Lady Red Devils shut down Wolves offense, win 56-38 in Girls Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-26-2012

BOONE (38) Emily Bobrowski 4-0-12, Julie Hogg 1-2-4, Paige Aguilera 1-2-4, Brittany Shaffer 1-3-5, Claudia Cooper 1-0-2, Brittany Slicker 4-0-10, Nicole Malouhos 0-1-1, Kayla Mastey 0-0-0, Anna Cantwell 0-0-0. TOTALS: 12 (8-16) 38.

LOWELL (56) Mackenzie Kreutz 5-2-12, Kalyne Godbolt 6-0-14, Katie Bobos 7-2-16, Sarah Wietbrock 1-3-5, Sydney Barta 3-0-6, Sarah Wiser 1-0-3, Nicole Sharkey 0-01-1, Savannah Summers 0-0-0, Samantha Roach 0-0-0, Hunter Jusevitch 0-0-0, Amy Fraikin 0-0-0. TOTALS: 23 (7-11) 56.

FREE THROWS: BOONE (8-16, 50%) Hogg 2-2, Aguilera 2-2, Shaffer 3-4, Malouhos 1-2, Bobrowsky 0-2, Cooper 0-2; LOWELL (7-12, 58.3%) Kreutz 2-2, Bobos 2-3, Wietbrock 3-6, Sharkey 0-1.

REBOUNDS: BOONE (19) Cooper 6, Bobrowsky 4, Aguilera 3, Mastey 2, Malouhos, Hogg 2, Shaffer; LOWELL (23) Barta 9, Bobos 7, Godbolt 3, Wietbrock, Kreutz, Weiser, Fraikin.

ASSISTS: BOONE (10) Bobrowski 4, Aguilera 2, Shaffer 2, Slicker, Cooper; LOWELL (11) Weiser 4, Godbolt 3, Wietbrock 2, Kreutz, Bobos.

STEALS: BOONE (8) Bobrowsky 2, Aguilera 2, Cooper, Slicker, Malouhos.

FOULED OUT: BOONE (1) Paige Aguilera (4th Q) 1:49 left; LOWELL (1) Mackenzie Kreutz (4th Q) 1:11.

3-GOALS: BOONE (6) Emily Bobrowski 4, Brittany Slicker 2; LOWELL (3) Kalyne Godbolt 2, Sarah Wieser.

Lowell had more bounce back in them than Boone did and the Visitors from Porter County scored only 11 second half points in a 56-38 Red Devil win. Boone doesn't have to beat Lowell to advance in the state tournament so a nonconference road loss three days after a league victory isn't a big deal. But Lowell has to defeat tougher teams than Boone Grove to win 4A Sectional 1 next month. The Devils looked like a team that can do that, even with only one day to work on it.

"We play so much better when we just go out and play," said Lowell second-year coach Katie Antcliff. "We had a scouting report on them, but it was the same as last year. They can shoot the '3'. They play a 1-3-1 and if they get into foul trouble, they go into a 2-3 so they can match up. That's been the story all year long. When we just go out and play, we're fine. We play hard. We play as a team."

Lowell played a 1-2-2 three-quarter court press that pushed Boone into some cross court passes that had mixed results. Boone top scorer Emily Bobrowski had three, three-point baskets and had four assists in the first half as the Wolves (16-2) rallied from deficits of 11-6 and 18-11 to take a 26-24 lead with 1:18 left in the second quarter. But Boone made just three field goals in the second half and they seemed tired. Lowell's pushing the pace of the game may have had an effect on Boone.

"What was the other game we were able to do that in," said Lowell coach Katie Antcliff. "Crown Point? They started out hot and made a lot of shots and they got tired later in the game and they didn't shoot as well. 'We made adjustments on the back side (of the defense). Instead of trapping in the corners, we just had Katie (Bobos) take that girl 1-on-1. That helped because Kalyne was able to stay out high on Bobrowski and she didn't get so many open shots."

"I thought we had good shots," said Boone coach Candy Wilson. "We just couldn't make them go in. You can't control that. But we were on another planet in the second half."

Wilson thought that playing two games in one day Saturday led to the second half slide Tuesday.

"They do that all the time in AAU," Wilson said, "But it's not quite the pressure. But that can't be our excuse. In the post-season, you have a lot of games on top of each other. You have to be mentally tough enough to fight through fatigue."

Lowell's bench boosted the Devils as sophomore Sarah Weiser (four assists) and freshman Sydney Barta (nine rebounds) helped wear down the tired Wolves, who played the final two games of the PCC tournament in a 10-hour span. Lowell got strong play again from 5-foot-10 forwards Katie Bobos (16 points, seven rebounds) and Mackenzie Kreutz (12 points) up front against a talented Boone team that is perimeter oriented.

"All five of their kids can do anything they want," said Antcliff. "We told them that any of their starters can take the ball to the basket or shoot the '3'. You have to watch all of them."

Just looking at numbers, the Devils have established somewhat of an identity. While they did give up 63 points to 4A No. 3 Merrillville (18-0) and 55 at Lake Central, Lowell has also limited nine teams to 35 points or less.

"We don't have an easy schedule at the end," said Wilson," and that's a good thing. We have to wake up. The starters were a little sleepy at the start tonight and we can't do that.
"We only had one day to work on them, but that can't be an excuse. We're not going to have a lot of time to work on teams in the state tournament either."

DEVIL NOTES: The Lowell-Boone game was Lowell's final home game, their 'Senior Night'. Some schedules show a Lowell home game with Wheeler on Jan. 31. That's a mistake. That game will be played at Wheeler.

Lowell only has two seniors. Sarah Fraikin was serving the final game of a five-game suspension (along with Carley Austgen) for a teams rules violation. Savannah Summers started the game and sprained an ankle. Coach Katie Antcliff said that Summers should not miss more than a few days.

"She's stepped up big for us the last few games," said Antcliff. "She goes down, but now we get the other two back. Even if Savannah has to sit out Friday night (against Calumet), we might get her back against Wheeler (Jan. 31)."

With the demise of the South County Tournament, Boone has some holes in their 2013 schedule.

"We already asked Whiting and Winamac for games," Boone coach Candy Wilson reports. "The DAC opens up (they end the double round-robin 14-game league format) in two years. We may be switching stuff around then too."

Wilson said she wouldn't want to get into the eight-team Hanover Central Holiday tournament.

"I wouldn't want to play three times in two days," she said. "Try and get your legs back after that. There's some good teams there, but I don't want to play three times in two days."

Wilson said there probably won't be a Boone Grove holiday tournament anytime soon.

"We talked about that, but," she smiled, "... I'd have to organize it. No. I don't think so."

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Revised: February 03, 2012 .