Lady Red Devils open season with 41-32 win over North Newton

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
11-14-2007

Thursday, November 8, 2007 - season opener at LOWELL, IN

NORTH NEWTON (32)  Kristen Miller 2-2-6, Kealy Myers 5-7-21, Celeste Cain 0-0-0, Samantha Gatewood 1-1-3, Mandi Olson 1-0-2, Darcy Hall 0-0-0, Jamie Kibler 0-0-0.
TOTALS: 9 (10-19) 32.

LOWELL (41)  Gabi Goetz 4-6-14, Mallory Pratt 3-0-6, Kim Bell 1-1-3, Jessica Schiessle 2-0-4, Kaitlyn Utley 0-0-0, Amanda Underwood 0-0-0, Kelsi Blakenship 0-0-0, Megan Bolanowski 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 15 (11-22) 41.

FREE THROWS:  NORTH NEWTON (10-19, 52.6%) Miller 2-5, Myers 7-9, Gatewood 1-2, Olson 0-2, Kibler 0-1.  LOWELL (11-21, 52.3%) Goetz 6-13, Haberlin 4-6, Bell 1-2.

REBOUNDS:  NORTH NEWTON (27) Gatewood 10, Miller 5, Myers 5, Cain 3, Kibler 3, Olson;  LOWELL (37) Goetz 17, Haberlin 6, Pratt 5, Bell 4, Blakenship 3, Utley, Bolanowski.

ASSISTS:  NORTH NEWTON (4) Kristen Miller 3, Kealy Myers: LOWELL (12) Blakenship 4, Bell 3; Utley 2, Pratt, Bolanowski, Underwood.

STEALS:  NORTH NEWTON (5) Kealy Myers 2, Samantha Gatewood 2, Jamie Kibler;  LOWELL (8) Mallory Pratt 3, Kelsi Blakenship 3, Kate Haberlin; Gabi Goetz.

TURNOVERS:  NORTH NEWTON (5-6-5-7) 23;  LOWELL (5-5-6-2) 18.

3-GOALS:  NORTH NEWTON (4) Kealy Myers 4;  LOWELL (0).

LOWELL, IN (11-08-2007) -  It wasn't the greatest start to the season.  Rescheduled Thursday night basketball might have had something to do with that.  But it was a success for Lowell as the Red Devils, using three senior forwards and a lot of underclassmen in the backcourt scratched out enough offense to beat neighbor North Newton 41-32 in the first game of the girls basketball season for both sides.

There were more turnover than points in the first half, but Lowell rallied around seniors Gabi Goetz, Katie Haberlin and Kim Bell to reject the upset bid of the 2A Spartans.  Lowell (1-0) found out that they are going to have to pay the rent with defense, rebounding and foul shooting.  The Red Devils grabbed 37 rebounds, including 17 by Goetz, a 5-10 senior, who thoughT the team's glass was half full.

"I was a little worried when were 6-2 behind North Newton," she admitted.  "And the free throws were just not falling.  Maybe that's because my legs were tired.  I don't know."

Goetz was happy to hear about her unofficial total of 17 rebounds.

"I'm hoping to get at least 12 points and 10 rebounds every game," added Goetz.

Haberlin, a 5-8 left-handed low post player and returning regular from last season, scored eight of her 14 points in the second half.  Bell, a 5-foot-11 forward, showed some skill as a high post passer feeding her fellow seniors.

"With Katie playing well," said Lowell coach Patti McCormack, beginning her 17th season, "we were able to bump Kim back to guard and she made some nice passes inside.  We have a lot of sophomores and we've got to see what they can do."

One of the sophomores who stood out on opening night was soccer player Kelsi Blakenship, a 5-foot guard who did not score, but played good defense on North Newton senior Kealy Myers, who scored 21 but only two in the final period.

"She's not afraid out there," said McCormack, who only had Blakenship for two periods, because she also played on the JV team. "And she's not afraid of contact.  A lot of that is from playing soccer.  We'll be making a change (in the rosters) so we'll have her for four quarters.  She and Underwood are very fast."

Other sophomores who saw the floor were 5-8 wing Katelyn Utley, 5-7 wing Megan Bolanowski, 5-4 guard Amanda Underwood and 5-1 soph guard Jessica Scheissle, who played a lot last season.  Junior Mallory Pratt played point guard most of the night for Lowell and the 5-foot-7 Red Devil golf star was solid, admittedly against a team that did not press at all.  Lowell has no senior backcourt players.

"Unlike last year, we did shoot the shots we should have shot and we didn't force the ball inside," said McCormack.  "We were patient getting the ball inside and Katie Haberlin opened up the middle for us tonight.  She really opened the whole thing up for us."

"It was the first game.  For the youth we were playing its not bad.  We have a very experienced inside and a not so experienced outside.  They have to catch up to each other."

DEVIL NOTES:  Clearly the Devils are going to have some trouble against faster teams and that may show up Tuesday night against defending 3A Sectional champion Hammond high, which opened the season with a 56-38 win over East Chicago.

Lowell's Nov. 16 Friday home game with Morton was guaranteed to be postponed when Lowell's football team defeated Griffith and advanced to host a Class 4A football semistate game with Bishop Dwenger (13-0) on Nov. 16.  No makeup date was immediately announced.  When the football team plays, Lowell's basketball team practices at 6:00 a.m. on Fridays.

"They like it," said McCormack.  "Part of that is football.  They're all football fans.  It's kinda hard not to be."

The concept of 5-foot-11 Kim Bell playing the guard role in Lowell's halfcourt offense has to do with Lowell's guards being so small (none taller than 5-foot-7) and the need to get the ball close to the basket where Lowell has senior players who can score.

"Plus," said McCormack. "She's a 'post' herself so she naturally looks to feed her own kind.  I thought she did it well."

McCormack has only five players who are not sophomores, but she says there is a plus side to having very young players.

"They'll listen to you," she explains.  "They don't know enough to question what your saying.  They'll do anything you ask them to do."

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Revised: November 14, 2007 .