| MERRILLVILLE - Crown Point coach Tom May has
learned a lot of lessons during his highly-successful career. Fortunately for
his Bulldogs, they didn't have to learn one the hard way Tuesday night.
"Hobart has five seniors," May said after his team's 53-37
triumph over the Brickies in the first round of the Class 4A sectional Tuesday
night. "I learned a long time ago that seniors like to go out with a
bang."
Contrary to what the final score indicates, Hobart had its chance to stun
the Bulldogs, but a poor-shooting fourth quarter and the CP guard tandem of
Alex Webster and Sarah Zondor proved too much.
Seventh-ranked Crown Point moves on to meet Lake Central in Friday's first
semifinal. Lake Central took out Lew Wallace, 72-39, in the opener Tuesday.
Lowell and host Merrillville meet in the other semifinal.
"Hobart threw everything at us," May said. "We knew this
would be a tough game. Now, Lake Central will be completely different. We'll
have to be in a totally different frame of mind."
May's frame of mind couldn't have been at ease early in the third quarter.
He saw his top post players, 6-foot-2 Carissa Triplett and 6-foot Nikki
Borys, on the bench with four fouls and fighting back from a seven-point
halftime deficit.
As it turned out, he need not have worried with Webster and Zondor on the
floor. Zondor finished with a game-high 22 points, while Webster added 17. The
two combined to hit 15-of-17 from the free throw line.
"Alex and Sarah stepped up," May said. "Not only did they
score, but they handled the ball well, got it to the right places and played
good defense."
The two helped force Hobart into 21 turnovers and that, combined with an
11-of-40 shooting performance, proved too much.
"For three quarters, things were going our way," Hobart coach
Kristen Peterson said. "It's tournament time and crazy things can
happen."
Lisa Matie led Hobart with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Webster had
eight rebounds to lead Crown Point.
Lake Central 72, Lew Wallace 39
Sophomore Kim Haviar had eight of her game-high 20 points during a 21-2 run
that broke a 17-17 tie. Haviar hit five 3-pointers in the game to lead LC to
its ninth win.
The Indians eventually led by as many as 35 points. "We had a height
advantage, but we didn't take advantage of that until the second half,"
LC coach Tom Megyesi said. "I knew Lew Wallace would be quick and we
needed them to press us. We didn't handle it as well as I thought we
would."
Meighan Tucker added 14 points for LC, while Melissa Fanelli led a 47-31
rebounding advantage with nine.
Keiona McBride led Lew Wallace with 15 points, while Damini Pratt added 10.
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