Boone Grove Girls beat Lowell 49-36, CP falls to Northridge 52-35 in 'Region Rumble'

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-02-2011

LOWELL (8-3) Sarah Wietbrock 1-4-6, Kalyne 1-0-3, Katie Bobos 6-2-14, Sarah Wieser 2-0-4, Mackenzie Kruetz 4-1-9, Savannah Summers 0-0-0, Carley Austgen 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14 (7-14) 36.

BOONE (49) Emily Bobrowski 5-4-18, Brittany Dewell 5-9-15, Brittany Shaffer 1-2-4, Jordan Chester 2-0-4, Claudia Cooper 0-2-2,,Paige Aguilera 2-0-4, Brittany Slicker 1-0-2, Morgan Marshall 0-0-0, Nicole Malouhos 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (17-30) 49.

FREE THROWS: LOWELL (7-14, 50%) Kruetz 1-5, Bobos 2-4, Wietbrock 4-4, Chester 0-1; BOONE (17-30, 56.6%) Bobrowski 4-4, Dewell 9-12, Cooper 2-2, Shaffer 2-6, Chester 0-1, Aguilera 0-4.

REBOUNDS: LOWELL (32) Bobos 11,Kruetz 7, Godbolt 3, Wietbrock 3, Austgen 2, Thiel 3, Wieser 3; BOONE (24) Dewell 6, Aguilera 6, Chester 5, Shaffer 4, Slicker 2, Cooper.

ASSISTS: LOWELL (4) Godbolt 2, Bobos, Thiel; BOONE (5) Chester, Bobrowski, Dewell, Aguilera, Shaffer.

BLOCKED SHOTS: LOWELL (5) Bobos 4, Kruetz; BOONE (1) Cooper.

STEALS: LOWELL (8) Wieser 2, Austgen, Wietbrock, Bobos; BOONE (10) Dewell 5, Chester 3, Bobrowski, Slicker.

FOULED OUT: BOONE (1) Paige Aguilera (4th Q) 1:39.

3-GOALS: BOONE 4) Emily Bobrowski 4; LOWELL (1) Kalyne Godbolt.

NORTHRIDGE (52) Connie Smith 3-0-7, Brianne O'Dell 0-0-0, Haley Schrock 4-2-12, Madison Schrock 3-0-8, Sydney Sample 2-0-5, Tori Roberts 1-2-4, Emily Peppers VanNamee 5-4-14, Emylee Smith 1-0-2. TOTALS: 19 (8-10) 52.

CROWN POINT (35) Kelly Gross 2-1-6, Sarah Rivich 1-0-2, Courtney Kvachkoff 3-2-8, Michaela Prough 4-1-9, Kendall Brown 1-0-2, Lisa Kurth 0-5-5, Zarah Cecich 1-1-3, Alexis Joseph 0-0-0, Madeline Moore 0-0-0, Hayley Bordui 0-0-0, Kelly Maddalone 0-0-0, Jordan Blue 0-0-0. TOTALS: 12 (10-15) 35.

FREE THROWS: NORTHRIDGE (8-10, 80%) Peppers VanNamee 4-6, Roberts 2-2, Haley Schrock 2-2; CROWN POINT (10-15, 66.7%) Kurth 5-6, Kvachkoff 2-4, Prough 1-2, Gross 1-2, Cecich 1-1.

ASSISTS: Northridge (8) Emylee Smith 6, Madison Schrock, Sydney Sample; CROWN POINT (4) Kelly Gross 3, Lisa Kurth.

REBOUNDS: NORTHRIDGE (21) VanNamee 8, Emylee Smith 5, Roberts 3, Haley Schrock 3, Madison Schrock 2; CROWN POINT (17) Kvachkoff 4, Prough 4, Joseph 3, Gross 2, Rivich 2, Cecich, Rivich.

STEALS: NORTHRDGE (9) Connie Smith 4, Emylee Smith 2, Haley Schorck, Madison Schrock, VanNamee; CROWN POINT (6) Moore 2, Kurth 2, Gross, Kvachkoff.

3-GOALS: NORTHRIDGE (6) Haley Schrock 2, Madison Schrock 2, Emily Peppers VanNamee, Connie Smith; CROWN POINT (1) Kelly Gross.

VALPARAISO (01-01-2011) I like the 'Region Rumble' concept, but I'm not a fan of New Year's Day high school basketball. Nobody has a lot of energy left. Observing fans cheer and teams play on New Year's day, the prevailing result is usually a swing and a miss. But after Northridge pulled away from Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) co-leader Crown Point for a 52-35 victory on the first day of 2011, coach Doug Springer could not agree with me less.

"You don't know how it's going to go," said Springer, who moved from Wheeler to Northridge four years ago. "But I can't say enough about our senior class and how our girls wanted to establish that we are a state contender. Plus they (CP) are the number two offensive team in the state (71.0) and we're the number four defensive team (31.4). We wanted to prove that we could shut them down."

The numbers speak for themselves. Crown Point (11-2) made more turnovers (18) than they made field goals (12). The Bulldogs, who had 60 three-point baskets in their first 12 games, only got seven three-point attempts and trailed 46-26 in the fourth quarter. The second game of the 12th 'Region Rumble' New Year's Day showcase was similar as Porter County Conference leader Boone Grove (12-1) scored the first eight points of the final quarter and held Lowell scoreless for 6-1/2 minutes on the way to a 49-36 victory.

Crown Point coach Mike Cronkhite seemed to know his team didn't have it early on. He was probably more intense in the first quarter than the CP girls were.

"They are very good defensively," said Cronkhite. "Our third quarter, minus the last two games, has been a weakness for us the last two years. We tried to switch our defense and go man-to-man. Show them something different. They put intense ball pressure. They switch all the screens. That little 6-0 run where we threw the ball away three times. That made all the difference. You could see the wind go out of our sails at that time."

Northridge, which started five seniors, scored the first six points of the second half before Lisa Kurth sank two CP foul shots. But the Raiders, who have lost only to Penn, then scored six points in rapid fire succession to force a CP time out and start a 10-0 run that ended the third quarter. CP isn't a physical team and when the game slows down, they are at a disadvantage.

"There were two keys to shutting them down," said Springer. "Cutting down (Courtney) Kvachkoff's cherry picks. That's how they get her all her points in the paint. And getting out on (Kendall) Brown and (Kelly) Gross on the sideline transition and not giving them space to shoot. We held Brown to two and Kvachkoff to eight. Our girls followed the game plan. We were able to take away every set they tried to run."

Crown Point never led and they could not get open shots against Northridge's man-to-man defense. CP only made one three point shot and they could only get seven three-pointers off. The Lady Bulldogs' 1-3-1 half court defense was effective as Northridge committed 17 turnovers, including nine in the first half. But up front CP got nine points from 6-foot-1 Michaela Prough and three in the final quarter from 6-foot Zarah Cecich. Northridge's 5-foot-10 left-handed center Emily Peppers VanNamee had 14 points and nine rebounds and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

As uncomfortable a loss as this was, it won't decide CP's season. These two teams could meet again, but only if CP reached the 4A Regional in Valparaiso. Northridge would have to get by undefeated Elkhart Memorial to reach the regional. CP's season would be a success if they play Northridge again. The Lady Bulldogs goals are still to win the DAC and the sectional. Cronkhite clearly takes any setback personally but he said the right things after this game.

"I told the girls, how many of you probably thought I was going to chew you out?" he recounted. "That's not what its about. What does this loss mean in the grand scheme of things? Nothing. They are not a DAC team. Not a sectional team. I think the loss will do us a lot of good because it shows exactly what we need to work on."

But CP's push to lift their program profile was derailed. At least temporarily.

"It was a showcase," said Cronkhite. "We might have been a little star struck. On a college floor. The atmosphere got to us a little bit."

Boone Grove trailed only once (at 12-11) in their game against Lowell. Both teams slowed the other with pressure defense, but Lowell could not make shots, sinking only 14 of 56 (25%) from the floor.

"We knew what we had to do," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "Blocking out. Stopping transition. Stopping Bobos."

Lowell's 5-foot-10 Katie Bobos got good shots, but just didn't make them. She scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, but the Lowell sophomore was 6-of-23 from the floor. Neither team was very good offensively but Lowell, which starts five sophomores, clearly became frustrated with their inability to score after a competitive first half.

"You can't control making baskets," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "You can only control defense, passing and ball-handling."

"Between this and Munster, this was our worst shooting game," said Lowell coach Kate Antcliff. "The Munster game (a 44-57 loss on Dec. 10) was similar to this. There wasn't much effort at the start. This is an excuse, but our kids have trouble shooting where there's no backdrop and that's the same way it is at Munster. There's nothing behind the basket."

Boone's Brittany Dewell (15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) was named the game's MVP and Boone obviously was the big winner defeating a Class 4A team (Boone is 2A) for the second time this year. It was hard to convince Lowell that this ended up as a positive experience.

"There's positives to it," said Antcliff of the late evening (7:30 start) game. "But we knew we could beat them and they came out with more energy from the start. We had a nice little chat at halftime. I think they saw a new side of coach. We came out a little better in the third quarter but we couldn't make shots."

Lowell had not played since Dec. 17. Too much of a layoff?

"You could say that," she continued. "The whole atmosphere of being here and playing on New Year's Day played into it. If we'd missed all the shots on the outside, I could make excuses. But we missed way too many shots inside. Seventy percent of our shots were in the paint and we only made 30% of those shots."

"Everyone has talked about how we have a good record, but we haven't faced our conference opponents yet. We wanted to use this as a stepping stone into conference and we couldn't do that. Andrean (who Lowell hosts Friday, Jan. 7) now becomes a huge game. This was a tough game. A physical game. But we didn't win it. Our kids are willing to throw their bodies on the floor. We got some calls we thought were questionable but told them, you still have to play. We got down a little."

"We just have to go back to the drawing board. It won't get any easier from this point out. You work on your weaknesses and shine on your strengths."

RUMBLE NOTES: It seems like a very small point, but three of the four coaches at Valparaiso University Saturday independently mentioned the length of the floor as a minor factor in the game. The college floor is supposedly 10 feet longer than the regulation high school floor. Visually, it's hard to tell. You do not see the difference. And anyone who has watched high school basketball would tell you that all high school floors, especially in the older gyms, aren't exactly the same length. It seems crazy that 10 feet, less than four yards on a football field, matters in basketball. But three coaches mentioned it Saturday without being asked.

"You have a bigger court here," said Boone Grove coach Candy Wilson, whose team defeated Lowell. With the bigger court here, you've got more space to cover. In a 2-3 (defense) you've got less space to cover. You can really tell in transition. Things we usually get in games in transition. It stretches everything out a little more."

Northridge isn't that athletic and they don't have much depth. But they have two major strengths.

"We have a 3.9 GPA on the varsity," said coach Doug Springer. "They're very smart and they play together. They've played a lot of basketball over the years."

Springer feels the Northern Lakes Conference is better than the DAC.

"Everybody talks about the Duneland," he said. "The Duneland is great. But I honestly believe the Northern Lake Conference is the best conference in northern Indiana. We've got a Hall-of-Fame coach in Steve Neff at Northwood. Dave Cox at Plymouth. Ken Zolman at Wawasee. We've had to work on defense and change our offense to compete."

There are few comparisons between Union Township (where Wheeler is located in west suburban Valparaiso) and Middlebury where Northridge is. Coaches always say 'kids are kids' but it's hard to believe.

"I think Northridge kids are identical to Wheeler kids," said Springer. "They both work hard and want to win. There's probably more money over here. I don't think they're softer. But Northridge has been terrible. Last season was our first winning season in 25 years. Our kids wanted to work harder."

"We live on the east side of Elkhart. It was the best move I could have made for my wife and my family. Concord and Northridge are the two top schools over there. People wonder about the East side of Elkhart but it's not bad at all."

Boone Grove's Candy Wilson reports that this season's South County tournament is not the final one. Morgan Township coach Matt Bush was quoted as saying that it was.

"Next year is the 75th one," she said. "And that's the last one."

Dropping the four-team tourney will allow Boone to travel and play outside the area.

"We got a phone call asking us," said Wilson. "First of all they wanted our boys team, but that couldn't be worked out. What's funny is: At the start of this year we were talking about how it would be fun if we could be in the 'Rumble' (Valparaiso University is on the outskirts of the Boone Grove school district) and here we are. It was good. There was a good crowd."

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Revised: January 02, 2011 .