Satellites and Wolves take Boys, Girls titles at PCC Tournament finals

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
1-22-2006

Saturday, 1-21-2006  PCC (Boys) Championship game at Boone Grove

SOUTH CENTRAL (35)  Caleb Kitchell 4-1-9,  Jeff Intagliata 1-0-2, Nick Tylka 1-0-3, Evan Walter 1-0-2, Phil Herrold 1-0-2, Wes Bucher 2-0-6, Kyle Soller 5-0-11.   TOTALS:  15 (1-1) 35.

BOONE GROVE (33)  Jon Shurr 3-0-6, Jake Pivarnik 5-0-11, Bryce Palleson 3-3-10, Will Mitchell 2-0-4, Matt pierce 1-0-2,  David Block 0-0-0, David Mastey 0-0-0.   TOTALS: 14 (3-6) 33.
 
FREE THROWS:  South Central (1-1, 100%)  Kitchell 1-1;  Boone Grove (3-6, 50%) Palleson 3-4, Mitchell 0-2.

3-GOALS:  South Central (4) Wes Bucher 2, Nick Tylka, Kyle Soller;  BOONE GROVE (2) Jake Pivarnik; Bryce Palleson.

Saturday, 1-21-2006  PCC (Girls) Championship game at Boone Grove

HEBRON (49)  Cindi Boricich 6-2-15, Jessica Sheets 7-5-20, Lauren Kalis 1-0-2, Kahla Froah 3-0-6, Heidi Freund 3-0-6, Taylor Ashler 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  20 (7-10) 49.

BOONE GROVE (57) Jessica Dowdy 3-1-7, Kara Kessler 6-0-12, Jessica Fauser 1-0-2, Kristyn Kessler 2-1-5, Cortney Flanigan 6-7-19, Brittney Roach 2-8-12, Amanda Spears 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  20 (17-21) 57.

FREE THROWS:  Hebron (7-10, 70%) Sheets 5-8, Boricich 2-2;  Boone Grove (17-21, 80.9%) Flanigan 7-9, Dowdy 1-2, Kristyn Kessler 1-2, Roach 8-8.

3-GOALS:  Hebron (2) Jessica Sheets, Cindi Boricich;  BOONE GROVE (0).

FOULED OUT:  Hebron = Heidi Freund (4th Q) 3;19 left;  BOONE = Brittney Roach (4th Q) 1:08 left.

PORTER TOWNSHIP (1-21-2006)  The favorites going into this week's eight team Porter County Conference (PCC) basketball tournaments were the league's first place teams, Boone Grove's boys and South Central's girls.  The winners?  Boone Grove's girls and South Central's boys.  Just like the PCC.

South Central's Jeff Intagliata rimmed in a 12 foot shot at the buzzer to give South Central their first PCC tournament championship, with a 35-33 victory over host Boone Grove.  Two hours earlier on the same floor, junior Cortney Flanigan's 19 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists boosted champion Boone Grove past arch-rival Hebron 57-49 in the girls championship game.

The drama came from nowhere during this week.  Boone's girls, who entered the tournament with a losing record and just one senior player in 5-10 center Kara Kessler, upset Morgan Township 62-60 and rallied from an eight point halftime deficit to beat Hanover Central 56-47 in the semifinals.  Though the Wolves had lost 71-40 to Hebron in December, Boone dominated the second half Saturday night to win their second consecutive league championship and third in four years.

"It was hard at the beginning of this season," said Kessler. "But we're doing well now.  We just didn't have any confidence.  That's what it's all about.  Since we beat North Newton (a 65-30 win on Jan. 3), we've settled down and gotten some confidence back."

Kessler scored 20 and grabbed eight rebounds against Hanover.  But it was Flanigan, the 5-5 lead guard, who was the best player in the Hebron game.  The Boone junior handled the ball 90% of the time, grabbed key rebounds and made driving layups against who ever Hebron assigned to her.

"I just flat out told her that, without you, we can't win," said Boone coach Candy Wilson.  "She met me when we opened up the gym this morning.  We spent 20 minutes shooting before anybody else got here.  She played with attitude tonight."

Hebron defended Flanigan with attitude, if not a 'Plan B.'  While the Hawks (10-9) may have made a strategic  error by not face-guarding Flanigan or going to a straight double-team or some other 'gimmick' defense to take her out of the game, Hebron's traditionally physical defense bounced the Boone scoring leader off the floor more than once.

Flanigan had a head on head collision with Hebron's Kahla Froah and Cortney later landed on her elbow after being knocked down in the backcourt while dribbling.

"I'm okay," Flanigan said later.  "I just won't do anything until we play again Thursday (at Hanover Central)."

"She's tough," said Wilson.  "Little people bounce back from things quicker than taller people do.  I used to be able to take a lot of fouls. When you're big its tougher to come back as quick.  I asked her if she wanted to come out and she said no.  At least it's the left elbow and not the right."

No one controlled the first half as the Hawks got 12 points from 5-10 senior center Jessica Sheets, who finished with 20 and 12 rebounds. But Kessler scored eight in the first quarter and Flanigan added eight in the second, boosting the Wolves to a 29-24 halftime lead.

Hebron junior guar Cindi Boricich scored seven points in the third quarter, but the Wolves (10-9) were able to answer every rally. In the final periods, despite Hebron's full court man-to-man pressure, Boone was able to pull away, sinking 12 of 15 from the foul line. Junior Brittney Roach was 8-of-8 from the foul line in the second half and Boone was 17 of 21 for the game.

But it was Flanigan who handled the ball and kept it away from the chasing Hebron defense.  Boone is somewhat better with the lead than they were early in the season.  But the game was lost when Hebron chose to play the Boone scoring leader as just another player in the first three quarters, guarding her with one player.  The Boone guard has advanced beyond the point where most players can guard her effectively without help.

"I saw that," Flanigan noted of the single coverage, "and I certainly wasn't going to complain about it."

Hebron played without 5-9 junior forward Courtney Robinson, who was a factor in the Hawks' eight-game winning streak that ended Saturday.  The Hawks got what they wanted out of the tournament when they stopped the 15-game winning streak of regional rival South Central  (15-1) 74-56 in the quarterfinals.  The Hawks will finish with a 12-9 record because the final two games on the Hebron schedule are North Newton and LaCrosse (0-16).  The Hawks had to go home without the title, which would have been Hebron's first PCC crown in four years.

Boone has made a run which has seen the Wolves defeat their top two rivals in sectional nemesis Wheeler and arch-rival Hebron.  Boone also scored a 56-47 win over Hanover Central in the semifinals, a victory over the school that upset Boone in the 2004 PCC tournament. That one game is all that now stands between Boone and three consecutive league titles.

The Wolves will not coast into the playoffs since they play 2A No. 3 North Judson (16-1) on Thursday, Feb. 2.  But the present five-game winning streak was not in sight when Boone fell to 4-8 after the South County tournament in December.

"We had to make some changes," said Wilson, "and I had to make some changes.  It was as much my fault mine as it was theirs.  I had to take different angles with things and had to hold them accountable for things that weren't getting done."

Boone Grove lost the boys final on a last second shot for the second consecutive year, but Boone grad John Steinhilber and his South Central squad, took a dramatic title when the Wolves couldn't get the ball in the final two minutes. With the score tied 33-33 after a slow-paced four quarters, Boone senior will Mitchell was called for traveling in the front court as he twisted his ankle.

With a minute to play, senior Matt Pierce made a steal at mid court but he was called for traveling as he slid on the shiny Boone floor. South Central (10-3) held for a last shot, but SC's 6-4 senior Caleb Kitchell missed a jump shot and Pierce grabbed the rebound. As he tried to call time out, the 6-2 senior was again called for traveling under the Boone basket with three seconds to go.

"The final play was supposed to go to Kitchell, said Steinhilber in the post-game celebration.  

"But Kyle made another choice.  As soon as Jeff got the ball I knew it was going in.  He hits that shot in practice all the time."

Intagliata's shot bounced around the rim so Boone would have no chance for a final desperation reply.

"This same group was 0-20 two years ago," Steinhilber said.  "They worked so hard and I'm proud of them. The pace of this game was slow. We like to get up and down the court.  That's how we got here.  Our games against Morgan Township and Hanover were both up-and-down games."

"We told them tonight that we want to run our offense and in the second half we did that.  We needed an outstanding effort defensively and we got it.  All seven guys who played.  I'm speechless."

"I was here (at Boone Grove) 10 years ago as a junior varsity coach," said an emotional Steinhilber.  "I jumped at this chance. This (SC was the only place I applied.  Same type of kids as Boone.  I know Boone's not as much farm kids anymore, but they're all hard-nosed kids.  They bought into our style.  It seems to be getting better all the time."

Boone Grove, which was denied a 15th PCC title, didn't have much luck down the stretch.

"We tipped the inbounds pass," said coach Matt McKay. "We thought Matt got the time out called (with three seconds left).  We're a half court team.  Especially when you play two games in one day.  Two years in a row on a last second shot.  Bottom line is we're here.  We've been here (in the final game) three years in a row."

"We had a hard road beating two teams, Hebron and Washington Township with double figure win totals.  We didn't play exceptionally well this afternoon.  We thought we'd come back tonight and play better, but we didn't."

"John is one of my ex-coaches so I guess, if we have to lose, its okay to lose to another Boone guy."

PCC NOTES:  Hanover Central's senior forward Eric Gross won the PCC Mental Attitude Award and received the Gold basketball trophy. Gross had 17 in HC's 53-35 quarterfinal win over LaCrosse and he added 17 in the semifinal 57-53 loss to eventual champ South Central.  The award is given to a senior who has an outstanding all-around resume of school and athletic activities.

The South Central victory was a career moment for South Central second year coach John Steinhilber, a 1986 Boone Grove graduate who was intimately familiar with the PCC tournament and the Gold Ball award.

"My dad (Jerry) won the Gold Ball (the Mental attitude Award in 1955).  My brother Gary won one of these (PCC title rings) in 1983.  I've always wanted one of these.  I'm going to cherish it always."

Look for Steinhilber to be at South Central for a long time, just from how he speaks about the situation.

"I have the best job in the state," he said.  "Because I have support. The administration is all behind us."

South central has gone from 0-20 (2004) to 5-16 (2005) and now 10-3.

Attendance was down for the afternoon semifinals at Boone Grove Saturday, with perhaps 1,000 fans in the 2,100-seat Boone Grove gym. But the Saturday night championship games were played before a standing room only crowd. Hebron brought a large crowd and the Hawks were the 'Cheer Block' spirit award winners.  The PCC crown is usually largest when four different schools reach the boys and girls championship games but an overflow crowd watched the Saturday night session even though just three schools were involved.

Coach Candy Wilson said that Boone senior Kara Kessler had to get over the fact that she was the only senior on Boone's team this year and all her older friends had graduated.

"She had to stop living in the past," commented Wilson.  "She's come so far this year. She felt a little isolated and I told her, you can't think that way.  You have to step up and lead this group.  She's started to do that."

Wilson, who played at Chesterton in the early 90s, participated in a two-person pre-game shoot around with Cortney Flanigan before her other players arrived. "I was hitting everything," she said. "I want you to know that."

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Revised: January 25, 2006 .