-3, Hahn 1-3, Plassman 0-4; LAKE STATION (6-13, 46.1%) Nikoloski 1-2, Pruitt 2-4, Aguilar 0-2, Neyhart 1-2, Cervantes 2-3.
REBOUNDS: HC (29) Plassman 5, Lindley 4, Kramer 3, Homolka 3, Schweitzer 4, Kiraly 3, Higgenbotham 2, Martinez 2, Dahlin 2, Parks; LAKE STATION (17) Miller 4, Nikoloski 3, Anderson 3, Walker 2, Neyhart 2, Llerena, Pruitt, Aguilar.
ASSISTS: HC (12) Graham 3, Kiraly 2, Lindley 2, Martinez 2, Kramer, Plassman, Hahn; LAKE STATION (0).
STEALS: HC (11) Kiraly 3, Graham 2, Parks 2, Lindley 2, Martinez, Homolka; LAKE STATION (4) Nikoloski 2, Pruitt, Soto.
3-GOALS: HC (6) Jordan Kramer 5, Chrissy Homolka.
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (10-10) | 7 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 48 |
| WHEELER (5-16) | 9 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 43 |
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - Wheeler 2A Sectional Quarterfinal at UNION TOWNSHIP, IN
HANOVER CENTRAL (48) Jordan Kramer 1-8-10, Anna Plassman 1-0-2, Shannon Kiraly 2-1-5, Megan Parks 3-1-7, Chrissy Homolka 2-0-5, Lindsay Martinez 0-1-1, Danielle Graham 6-6-18, Tori Dahlin 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15 (17-29) 48.
WHEELER (43) Jacquelyn English 0-1-1, Brooke Hutchins 2-0-4, Marcie Medina 4-0-9, Lydia Naccarato 3-2-9, Brittany Stelter 9-2-20, Serena Garcia 0-0-0, MacKenzie Ness 0-0-0, Alyssa Vasquez 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (5-8) 43.
FREE THROWS: HC (17-29, 58.6%) Parks 1-1, Graham 6-10, Martinez 1-2, Kiraly 1-2, Kramer 8-14; WHEELER (5-8, 62.5%) Stelter 2-2, Naccarato 2-4, English 1-2.
3-GOALS: HANOVER (1) Chrissy Homolka; WHEELER (2) Marcie Medina; Lydia Naccarato.
FOULED OUT: WHEELER (1) Serena Garcia.
2A Culver Regional
UNION TOWNSHIP (02-09-2008) - Sometimes it's good to watch the tradition-rich teams grab another championship. It helps you feel the history of the game and it links young and old on the scoreboard of time. But sometimes it's good to see somebody who hardly ever wins get that trophy.
That's where Hanover Central comes in. You can count the number of
sectional championships won by Hanover Central basketball on one hand.
So,
when the Lady Cats (12-10) rolled into the Class 2A Wheeler Sectional
championship game against sub-.500 Bishop Noll, they might have known it
wouldn't go smoothly.
Sure enough, Hanover was down 25-18 in the final minute of the first half.
But
it was their turn.
They
didn't lose faith.
And
they didn't lose.
"I just remembered that we were ahead by eight at the half (in the Hanover
holiday tournament) against Griffith,"
said Shannon Kiraly, "and they came back. So, I thought we could."
"In the first half," Jordan Kramer recalled, "we just missed too many shots and we really came out flat. In the second half, it was one of those things. You lose and you go home. We just wanted to win really bad."
Adopting that frantic urgency that you need in a winner-take-all championship game, Hanover scored the first 13 points of the third quarter and started the final period with a 13-3 run to win 64-48. It was only the Lady Cats' third sectional championship in the 33 years of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) state tournament. Hanover takes on Allen County Conference champion Garrett (21-3) at the un-Godly hour of 9:30 a.m. Central time (10:30 Eastern time) Saturday (02-16-2008) at the Culver Regional at Culver Community high school 20 miles southwest of Plymouth in Marshall County.
Noll began the game in a 1-3-1 half court trap that bothered Hanover into 12 first half turnovers. The Lady Cats couldn't hit outside shots, they got trapped into the corners and lost the ball. Hanover was lucky to trail by only five at the half after guard Jordan Kramer was fouled in the final second of the second quarter and hit two free throws with no time on the clock, making it 25-20.
But HC, which won three times in five days, scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to take a 33-25 lead midway through the period. Noll rallied for a 39-37 lead in the first minute of the final quarter, but fast breaks led by Graham and Kramer sparked a 13-1 run that gave HC a permanent lead at 50-40 with 3:52 to play.
"We showed a lot of resiliency," said second year coach Doug Nelson, watching his team celebrate on the Wheeler floor long after the game ended. "We kept getting stuck in the corner, so we just didn't go into the corner anymore. We just decided to shorten the passes. We had open shots. Once we got on the weak side, we got shots."
"They did well. We got tested. It's good for our seniors. It's good for Hanover. We had middle school kids here watching. We had the boys (varsity team) here. It was great for them to see this. We've got to learn how to cut down the nets, though. We've got to work on our forearm strength. But its been a long time."
Kramer, who was 21 of 32 at the foul line in three games, and Graham, who was 13 of 20, survived the bad shooting first half by going to the basket and getting fouled. But it was the rebounding of Graham, Kiraly and senior center Anna Plassman that won the championship game. Kiraly grabbed five boards in the first quarter. Graham wasn't blocked out well and grabbed 11 rebounds while Plassman, working against Noll's bigger and wider 5-foot-9 Jennie Bell, had 12 rebounds.
Hanover players were little kids in 2000 when Hanover last won the 2A sectional championship, the second of back-to-back sectional wins. Most of them do not remember Hanover's last post-season basketball championship.
"I do, actually," said Shannon Kiraly. "I remember watching (HC's all-time leading scorer) Melanie Brumbaugh and all of them play. I saw the sectionals and I remember going to the regionals to see them play. I remember how rough the game was at the regionals and North Judson. It was a crazy time."
HC was very happy to win, but they weren't shocked. More than one of HC's five seniors (Plassman, Kiraly, Megan Parks, Tori Dahlin and Chrissy Homolka) said they thought they could be sectional champs as far back as the preseason. HC's four juniors -- Kramer, Graham, Lindsay Martinez and Ashley Hahn -- have played together more than a half dozen years.
Kirally said that "this is more of a relief that we're going to the regionals. I'm just relieved. We thought we could win. But this just reminds of the other sectionals in volleyball where we'd come close."
"We've been talking about this a long time," said Kramer. "We won PCC in
eighth grade and ever since then, we wanted to have success in high school.
This is the greatest feeling in the world because this is what we wanted."
"I'm happy for the seniors," said Nelson, who got the job late just prior to
last season. "We spent a lot of time together this past summer. They
tried hard. They put in a lot of work and this shows that if you put
in work, you will be rewarded. I'm happy."
LADY CAT NOTES: I'm not sure the IHSAA is aware that mandating a 10:30 starting time for regional play (the 1A state finals also start at 10:30 a.m.) is 9:30 a.m. in the few parts of the state that are on Central time. Northwest Indiana is one of those places. Hanover Central faces Garrett at 10:35 eastern time on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Culver.
"We are going to have to look into staying overnight," said HC coach Doug Nelson, aware that Culver is a two-hour drive from Hanover Central and a 10:30 eastern time game would require a 6 a.m. Central time departure from Cedar Lake.
If the Lady Cats do not travel Friday night, they will be at the mercy of Saturday morning traffic and they could be dulled by the two hour sunrise drive through some two-lane Indiana heartland. Garrett also has a two-hour drive from near the Ohio state line, but they are on eastern time so they get an extra hour. A couple of places in Culver are a little upscale (read: They cost too much) for a high school basketball team. Cheaper rooms can be found in Plymouth.
"Sitting on the bus that long is not conducive to playing well," said Nelson, who has to balance how much it costs for 14 teenage girls (and three coaches) to stay in a Marshall County hotel.
Hanover's Tori Dahlin and Meghan Parks are largely basketball players, but Anna Plassman plays volleyball, basketball and softball. There is an assumption that softball players at Hanover (a two-time state finalist in this decade) have all won sectional titles, but that's not true.
"No, I haven't," said Plassman, an outfielder for softball coach Larry McMillan. "This is the first sectional for me. I came in (to the varsity) the year after they won the regional (in 2005). I missed it all by one year."
Hanover won the PCC tournament under coach Chris York in 2004, but Chrissy Homolka, who was a varsity player as a freshman, missed that by one year.
"I wasn't on that team," said Homolka, whose sister Cathy played for HC's state finals softball team in the spring of 2003. "I came in the next year. This is great. It hasn't sunk in yet."
Homolka and Jordan Kramer missed every three-point shot they took in the first half, but Chrissy said there really wasn't anything to do but keep shooting the open shot.
"Statistics say the ball has to go in sooner or later."
Five of the eight Porter County Conference (PCC) teams reached sectional championship games last Saturday. PCC champion Kouts beat PCC pal Morgan Township 51-36 in 1A Sectional 49 at Kouts. Top-ranked Oregon-Davis eliminated South Central of the PCC by a 59-45 score in the title game of 1A Sectional 50 at Oregon-Davis.
In 2A, as well as Hanover's victory in Sectional 33, Boone Grove pulled off
the night's biggest upset when they turned back Winamac 53-49 in the title
game of Sectional 34 at North Judson. Boone Grove beat Hanover Central
67-66 in overtime in late January in Cedar Lake. None of the four Culver
Regional participants have ever met the team they will face in Saturdays'
semifinals.
Coaches don't allow their players to look ahead, but they have to. HC
coach Doug Nelson already had taken a look at 2A No. 8 Garrett, which was a
heavy favorite to win the Fairfield Sectional, the bracket that matched up
with the Wheeler Sectional at the regional level. He was very
impressed with the Railroaders, from DeKalb County, who have won at least 15
games for eight years in a row. Garrett is 21-3 and they were 21-3
last year with a significantly different roster. Clearly, the Railroaders,
nicknamed because Garrett is an old railroad town (from eastern Indiana on
the Ohio state line north of Fort Wayne), are well coached by Dan Feagler
(216-82 in 13 years) and his staff.
"They play very good man-to-man defense," he said. "No one really great player, but very balanced. Very solid. I've got a lot of requests out for tapes on them. But we'll find some. We'll go to Fort Wayne to get a tape if we have to. At this point, you do what you have to do."
Garrett's resume is formidable, but like Hanover, they defeated three teams with losing records: Churubusco (6-15), Central Noble (4-18) and Prairie Heights (9-13) all got blown out by the Railroaders at the Fairfield Sectional. Garret is 3-1 against mid-level 4A schools and 3-2 against 3A schools. They are undefeated (12-0) against 2A teams. Statistically, Garrett is similar to Kouts (21-2), the PCC champion, which beat Hanover 57-51 last month.
The regional semifinal is not a bad matchup for Hanover. Garrett does not have the dominant center. Senior Stephanie Crawford, a first year starter is 5-foot-10 and, while that's bigger than anybody Hanover has, Crawford is not a scoring threat. The Railroaders are a full court pressure team led by five part-time players who moved into starting roles this year: junior 5-foot-3 guard Courtney Wisel, 5-foot-7 wing Lindsey Tarde, 5-foot-5 junior Madison Diederich, 5-foot-5 senior Lauren Marshall and 5-foot-7 senior Kelsi Smura. Garrett beat Bluffton 65-57 to win the Allen County Tournament and the Railroaders had four starters score in double figures. Garrett beat Central Noble 50-36 for the Fremont Sectional title as Wisel scored 12 and was 8-of-8 from the foul line.
While Hanover has never met Garrett in any sport, Garrett is a 500-kid school that is similar to HC in that they play in the Allen County Athletic Conference (ACAC) even though they aren't located in Allen County. Hanover is the PCC's Lake County representative. This championship season was Garret's third season in the ACAC after moving from the Northeast Corner Conference.
Culver, Indiana is on the banks of Lake Maxincuckee in far southern Marshall County, about 30 miles east of North Judson. The big lake, Indiana's second largest natural lake (Lake Wawasee is the largest), which you will not see from the high school unless you go east and north into town, is a very popular vacation spot much like Cedar Lake was at one time. Cross country runners have been to the Culver Invitational, but that takes place at Culver Military Academy, not Culver Community, the public high school. Culver's gym reportedly seats 3,300 even though the school has an enrollment of 300 and the town has a non-vacation season population of 1,600.
Hanover junior Danielle Graham grabbed nine steals in HC's 48-43 win over Wheeler (5-16) in the PCC quarterfinals. Sophomore Brittany Stelter scored 20 points with 11 rebounds for the Bearcats. Jordan Kramer scored 16 first quarter points and Chrissy Homolka added 10 in the second period in HC's 68-28 win over Lake Station (2-19) in the semifinals.
This is Hanover's second four-game winning streak of the year. They were 4-0 in November. The win Saturday night also guaranteed Hanover's first winning season since 2001 when they were 14-8.
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