Lady Bulldogs capture split DAC title with 42-22 win over Hobart
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Saturday,  Feb. 1, 2003 in Crown Point  -  Attendance: 750

HOBART (22)  Kristina Heinecke 0-2-2,  Melissa Plesac 2-1-5, Sarah Bodhaine 1-0-2, Brittany Drobac 1-4-6, Jessica Boyles 1-1-3,  Amy Balchek 2-0-4, Christy Pachelo 0-0-0, Martha Lams 0-0-0, Megan Walczak 0-0-0, Mallorie Medellin 0-0--0.    TOTALS: 7-8-22.

FTS:   8-17, 47.0 percent (Heinecke 2-2, Drobac 4-9, Boyles 1-4)
REBOUNDS: Boyles - 9
STEALS: Plesac - 3
ASSISTS: Walczak - 2
FOULED OUT: Jessica Boyles (4th Q) 3:12 left
3-POINT GOALS (0)

CROWN POINT (42)  Cassie Pruzin 3-3-9, Blayre Reeves 3-1-7, Allison Isailovich 2-0-5, Jill Weiand 1-2-4,  Kaitlyn Sertich 3-0-8, Jen McMullin 0-1-1, Keri Cuculich 0-1-1, Kathleen Fredericks 0-0-0, Jessica Herdt 0-2-2, Missy Cooper 0-2-2, Danielle Brueck 0-1-1, Mallory Michaels 0-0-0, Stephanie Sandilla  0-0-0, Lauren Rhodes 0-0-0, Amy Zondor 1-0-3.    TOTALS: 13-13-42.

FTS: 12-20, 60.0 percent  (Cassie Pruzin 3-4, Danielle Brueck 1-4, Missy Cooper 2-2, Jessica Herdt 2-2, Jill Weiand 2-4, Jen McMullin 1-2, Blayre Reeves 1-2)
REBOUNDS: Jill Weiand 9
ASSISTS:  Cassie Pruzin - 6
STEALS:  Cassie Pruzin - 9
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (3)  Allison Isailovich, Amy Zondor, Kaitlyn Sertich.

CROWN POINT (2-1-2003) -  Hobart was shorthanded and overmatched.  Crown Point had motivation beyond the annual 'Senior's Night', final home game. There wasn't much doubt that the Lady Bulldogs would win their final home game of the season.

And after a season that had seen seven close (10 points or less) losses, Crown Point earned half a championship.  CP's 42-22 victory over Hobart gave the Lady Bulldogs a half-share of the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) championship after Merrillville's upset of first place Valparaiso earlier Saturday afternoon.

"We may have backed into it," said 23-year coach Tom May, "but we should have won it outright because we should have beaten Valparaiso.  And, after that, we had to take care of business (winning all remaining league games) to be in position to tie for first place today."

CP jumped to an 18-4 first quarter lead and then coasted against a Hobart team that was without injured 5-11 junior forward Kelly Glidewell, who had been a significant player most of the year.  Junior guard Megan Walczak, who scored 13 against Lake Central and 17 against North Newton, was shut out by Crown Point.

The second half was almost a practice, it was so controlled.  With CP's 5-7 sophomore guard Cassie Pruzin handling the ball, Hobart (9-11) could not control the pace of the game and with Walczak contained, the visitors' scoring options were limited.

Playing their final DAC game (The Brickies move to the Lake Conference next year), Hobart was held to a season low 22 points by Crown Point's switching defenses.  The Brickies have lost six of their last night games.

It seemed like the CP offense did not have a good night although it was a little hard to tell because the Lady Bulldogs worked on their delay offense for much of the second half.

	"I disagree," said May. "I thought we got off to a very good start. It was 18-4 at the quarter.  We had two plans for tonight.  If Valparaiso won, we were going to play everybody all night on Senior's Night. But if Merrillville beat Valparaiso, we were going to start our regular lineup and go for the league title.  They wanted to go for it."
Tom May visits with Boone Grove coach Candy Wilson at the BG-CP game 12-21-2002.

May will often say he cares little about the regular season but he was very proud of this particular team winning a co-championship in northern Indiana's toughest conference.

"We started two sophomores at guard," the coach explained. "'We have a sophomore and a junior up front. We're playing all these teams with seniors all over the place.  You think about it.  There's not a lot of Duneland Conference championships here (at Crown Point).  Boys golf has won.   Boys basketball got a half a championship a few years ago.  We won the title two years ago. And that's about it."

It was a good night all around for the Lady Bulldogs because of the return of senior Amy Zondor, a 5-7 three-year starter who had missed three games with a painful elbow injury. "I had this problem a year ago, " Amy explained "I had a cortisone shot during the softball season. I started getting sharp pains in my arm. It started to hurt again in volleyball and it just kept getting worse.  I couldn't even shoot a layup.  I could bend it but when I shot the ball I'd get shooting pains in my arm."

CP's Amy Zondor

"I went back to my specialist in Chicago and I got a cortisone shot. My last shot lasted eight months."

Zondor and six other CP seniors played for the final time in the present CPHS, which will be vacated after this season.  Crown Point High School moves to their new 60-million dollar home at the south end of town this fall.  Amy said she was glad her senior year coincided with the end of the present location.  "It's sad," she said of playing for the final time. "I'm glad we're the last class to play here. There's a lot of memories on this floor."

The new gym floor (now completed) at the new Crown Point High School

CP's final home game was another showcase for Pruzin, who is arguably the most skilled player in northwest Indiana.  Cassie sank nine points, passed out six assists, snatched nine steals and squeezed five rebounds.  People who don't see Crown Point very often don't appreciate how much she controls the game, especially now that she's paired with 5-5 sophomore partner Kaitlyn Sertich.

"I like them as starters,"  May said. "I told you at the start of the year that Sertich was our most athletic player. They play very well together and they're both very quick on defense.  Cassie's shooting the ball more and taking her offensive opportunities.  What she does is the way colleges want you to play (at the point guard position).  She realized tonight that the other kids were shooting, too, so she didn't shoot that much."

	"We had a problem for a while there (CP lost four in a row over the holidays) but we've beaten Chesterton, LaPorte and now Hobart.  We played well against Bishop Luers." May isn't that concerned with the season finale at Lake Central.  He's looking towards the playoff and he is optimistic.
CP girls after losing in holiday tournament to Carroll

"They're not in our sectional so it's not like we prepare a lot for them," he said.  "We'll just both go through the motions and play everybody. Tom (Megyesi) and I will say the same thing."

"We're getting a lot more out of a lot more people than we were last year," he said.

CP NOTES:  Cassie Pruzin has 122 steals, 85 assists and an amazingly low 42 turnovers (2.2) in 19 games. No one in this area has that steal to assist to turnover ratio.

All the Crown Point seniors were showered with presents before the game as going-away presents.  The cutest was a large 'Purina-style' Lady Bulldog 'doggie dish' filled with candy. Most of the girls had so many gifts they could hardly carry them out to the car.

All 15 Crown Point varsity players played in the final game with 5-10 sophomore Jill Weiand grabbing nine rebounds.  The game began a little after eight p.m. because CP officials thought the Crown Point newly expanded eight-team wrestling sectional, held earlier Saturday, would run long. But CP's victory over Valparaiso on the mats ended before five p.m.

May called Bishop Luers (16-4), "the best team we've played," which is saying a lot because CP has played Highland (15-2), Carroll (15-3) and Warsaw (18-1).  "They are very solid," he explained. "Tonight (against Hobart) we had a couple of girls we knew wouldn't shoot.  We scouted them and we knew they wouldn't shoot the ball.  Luers doesn't have anybody like that.  They have no weak links."

Hobart's Kelly Glidewell reportedly will be back by the end of sectional week. (Feb. 10-16).

2003 CROWN POINT (12-7, 6-1)
Coach Tom May (23 years -378-128)
Start times are JV starting times

11-15-2002:  74-19 Hebron (6-12)
11-16-2002:  40-47  at Andrean (12-7)
11-22-2002:  55-30 Kankakee Valley (7-12)
11-23-2002:  52-30 at Munster (3-16)
11-29-2002:  42-46 Warsaw  (18-1)
12-3-2002:  34-53 Lowell (10-9)
12-6-2002:  47-28 at PORTAGE (10-9)
12-13-2002:  50-44 MERRILLVILLE (12-7)
12-14-2002:  55-49 at Boone Grove (16-3)
12-21-2002:  41-44 at Valparaiso (12-7)

Lady Bulldog Shootout (with Martinsville, Carroll and Noblesville)
12-28-2002:  40-41 Carroll (15-3)
12-28-2002:  32-40 Martinsville (7-12) 3rd place

1-3-2003:  39-47 at Highland (16-2)
1-4-2003:  62-22 at Hanover Central (6-12)
1-10-2003:  46-44 MICHIGAN CITY (5-13)
1-18-2003:  42-30  CHESTERTON (11-9)
1-24-2003: 69-33 at LaPORTE (3-14)
1-25-2003:  45-43 Bishop Luers (16-4) 
2-1-2003:  42-22 HOBART (9-11)

2-4-2003:  (Tu) at Lake Central (12-7) 6 p.m.

Portage (4A) Sectional
2-11-2003:  (Tu) Quarterfinals  (6 or 8 p.m.)
2-14-2003:  (F) Semifinals  (6 of 8 p.m.)
2-15-2003:  (S) Championship  (7:30 p.m.)

Valparaiso (4A) Regional
2-22-2003:  (S) Semifinals  (11a.m.)
2-22-2003:  (S) Championship  (7 p.m.)

Plymouth (4A) Semistate
3-1-2003:  (S) Semistate championship (TBA)

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .