H.S. Girls Basketball: Hanover Central 42, Boone Grove 40

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr	Final
HANOVER CENTRAL (7-9)	15	3	13	11	42
BOONE GROVE (14-3)	9	4	14	13	40

Porter County Conference Tournament Quarterfinals - Tuesday, 1-20-2004 at Morgan Township

HANOVER CENTRAL (42) Christie Wick 6-2-17, Krysta Rickey 2-0-4, Alisha Staley 0-0-0, Katie Burke 1-0-2, Bess Copak 2-0-4, Karrah Adam 2-2-6, Jill McElmurry 3-0-9, Katie Westerhoff 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-4-42

FREE THROWS: 4-4, 100 percent - Adam 2-2, Wick 2-2.
TURNOVERS: 17
REBOUNDS: Christie Wick - 9
ASSISTS: Karrah Adam - 4
BLOCKED SHOTS - 5,
STEALS: Krysta Rickey 3, Christie Wick - 3
BLOCKED SHOTS: Jill McElmurry - 5
THREE POINT GOALS (6) Jill McElmurry 3, Christie Wick 3.

BOONE GROVE (40) Becky Keller 2-1-5, Danielle Jacobs 2-0-4, Rachel Jenkins 2-2-6, Karissa Walter 0-3-3, Courtney Flanigan 5-3-15, Kara Kessler 2-0-4, Megan Dewell 1-0-2, Lani Marsh 0-1-1, Amanda Jenkins 0-0-0, Sara Martinovich 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-10-40.

FREE THROWS: 10-18, 55.5 percent. Rachel Jenkins 2-4, Walter 3-4, Flanigan 3-5, Keller 1-2, Jacobs 0-1, Marsh 0-1.
TURNOVERS: 11

REBOUNDS: Karissa Walter - 6, Courtney Flanigan - 6
ASSISTS: Karissa Walter - 5
STEALS: Karissa Walter - 4
BLOCKED SHOTS: Danielle Jacobs - 2
THREE POINT GOALS (2) Courtney Flanigan 2.

VALPARAISO (1-20-2004) - The tradition of the Porter County Conference (PCC) tournament is that the favored team doesn't win. Eight team single-elimination matchups of small town, small schools breeds rivalries. In the girls playoffs, we've gotten away from that with Hebron and Boone Grove winning the last three seasons and moving on to sectional and regional champions.

Given little chance against Class 2A No. 11 Boone Grove and with their top scorer not 100%, the Lady Cats rose from a sub-.500 grave and eliminated the regular season champion Wolves 42-40 in the single biggest upset of the Northwest Indiana girls basketball season.

Hanover was 6-9 and coming off two consecutive losing seasons. Boone was 14-2 and had won 53 of their last 65 games. But Hanover coach Chris York came up with a gimmick defense to spring the region's traditional underdog to a 10-2 lead and the Cats held on grimly and reversed a three-point fourth quarter deficit, beating the reigning northwest Indiana Class 2A champion.

"This is the biggest win since I've been here," said coach York. "In track, cross country (York is assistant track and cross country coach) or anything else. We've had some big wins in track and cross country but this is bigger. This is bigger than anything else."

Down 39-36, Christie Wick was fouled in a rebound scramble and the junior sank two free throws with 1:11 left. Sophomore Krysta Rickey then stole the ball and scored on a layup to give Hanover a 40-39 lead with 1:01 left. Boone's Becky Keller was fouled after taking a pass from Wolves' star guard Karissa Walter and Keller split two foul shots with 41 seconds to play. Hanover Central called time out and held the ball for a last shot. Karrah Adam drove the lane and ran into traffic near the baseline. Falling down, Adam pushed a bouncing pass to Christie Wick who had spotted up on the baseline. Wick's shot gave Hanover a 42-40 lead with four seconds to play.

"I have been dying for this game since I knew we drew them," Wick would say later. "We knew that we could do it and we definitely showed it. This was the most exciting game I've ever played in. I didn't think about anything. I just grabbed the ball and shot it. It was rolling to me. It was awesome. I don't know how to describe it."

After Wick's game-winning basket, Boone called time out and Karissa Walter was able to drive into the lane and released a running, floating lay-up that bounced off the rim as time ran out, starting a major Hanover celebration. After shaking hands with Boone's players, the Hanover girls grabbed the PCC 'Cup,' the league's traveling trophy that they had not won in almost four years and carried it over to the Wildcat students section. The girls were swarmed over by about 50 kids dressed in HC colors, who had rooted them on throughout the game. You would have sworn that Hanover had won the entire tournament, not just one quarterfinal game.

Boone Grove was a little shocked. Some players got on the bus quickly. Others hung around on the floor. The 200 or so Boone fans in attendance, including members of the Wolves' boys basketball team, were a little shocked. Not even the prospect of a quick rematch at Hanover next week made the Wolves feel any better.

"I don't care about the regular season title," said Boone's Becky Keller. "This was a big game. But the most important game is next month." Boone, which will now play only 19 regular season games, is slotted into the new Hanover Central 2A sectional. The two teams could meet three times.

What may have been an unseen factor in the manner in which this game began was experience. Hanover had six seniors on the roster playing in Northwest Indiana's small school showcase event for the final time. Boone has 10 juniors and the sense of urgency was just not there starting the game.

In a clear signal that this was not going to be a rout, five different players scored baskets to create the 10-2 Hanover lead with 3:46 left in the quarter. Wick, who scored 10 of her 17 points in the first half, sank a three-point shot to make it 18-12 with 4:44 left in the half. Hanover went scoreless for the rest of the half but Boone, operating against three different defenses, could not break through.

"We played an offbeat box-and-one," said York. "It was what Wheeler used against these guys (Boone) last year. When they hit a couple of shots from the elbow (the ends of the foul line) we made it more of a diamond and one. It worked out."

Boone Grove, which has not been a good outside shooting team throughout their successful run, passed up open shots to try to get the ball inside against the smaller Cats. Walter was 0-for-9 from the floor and finished with a career-low three points. Freshman Courtney Flanigan scored nine of her 15 in the second half but no other player scored more than six.

The Wolves scored a season-low 13 first half points, but finally got rolling with a 9-3 run to start the fourth quarter. Flanigan, a 5-5 freshman guard who is Boone's best shooter, fired home a three-point basket on a well-run inbounds play to give the Wolves a 36-34 lead with 4:45 left in the game.

After Krysta Rickey was called for a very questionable traveling violation, Boone coach Candy Wilson called for her side to hold the ball against Hanover's zone defense. With 3:30 left in the game, Walter was fouled but she could only split two foul shots and Wick was fouled after grabbing the rebound. Wick's two free shots cut the lead to 37-36 and Wilson again called for a 'four corner's stall. The strategy appeared to work when Walter found Keller for a layup and a 39-36 lead. Rickey missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:11 left but Wick, who played her career-best game (17 points, nine rebounds) grabbed the rebound and converted the two foul shots to start the game winning rally in front of about 400 fans, who roared like this was this was the Super Bowl, only with better teams than New England and Carolina.

Hanover now plays a Friday night 7 p.m. semifinal against Morgan Township, which dominated LaCrosse 71-22 in Tuesday night's first quarterfinal game. Hanover did a lot of celebrating after beating Boone and the Lady Cats' coach will be reminding them that the tournament is far from over.

"That's the key thing now," said York, who can get his team back to the .500 mark by winning the tournament title Friday and Saturday. "We haven't won two games in a row all year. We have to come out strong Friday night."

"You can see us sometimes. It doesn't look like we've got it together. Tonight we had it. If we can keep it together, God knows what we can do. We are not a 7-9 team. We are better than that."

LADY CAT NOTES: The early exit for Boone Grove means that the last three PCC tournament champions (Boone and Hebron) have been eliminated. Boone had won 22 consecutive games over PCC foes since a 57-53 nonconference loss to then PCC-member Wheeler on Jan. 18, 2002. The last Hanover win over Boone was 51-46 in the 2A sectional semifinals on Feb, 16, 2001.

The last time Hanover Central advanced beyond the first round of the Porter County Conference tournament was in 2001 when they lost to Hebron in the championship game. Hanover was a two-time champion in 1999 and 2000 when present day junior varsity coach Tammi Boersma was a starting forward. Varsity coach Chris York's sister Michelle was a back-up forward on that team.

It didn't look good for Hanover in this game after the Lady Cats lost a 10-point lead and fell at South Central 61-55 last Thursday (Jan. 15) and had a health casualty over the weekend.

"We had a Jamaican theme party Saturday night," said York. "We had tie died shirts. The house was 80 degrees. Jill shows up with a sweatshirt. She was cold. She was in bed all day Sunday and she stayed home from school Monday."

McElmurry, the team's leading scorer (14.2 ppg.), didn't start the game. "I've got a policy that if you missed any days leading up to a game, it adversely affects your playing time. I have to stick with it. And it wasn't just her. Katie Burke was sick. Alisha (Staley) was a little sick. Krysta said she was coming down with something."

The key to the game was that Wick and 5-9 Jill McElmurry both hit big shots in the second half and that Rickey, a 5-3 point guard, was not dominated by Walter, the reigning PCC player-of-the-year.

"There were times that she looked a little scared," said York of Rickey. "But she held up and she did the job. And isn't this the first time we've had Jill and Christie 'on' at the same time. The only time that happened was against Hebron (a 71-49 victory)."

"We started out in a box-and-one," said Wick, "with one player chasing Karissa. Then we had a triangle formation thing. Then, we went to a 3-2. I think we can win this whole tournament. When we make up our minds to do something, we can do it."

Rickey said that when she stole the ball in the final two minutes, she had one thing on her mind. "I remember last year when I missed it," she said. Rickey missed a breakaway layup in a 56-55 loss to Hebron in last year's PCC tournament. "When the ball went in (tonight)," she smiled, "I knew we were going to win."

The Boone loss prevents them from becoming the winningest team in PCC tournament history. In 31 previous years, Kouts and Boone have both won the PCC girls tournament title seven times. Hanover has won five titles.

Wheeler's girls team and coach Tim Powers, former members of the PCC (they moved to the Lake Athletic Conference this season) were in the stands at Morgan to watch Boone and Hanover, two sectional rivals.

Nov. 18: L, 35-45 Gavit (4-9)
Nov. 21: L, 39-58 at Wheeler (15-3)
Nov. 26: L, 49-55 Lowell (11-5)
Dec. 5: W, 73-49 at Hebron (6-10)
Dec. 6: L, 55-57 at Kouts (9-7)
Dec. 13: W, 76-28 LaCrosse (2-13)
Dec. 16: L, 42-56 at North Newton (6-8)
Dec. 18: W, 58-25 at River Forest (3-14)

Momence (Ill.) Tournament
Dec. 26: L, 45-62 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (14-1)
Dec. 27: W, 68-38 Peotone
Dec. 27: W, 62-45 Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Jan. 3: L, 53-84 at Crown Point (10-6)
Jan. 8: L, 46-54 (OT) Calumet (10-6)

Jan. 10: W, 41-25 at Washington Township (8-7)
Jan. 15: L, 55-62 at South Central (8-7)

Porter County Conference Tournament
Jan. 20: W, 42-40 Boone Grove (14-3) PCC quarterfinals
Jan. 23 (F) Morgan Township (4-12) PCC semifinals
Jan. 24 (S) PCC championship - 6 p.m.

BOONE GROVE (14-3, 6-0 PCC)
Coach Candy Wilson (7th season) 22-5 last season (2003)
Porter County Conference Games in all CAPS

Nov. 11: W, 82-20 River Forest (4-11)
Nov. 14: W, 67-64 (OT) Calumet (10-5)
Nov. 15: W, 67-49 HEBRON (6-10)
Nov. 21: W, 73-33 Knox (6-7)
Nov. 25: W, 84-25 at LaCROSSE (2-14)
Dec. 2: W, 64-42 Kankakee Valley (4-11)
Dec. 11: W, 64-37 at WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (8-7)
Dec. 13: L, 35-48 at Crown Point (10-6)
Dec. 16: W, 61-40 at KOUTS (9-7)
Dec. 18: W, 50-27 MORGAN TOWNSHIP (4-12)

South County Tournament (at Hebron)
Dec. 22: W, 72-23 MORGAN TOWNSHIP (4-12) Semifinals
Dec. 23: W, 33-31 Hebron (6-10) Championship

Porter County Conference Tournament (at Morgan Township)
Jan. 20: L, 40-42 Hanover Central (7-8) quarterfinals

Jan. 29: at HANOVER CENTRAL (7-8) 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 5: North Judson (7-5) 6:30 p.m.

Hanover Central (2A) Sectional
Feb. 10: Quarterfinals 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 13: Semifinals 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 14: HC Sectional final game 7:30 p.m.

Rensselaer (2A) Regional
Feb. 21: Semifinals 11:00 a.m.
Feb. 21: Championship 7:00 p.m.

Warsaw (2A) Semistate
Feb. 28 one game 12 noon or 2:00 p.m.

State (2A) Championship
March 8: 2A State championship game (in the Conseco Fieldhouse) 11:45 a.m.

Wick's 17-points leads Lady Wildcats to 42-40 upset of Lady Wolves in PCC Quarterfinals

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Porter County Conference Tournament Quarterfinals - Tuesday, 1-20-2004 at Morgan Township