Caroll County Classic - 1st Game - Saturday, 12-18-2004 in Flora, IN

LOWELL (44): Kelly Johnson 5-3-15, Ashley Cosentino 0-3-3, Julie Swisher 4-2-13, Rachel Theil 4-5-13, Bailey Wagner 1-0-23, Michelle Johnson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-13-44

ROSSVILLE (43): Marcia Welfen 2-2-6, Sally Kulupka 7-0-14, Amanda Jones 0-0-0, Megan Skinner 0-0-0, Shelly Meador 0-0-0, Deidra Meador 0-0-0, Jennifer Kelly 4-8-19, Abby Calloway 0-4-4. TOTALS: 13-14-43

FREE THROWS - LOWELL - 13-17, 76.4% - Johnson 3-5, Cosentino 3-4, Swisher 2-2, Theil 5-6. ROSSVILLE – 14-24, 58.3% - Kelly 8-11, Welfen 2-3, Calloway 4-8, Jones 0-2.

STEALS – LOWELL (5) Johnson 2, Wagner 2, Thiel. ROSSVILLE (5) Jones 2, Kelly, Welfen, Calloway.

ASSISTS – LOWELL (12) Wagner 6, Johnson 3, Cosentino 2, Swisher; ROSSVILLE (6) Jones 5, Kulupka.

THREE-POINT GOALS – LOWELL (3) Julie Swisher 3; ROSSVILLE (3) Jennifer Kelly 3.

Carroll County Classic Box Score

FLORA, IN (12-20-2004) - Lowell has had more than one team better than the one they have now and they've never won three games in 24 hours the week before Christmas.

Maybe they thought they've had better teams than this one. The team that uses five players and one sub won three times last weekend and while it was so far out of town that nobody in Lake County noticed, the Red Devils are becoming hard to overlook.

Lowell dominated Calumet by much more than the 56-40 final score would indicate Friday before traveling to Carroll County and defeating Rossville 44-43 in overtime and topping host Carroll 52-24 in the 2004 Carroll County Classic.

The victory over Rossville (4-4) was memorable. Lowell trailed 44-41 and had lost top scorer Ashley Cosentino to five fouls when Kelly Swisher danced around a pick by junior center Rachel Theil and popped in a three-point goal to tie the game with eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 43-42 with 19 seconds left in overtime, the Red Devils got a shot from guard Kelly Johnson and a wide open offensive rebound basket from 5-5 senior Bailey Wagner with eight seconds left in the overtime to grab their most dramatic win of the season.

And again, it was a team that basically uses just the starting five overcoming 22 turnovers and rallying in the late going on the road against a team with more depth.

Coach Patti McCormack is very pleased if somewhat dizzied by her team's 'creative' ways to win.

“Last night (at Calumet) was a clinic,” said McCormack, moments after the Rossville win. “We had great rotation, ball movement. Great seals. It was a clinic. I'm not kidding. We could have recorded it and sold it.”

“That's why I was a little surprised when today we come out and we're running all over the place. Our guards weren't a thing of beauty today but they've been playing very well.”

Lowell trailed Rossville most of the day hampered by turnovers including five traveling calls against guard Bailey Wagner, who just couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. Meanwhile, several obvious traveling violations against others went unseen.

“I don't have a problem with the traveling calls against Bailey,” said McCormack. “But call that at the other end, too. There were some plays where the girl took three steps and no call.”

The Devils were also limited by fouls to Cosentino, who played less than 30 minutes and did not score from the field before fouling out with 23 seconds to play. Lowell simply cannot have anybody foul out due to the depth problems they have. Johnson and Theil also finished this game with four fouls.

Rossville led 35-30 on a basket by 5-10 senior Sally Kulupka before Johnson, who took over at point guard while Cosentino sat with fouls, scored five consecutive points to tie the game with 1:26 to play.

Three free throws by star sophomore Jennifer Kelly (18 points) put the Knights in position to win but Swisher's basket tied it up.

“They ran that play exactly the way they were supposed to run it,” said McCormack. “They didn't run every play that way.”

Lowell could have won easily in overtime but Julie Swisher missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw chance with her side leading 42-40 and 1:54 left. Kulupka then tied the game and Rossville went ahead on a foul shot by Abby Calloway with 1:06 to go.

Amanda Jones could have iced the game for Rossville but she missed two free throws with 19 seconds left, giving Johnson and Wagner the final chance. Johnson missed a driving lay up. But Wagner, who closed in from the opposite side grabbed the missed shot and banked it in for the winning points.

The Devils seem to be able to handle the long games with no substitution.

“We pretty much knew that with just me and Rachel coming back this year,” said Cosentino, “that we'd be playing a lot. When I was in junior high, I didn't play much at all. I never played an entire game until I got here. But I think we're in shape to do it.”

McCormack is more and more confident that her side can win consistently.

“We survived it with our legs not totally solid,” she said. “and our point guard was on the bench. That's the two big things.”

Three road wins in two different counties in 24 hours is three big things. But nobody back home is paying much attention. Not yet, anyway.

DEVIL NOTES:  McCormack is very high on Rachel Theil, her 5-9 post player. “She sets a great pick, doesn't she?” said McCormack, noting how Theil was the key on Julie Swisher's game tying shot Saturday afternoon. “We've had a lot of 5-10 girls who were quick and could block out. Rachel's probably the first true post we've had since Jen Bayer (1999).”

The 2005 Red Devils are a small team but that's probably the last time Lowell will field a small team physically until 2009.

“Kim Bell (a 6-1 freshman) is a forward,” said McCormack. “She's got a real nice shot. But she's not really a '5' (post player). The next true post we have is Gabby Goetz. She's bigger than Rachel right now. We'll play her a lot in the JV tournament (Dec. 22).

The Carroll County Classic is a fund-raiser for a local fund that gives scholarship help to deserving graduates of the area schools (Rossville is 10 miles away) as well as providing aid to the families of teens who have been injured or killed in accidents in recent years in the nearly 200-year-old (established in 1813) rural farming community.

Lowell's strength continues to be that they get to the foul line and make the shots. Lowell was 13 of 17 from the foul line against Rossville and 18 of 22 against Calumet after sinking an outrageous 33 of 45 free throws against Griffith in a 57-48 win on Dec. 9. Through eight games, the Devils had cashed in 129 of 176 free checks, an impressive 73.8%.

Kelly Johnson's 13 points against Rossville marked the fourth time she has scored 10 or more in a game in her debut varsity season. Cosentino had six double figure games through the Rossville game. The 5-3 junior scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds at Calumet, a game Lowell led 47-25 after three quarters.