Walter's 27 leads charge for Lady Wolves, 63-61 over Washington Twp. in PCC Quarterfinal
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

PCC quarterfinal  -   Jan. 20, 2003  at Morgan Township

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (61)  Christi Gladdis 2-10-15, Ashley Taylor 5-4-14, Alisha Polite 4-1-10, Aimee Mishler 2-5-10, Jen Smith 3-4-10, Jackie Curry 1-0-2.  TOTALS: 17-24-61
FTS: 24-31, 77.4 percent  (Gladdis 10-10, Taylor 4-9, Mishler 5-6, Smith 4-4)
TURNOVERS: 17
FOULED OUT: Christi Gladdis (4th Q -  1:14 left)
3-POINT GOALS (3) Christi Gladdis, Alisha Polite, Aimee Mishler.

BOONE GROVE (63)  AJ Puller 2-5-9,  Karissa Walter 11-4-27,   Heather Moy 2-0-4, Jenn Keller 0-0-0, Lani Marsh 0-0-0, Rachel Jenkins 0-0-0, Sara Martinovich 5-0-11, Becky Keller 2-0-4, Danielle Jacobs 3-2-8.  TOTALS: 25-11-63
FTS: 11-19, 57.8 percent  (Walter 4-6, Puller 5-8, Jacobs 2-3)
TURNOVERS: 8
FOULED OUT: none.
3-POINT GOALS (2) Karissa Walter, Sara Martinovich.

MORGAN TOWNSHIP (1-20-2003) - Boone Grove's 63-61 victory over Washington Township in the quarterfinals of the Porter County Conference (PCC) tournament Monday night was every bit as good as their 63-60 loss at 2A No. 9 North Newton on Jan. 7.

Except this time, Boone won.

"We should've beaten Crown Point," coach Candy Wilson of  a 55-49 loss in December. "We should've beaten North Newton." 

"We had our opportunities. This was one game we did win."

And no matter what happens in the rest of the 31st PCC girls championship, Boone Grove won't be able to forget this one. After leading 14-11, and 22-18 in the first half, and after trailing 44-32 with 4:20 left in the third quarter, the Wolves won on the final play of the game.

After Ashley Taylor tied the game on a free throw with 18 seconds to play, Boone inbounded the ball to sophomore point guard Karissa Walter, who took a return pass from sophomore Becky Keller, made a spinning, twisting drive through the foul lane and drove the lane and spun the winning shot up over the rim to give the Wolves their biggest victory in two seasons.

Walter's final shot pushed the Wolves into the 5:30 p.m. Friday semifinals against LaCrosse, a 52-31 victory over Kouts in the other PCC semifinal late Monday.

"She was being guarded," said Walter of Keller, who appeared to be trapped in the corner. "She led me to the ball.  I just took it in.  I just wanted to get a shot off."

"I knew Becky had to help her out.  Becky's a good free throw shooter.  It doesn't bother me with Becky having the ball.  But when Karissa got it back, I felt even better.  I know she's going to create something."

"You don't have to tell her.  We wanted the ball in her hands at the end.  I thought they might go to a zone.  But we knew that if we got it in her hands that she'd either get a basket or get fouled."

The basket ended a game so competitive that, had it been a state final, it would've been hailed as a classic for all time.  Playing in a do-or-die game and trailing by 12, Boone rallied behind their sophomore class.  Walter, Sara Martinovich, Becky Keller and Danielle Jacobs scored 50 of Boone's 63 points, sending a clear message of what the Wolves could do this year and probably will do in the next two seasons.

"Sophomores," said Wilson. "That's why I put that group in at the end.  They are the quickest group we have."

Trailing by 12 and with the Washington rooters in the crowd of about 500 in an uproar, the Wolves scored 12 consecutive points to tie the game.  Martinovich, a 5-6 guard, scored twice on offensive rebounds while Walter, the 5-5 guard scored two baskets and passed out two assists in the three minute rally.

Until then, Washington seemed to have the Wolves stymied, switching between a man-to-man defense and a sagging 3-2 zone that dared Boone Grove to fire away from outside.

As the teams battled evenly in the fourth quarter, the zone eventually squeezed back too deep into the lane, giving up too much penetration by Keller and too many short shots.

"I just told her to shoot the ball," said Wilson. "She was getting to the foul line. She can hit outside shots and those weren't even outside shots."

The bench made the biggest difference.  The Senators, who played poorly in a 72-63 loss at Boone Grove in December, trailing by as many as 20 points, put five players in double figures and made 24 of 31 foul shots.  Backed by a vocal cheering section, Washington Township brought the intensity up to tournament level, creating great drama on the opening night of northwest Indiana's oldest girls basketball tournament.

"I was trying to tell them that it's the flip-flop of us and Hebron last year," said Wilson of the two-time defending PCC champs.  "Everybody wants to beat us.  And you play everybody two or three times like we go.  It gets personal."

"These guys don't get intimidated.  I'll tell you that right now."

For Washington Township, this game has more value than they may realize while watching the rest of the tournament. The Senators' game plan encouraged Boone to go to a weakness, their distance shooting.  The Wolves won with offensive rebounding and depth but Washington probably outplayed them.  The Senators are a 1A team and they won't see anybody as athletic as Boone before the state finals.

"We knew they'd do something different," said Walter, who was carried off the court by her teammates.

Boone Grove, as is their tendency, got into foul trouble early. Starters Jen Keller, Rachel Jenkins and Heather Moy all got two fouls in the first period.

"Did I think it was poor officiating?" asked  Wilson. "No.  But it was closely officiated.  And we haven't had much of that this year.  And when you're used to playing a full-court, man-to-man press and here you're getting little bitty touch fouls."

Boone abandoned their full court press in the second half and frankly, that was a tip-off that it appeared that Washington was going to win. "We dug ourselves a hole at North Newton. We were down by eight at the half and the sophomores brought us back. We're a nine man team now. They played hard the whole game.  And they're quick and they play well under pressure.  Plus  they're used to Karissa and they know what she's going to do."

Walter didn't even know what she was going to do.  She was asked if she'd ever won a game with a last second shot before.

"No, I haven't," she smiled. "It's fun."

PCC NOTES: Washington Township had more fans than Boone and more vocal fans than Boone, which does not have a large fan following for girls basketball.  Washington Township had more fans in the stands Monday than they have kids in their school.

Wilson was asked what she told her girls when they were down 12 points and she called time out.  "I just ripped their heads off," she laughed. "I just wanted to wake them up. Slow them down and make them think about what they were doing."

"She reminded us of how Wheeler beat us here (in the PCC tourney) last year," said Walter.

"Karissa thrives off that.  She plays street ball.  She wants to be challenged.  North Newton and Crown Point were her best games."

BOONE GROVE (14-3, 6-0 PCC)
Coach Candy Wilson (6th year)  39-61 in 5 seasons
JV coach: Stephanie Lytle
Freshman coach: Ben Breuninger
PCC games in CAPS, Home games in bold

11-12-2002: 58-28 at River Forest (3-7)
11-15-2002: 45-34 at Calumet (8-6)
11-16-2002: 71-47 at HEBRON (5-11)
11-22-2002: 62-55 at Knox  (5-10)
11-26-2002:  89-34 LaCROSSE (5-10)
12-2-2002:  57-67 at Kankakee Valley (6-10)
12-6-2002: 79-61 at WHEELER (11-5)
12-12-2002:  63-72 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (11-5)
12-14-2002:  49-55  CROWN POINT (10-6) 
12-17-2002:  82-33 KOUTS (3-13) 
12-19-2002:  85-42 at MORGAN TOWNSHIP (2-14)

South County Tournament  (at Boone Grove)
1-3-2003: 61-35 Hebron (5-11)
1-4-2003:  73-31 Kouts (3-13)  title
1-7-2003:   60-63 at North Newton (12-3)
1-9-2003:  84-45  SOUTH CENTRAL (8-9)
1-15-2003: 94-14 Lake Station (0-13)

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament  (at Morgan Township)
1-20-2003:  63-61 Washington Township (11-5)
1-24-2003:  (F) semifinals (6 or 8 p.m.)
1-25-2003:  6 p.m. (championship)  at Boone Grove

1-30-2003:  (Th) HANOVER CENTRAL  (6-10) 6 p.m.
2-6-2003:  (F) at North Judson (9-6) 5 p.m.

Rensselaer (2A) Sectional
2-11-2003:  (Tu) Quarterfinals  (6 p.m.)
2-14-2003:  (F) Semifinals  (6 p.m.)
2-15-2003:  (S) Championship (7:30 p.m.)

North Judson (2A) Regional
2-22-2003:  (S) Semifinals  (11 a.m.)
2-22-2003:  (S) Championship  (7 p.m.)

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .