Hebron's hustle overcomes Lady Cats' quickness, 56-55 in PCC Quarterfinal
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

PCC Quarterfinal  -  Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003

HEBRON (56)  Justine Duck 6-6-18, Heidi Freund 4-1-9, Stephanie Alsop 1-0-2, Liz Zurawik 1-1-3, Toni Lindley 3-7-14,  Kasey Harper 0-0-0, Renee Passine 4-2-10.   TOTALS: 19-17-56

FTS: 17-32,  53.1 percent (Lindley 7-12, Duck 6-9, Passine 2-3)
REBOUNDS:  Renee Passine 17,  Justine Duck 13
STEALS: Kasey Harper - 2
TURNOVERS: 25
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (1) Toni Lindley

HANOVER CENTRAL (55)  Jill McElmurry 4-5-14, Melissa Braner 0-2-2, Karrah Adam 2-3-7, Amanda Wendlinger 1-2-4, Alisha Staley 2-0-4, Christie Wick 6-0-12, Sarah Csikos 0-0-0, Krysta Rickey 3-1-7, Katie Burke 0-0-0, Bess Copak 2-0-4.   TOTALS: 20-13-55


FTS: 13-17, 70.7 percent (Adam 3-3, Wendlinger 2-2, McElmurry 5-6
TURNOVERS: 17
FOULED OUT: Bess Copak (4th Q - 3:52 left),  Jill McElmurry (4th Q - :43 left)
3-POINT GOALS (2) Jill McElmurry, Christie Wick.

MORGAN TOWNSHIP (1-22-2003) -  Night two of the Porter County Conference girls tournament produced another last minute drama.

After Boone Grove's 63-61 victory in the first quarterfinal game, Hebron's scrambling, hustling effort overcame Hanover's full court quickness 56-55 in a Tuesday night first round match of young, mirror image teams in front of a vocal crowd of about 500 partisans in the bright, shiny Morgan Township gymnasium.

This was another roller coaster game with a big finish. Hebron (6-11) led 8-0 in the early going but a 15-5 Hanover run put the Lady Cats (6-11) back in front.  Hebron began to pull away late in the third quarter and had a 50-43 advantage with 4:30 to go. But Hanover again rallied to go ahead when sophomore Amanda Wendlinger tipped a Hebron pass to junior Karrah Adam who fed freshman Krytsa Rickey for a layup and a 52-50 lead with 1:45 left.

But Hebron's junior forward Justine Duck made an almost impossible jump hook to tie the game with 1:03 left and Duck, who almost never played during Hebron's state finals run last season. Then things got frantic.

After a HC miss and a Hebron turnover, Hanover's Wendlinger broke away fro the Hebron defense but miss a left-handed layup. The Lady Cats forced a turnover but Wendlinger missed a10-foot jump shot off the right baseline.
Freshman Hebron starting guard Heidi Freund split two foul shots with 16 seconds to play but Wendlinger's bounce pass freed up Adam for a layup to cut the lead to 56-55 with four seconds to play.

Freund, who has improved dramatically in her on-the-job-training freshman season, simply stood out of bounds as the clock ran out. Hanover forgot they had a time out remaining and did not stop the clock.

"I forgot," said HC coach Chris York. "We could have made them in-bound the ball. That's my mistake.  But they outhustled us. I was worried about that. We beat them, before (60-45 in Cedar Lake seven weeks ago) and maybe that had something to do with this."

"We didn't play defense until the last three minutes. Then we played really hard. But  we didn't do it before that.  Maybe I'm being too nice to them. Maybe I'm not pushing them hard enough."

Hebron coach Jerry Bechtold had to wonder if his efforts were going to be rewarded when his all-new Hawks were 0-9 at the first of the year.

"We did it tonight without our best outside shooter," said Bechtold, who has lost Lauren Kalis with a knee injury that has yet to be defined. "We've beaten Hammond high and we've beaten West Central. They're a sectional team. Renee (Passine) stepped up and played Toni (Lindley) stepped up and played. We've got a freshman point guard but all the other girls are actually freshman (experience-wise) too."

Hebron wins because they are aggressive and physical and most girls teams aren't. Hanover Central's only true inside players are 5-8 Katie Burke, who is slowed by knee trouble and 5-5 Bess Copak who is, well, 5-foot-5.  The Hawks killed Hanover on the boards with Passine, a 5-9 sophomore who scored only 10 but grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds. Duck, a 5-8 red-haired girl, who had nothing more than a nice smile last season, was actually called for a flagrant foul, swinging her elbows after one of her 12 rebounds.

"I didn't think some of these girls could play for me," smiled Bechtold, who demands toughness on the floor.  But they're proving they can."

This second consecutive first-round quarterfinal PCC loss to Hebron was very disappointing to the Lady Cats, who had beaten Hammond high (9-5) and played well in losses to Washington Township (11-5) and Calumet (9-5).  The problem with losing in the quarterfinals of the PCC is that you get the rest of the week off to think about it.

Hanover got 13 points from Christie Wick and 13 from top scorer Jill McElmurry, who was the focus of the Hebron defense. Point guard Krysta Rickey appears to be improving and Karrah Adam scored all seven of her points in the second half but Hanover is 6-11 with Boone Grove (14-3) next.

2003 HANOVER CENTRAL (6-11)
Coach Chris York  (1 year  -  8-12)
PCC games in CAPS, Home games in bold -  Start times are junior varsity starting times
11-12-2002:  43-51  at Gavit (7-9)
11-22-2002:  39-40   WHEELER (12-5)
11-27-2002:  34-49 at Lowell (9-7)
12-6-2002:  60-45 HEBRON (6-11)
12-7-2002:  68-53 KOUTS (3-13)
12-14-2002:  59-37 at LaCROSSE  (6-10)
12-17-2002:  38-79  North Newton (13-4)
12-19-2002:  47-33 River Forest (5-10)

Momence Holiday Tournament  (Momence, Ill.)
12-27-2002:  39-53  at Momence (15-1) quarterfinals
12-28-2002:  55-58 South Newton (8-6)
12-28-2002:  55-52  Watseka (5-10) 7th place

1-4-2003:  22-62 Crown Point  (10-6)
1-9-2003:  37-50 at Calumet (9-5)
1-11-2003:  41-48 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (11-5)
1-18-2003:  57-61 Kankakee Valley  (6-10)

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament
1-20-2003:  55-56 Hebron (6-11)  quarterfinals

1-30-2003:  (Th) at BOONE GROVE (14-3)
2-3-2003:  IHSAA state tournament draw 
2-4-2003:  (Tu) at Momence, IL  (15-1)
2-8-2003:  (S) at MORGAN TOWNSHIP (4-12)

Boone Grove (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 .