PCC, DAC girls titles still up for grabs
Keith Nuest Porter County basketball column
Published 02/01/99 11:35:01 PM

BY KEITH NUEST
Times Correspondent

The race is on in both the Duneland Athletic Conference and Porter County Conference, with as many as three teams still alive in each league as stretch time arrives.

In the DAC, Chesterton, Valparaiso and Portage are all at 5-1 with just one game remaining for each team. The biggie comes Thursday when the Trojans travel to play the Indians, while Valpo still has Crown Point left. If Valpo wins against the Bulldogs, it will share the title with either Portage or Chesterton.

In the PCC, Kouts is 6-0, Morgan Twp. is 4-0 and Hanover Central, which won the tournament title, is 5-1. Morgan still has to play both the Fillies and the Wildcats, as well as Washington Twp. There are several interesting scenarios lurking -- including a three-way tie, a two-way tie, and outright titles for either the Cherokees or Kouts.

Team Highlights

* SATELLITES WIN CLASSIC: The South Central girls went into this year's Mid-Winter Classic on a nine-game losing streak and came out with its eighth title in the 22 years the tourney has been played. The Satellites' last title came in 1995.
The 4-14 Satellites beat Washington Twp. 54-39 in the semifinals and defeated Westville 43-32 in the title game. It was South Central's 15th straight win over the Blackhawks and it now holds a 32-5 record in the series.
Junior Amber Oneal, averaging just 4.7 points per game entering, broke loose for a career-high 13 against the Senators and followed that up with 12 points against Westville to earn MVP honors.

* Kouts: The Fillies beat Wheeler 37-36 for their ninth win in the last 11 games. They lead the series with the Bearcats 30-4, although Wheeler had won the last two. Kouts is now 10-4 overall.

* Morgan Twp.: The Cherokees, without the services of standout junior Jody Lackey for the remainder of the year, responded with a pair of wins over Whiting (50-35) and Gavit (52-50, OT). They have now won nine of their last 10 games and stand at 10-5 overall. Junior Kim McGinley stepped up her game in Lackey's absence with 21 points against Whiting and 19 more against Gavit. Senior forward Jordan Mills scored 16 points in the two games to move over the 400 mark for her career to 414. She is the 20th girl in Cherokee history to score as many as 400 points.

* Valparaiso: Senior Jeanette Gray, with eight points in the 33-18 win over Hobart, moved into a tie with 1994 grad Jennifer Sliwa into fourth place on the county scoring list. The 16-1 Vikings are now 24-1 in the series with the Brickies.

* Chesterton: The Trojans scored a big 34-27 win over Crown Point to stay alive in the DAC race. The win improved their record to 12-5 and it was their fifth straight win. They have allowed just 27.4 points per game during the win streak and have held nine opponents under the 40-point mark this year.

* Westville: The Blackhawks defeated LaCrosse 36-32 in the opening round of the Mid-Winter Classic for their fifth straight win. However, the streak was snapped with the loss to South Central in the title game. This was the first time Westville has reached the finals since they won the tournament in 1991. Senior Crista Bulger scored 16 points in the tourney to move into fifth place on the Westville scoring list.

* Portage: Playing without senior Erin Jedlikowski, the Indians still beat LaPorte 57-41 to improve to 13-4. Junior Michele Pickering led the way with 15 points. She has averaged 13.0 her last five games. The Indians lead the series 15-7 and have won three in a row.

* Wheeler: Senior guard Alexia Karamanis recorded a personal-best 11 points in the loss to Kouts. Nine of them came on 3-pointers.

* Hanover Central: The Wildcats extended their winning streak to 12 games with wins over Kankakee Valley (59-52) and Boone Grove (67-34). They are now 16-3 for the season. Junior Christy Haduch scored 15 points against Boone to move over the 300 mark to 301. Junior Melanie Brumbaugh has averaged 19.6 points per game in her last eight games. Hanover leads the series with Boone 20-14 and has won five straight.

* Boone Grove: The Wolves' loss to Hanover dropped them to 4-12. Junior Jen Dykiel has averaged 14.8 points per game over her last four games and freshman Kim Sliwa has averaged 14.0 her last 10 games.

* LaCrosse: The Tigers rewarded coach Bill Drook with a 60-51 double-overtime win over Washington Twp. in the consolation game of the Mid-Winter Classic in what was his 200th game as head coach. The win also snapped a six-game losing streak. Junior Allison Swanson scored a career-high 12 points in the game. Junior Kylene Rosenbaum had a personal-best 13 points in the Tigers' 36-28 loss to Whiting.

* Washington Twp.: Washington's string of three consecutive Mid-Winter Classic titles came to an end with the Senators finishing last this time around. Freshman Ashleigh Griechen scored a career-high 13 points in the double-OT loss to LaCrosse.

* Hebron: The Hawks slipped to 3-10 with a 62-35 loss to Griffith. This was the 10th meeting between the two schools -- Hebron won the first eight and Griffith has taken the last two. The last time a Hawk team was worse than 3-10 was in the 1988-89 season when it went 1-16.

Porter County Girls scoring leaders
Player, School G TP Avg.

Erica Martin, Kouts 14 317 22.6
Jeanette Gray, Valparaiso 17 320 18.8
Jackie Campbell, Chesterton 17 312 18.4
Andrea Walker, Wheeler 17 295 17.4
Melanie Brumbaugh, Hanover Central 19 290 15.3
Lindsey Schultz, Wheeler 16 225 14.1
Jody Lackey, Morgan Twp. 13 182 14.0
Kim McGinley, Morgan Twp. 15 209 13.9
Natalie Yudt, Portage 17 227 13.4
Erin Jedlikowski, Portage 16 208 13.0
Crista Bulger, Westville 15 191 12.7
Michelle Armstrong, Hebron 13 164 12.6
Christy Koby, Hanover Central 19 229 12.1
Megan Hefner, Morgan Twp. 15 177 11.8
Kim Sliwa, Boone Grove 16 178 11.1
Jordan Mills, Morgan Twp. 14 153 10.9
Jen Dykiel, Boone Grove 13 139 10.7
Crystal Estanovich, Washington Twp. 13 139 10.7
Tammy Boersma, Hanover Central 19 199 10.5
Bridget Schwoegler, Chesterton 17 176 10.4
Jacque Drubert, Westville 15 150 10.0
Christy Poparad, Chesterton 17 168 9.9
Courtney Rosenbaum, Valparaiso 17 164 9.6
Michele Pickering, Portage 17 162 9.5
Tarah Kitchell, South Central 17 158 9.3
Mary Gonzales, Kouts 13 115 8.8
Hannah Herrold, South Central 18 159 8.8
Erin Sampsel, Valparaiso 17 145 8.5
Anita Seidelman, Westville 15 121 8.1