H.S. Girls Basketball: Lowell 61, North Newton 44

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr	Final
North Newton (0-1)	11	6	15	12	44
LOWELL (1-0)	22	12	12	15	61

NORTH NEWTON (44) Pam Estes 2-0-5, Holly Martin 4-1-12, Kristan Stone 3-3-11, Natalie Christensen 1-4-6, Trina Halliar 1-0-2, Tara Williamson 3-2-8, Megan Clark 0-0-0, Becca Deardurff 0-0-0, Donna Gregorash 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-10-44
FTS: 10-17, 58.7 percent: Natalie Christensen 4-5, Holly Martin 1-4, Tara Williamson 2-4, Kristan Stone 3-4.
TURNOVERS: 14
REBOUNDS: Tara Williamson - 8
ASSISTS: Natalie Christensen - 4
BLOCKS: Natalie Christensen - 4
FOULED OUT: Megan Clark - 4th Q - 2:12 left, Natalie Christensen - 6:06 left.
3-POINT GOALS (6) Holly Martin 3, Kristan Stone 2, Pam Estes.

LOWELL (61) McKensey Wietbrock 7-0-18, Lisa Schulfer 5-5-15, Natalie Hanas 2-0-5, Rachel Thiel 2-2-6, Mary Erpelding 1-2-5, Ashley Cosentino 2-0-4, Megan Bachinski 2-0-4, Whitney Magley 1-0-2, Bailey Wagner 0-1-1, Brooke Bell 0-1-1, Julie Swisher 0-0-0, Whitney Broukal 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-11-61
FTS: 6-9, 66 .7 percent (Erpelding 2-2, Schulfer 5-7, Thiel 2-5, Wagner 1-2, Bell 1-2, Bachinski 0-2 )
TURNOVERS: 17
ASSISTS: Natalie Hanas - 7
REBOUNDS: Lisa Schulfer -11
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (6) McKensey Wietbrock 4, Natalie Hanas, Mary Erpelding.

LOWELL (11-13-2003) - Lowell can play a lot of games this year against a lot of teams. They won't look any better than they did last Thursday night. Running their offense like they rarely have and shooting like they never have, the Red Devils dominated neighbor and rival North Newton 61-44 in the season opener for both schools.

With the pending regional championship football game in the air and a temporary gray plastic floor under their feet, the home team jumped to leads of 7-0, 22-8 and 34-17 in a game that was never very close. This in a game that was moved up 24 hours by the East Noble-Lowell football showdown.

"I think we were so fired up for Friday," said Lowell coach Patti McCormack. "We talked about it, (assistant coach) Katie (Porento) and I. We just thought that if we keep practicing, we'd lose an edge. And you didn't really want to turn around and play Saturday. It was great. Our girls really support the boys. I don't think any of them have missed a game. The boys came out and supported us."

The football team saw senior guard McKensey Wietbrock hit four three-point baskets and score 18 points to compliment 5-11 senior Lisa Schulfer's 15 points and 10 rebounds. But Schulfer and Wietbrock did a lot of that last year. A notable upgrade Thursday was 5-4 senior Natalie Hanas, who seemed overwhelmed at times last season.

Hanas contributed five points, seven assists and four rebounds to the cause, directing her teammates with confidence. North Newton isn't the Gary West Side team that eliminated Lowell in sectional play last year but the Spartans did press and mix defenses against Lowell and the Red Devil guards held up.

"That may be the best game I've seen Natalie play," said McCormack. "That was what we've been asking her to do for a while. She distributed the ball. She moved it down the floor. The press came at her. Greg (JV coach Greg Holdeman) was after her to turn into that girl (her defender) and make contact and she did. It was a very physical game, toward the end especially. But that's certainly not going to be anything new to us."

The game started well for the Devils, who were just 11-12 last season. Lowell led 7-0 before Holly Martin hit a three-point shot for North Newton, which played without 5-10 senior center Ashley Barkley. With the score 10-6, Wietbrock hit a three-pointer and then scored on a steal and layup. North Newton, which lost three starters off last year's 18-4 squad, shot poorly from distance and did not rebound well in a sub-par first half.

"We're just a little nervous," said North Newton coach Mark Christensen. "This was a first game. I told them in the locker room. These are building blocks. We just have to build it all the way up. We can't just step in and run over everybody."

And Lowell's going to have a good home floor. That was in doubt when rain water flooded the Devils' basement gym during the early stages of the school's three-year renovation last summer and warped the old floor. Lowell will play on a rubberized gray temporary floor this season but, other than the YMCA-style look of the surface, the substitute floor had absolutely no effect on the game.

"No, it doesn't," agreed Lowell athletic director Don Bales. "It just looks different. It's a mind set. This floor was in West Lafayette. There's a fellow down there who runs AAU programs and elementary programs. He's had this floor in for a year."

During practice, parts of the floor had popped loose but that did not happen last Thursday.

"The fellow who installed it came back today," said Bales. "Mike (boys coach Mike Magley) talked to him and he worked on a couple of spots."

Lowell's girls also worked on a couple of spots and it could lead to an outstanding season.

"They tried a couple of different defenses on us," said McCormack. "But that's what you want in a first game. We wanted to see if the kids could make adjustments and, for the most part, they did."

"It's all about getting out and playing all summer. It makes a difference. The Chesterton league helps a lot. We had good senior leadership and they put in the time. Since the IHSAA opened up the summer (for prep play), you have to do it."

DEVIL NOTES: North Newton senior Ashley Barkley simply hasn't played since she was a freshman. "She tore her ACL as a sophomore," explains coach Christensen. "She tried to come back last year and she had trouble rehabbing it. But we went over to the Plymouth summer league last summer and it was like she'd never put the ball down. She was doing everything. She played three games ands she was rebounding and sealing. Then she cracked a bone in her left hand. Then in volleyball, she tore a tendon. She'll miss about three games."

Senior Mary Erpelding had five points and three assists in her first game in two years. Erpelding, a 5-7 guard, missed all 23 games last year due to a leg injury.

"A lot of what McKensey got tonight, she got because Mary was on the other side. When we have shooters on both sides, it makes it hard to double team anybody."

Sophomore center Rachel Thiel had six points and six rebounds and she was noticeably more physical than last season. "She's got more confidence in her ability to move people," said McCormack. "We're working on her offense. She's the kind of girl that you don't ever have to ask to work extra. She bodies people and she moves them, but she doesn't react to the ball the way we want her to yet."

Next Friday's Lowell-Morton game probably won't have to be postponed, even if Lowell defeats East Noble in the regional football title game. A Lowell road game at Bishop Dwenger in Fort Wayne or Muncie Central would probably be switched to Saturday night because of the distance involved.

Strong first half leads Lady Red Devils to 61-44 season opening win over North Newton

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith