November 9, 2001
Crown Point at Hebron

Crown Point 61, Hebron 39

The Lady Bulldogs were chomping at the bit to start the season, and they "let the dogs out" to win their first game of the season in front of a rowdy full house at the Hebron Hawks home court.  Hebron was (and still is) ranked the No. 1 team in 1A, after dropping in enrollment from the 2A ranks.  The Hawks are highly regarded as they did not lose much from last season's semi-state qualifier.  It is quite possible the Hawks might find themselves at Conseco Fieldhouse early in March, but on this night, they had no answer for the deep and active Lady Bulldogs.
  
After the Hebron Hawks scored the first bucket of the game, Crown Point kicked it into high gear with a 19-5 run behind seniors Janel Heneghan and Alex Webster, who combined for 14 of the Bulldogs' 19 first quarter points to take a 3-point lead.  Senior Ashley Plumley also had a good quarter, knocking down CP's first three points and dishing out 2 assists in the frame.

The second quarter was owned by center Carissa Triplett, who pulled down 4 rebounds and blocked 2 shots while scoring 8 points for her team.  The Bulldogs defense was in high-energy mode and CP held Hebron to just 9 points for the quarter.  The backcourt was effective with a smothering perimeter defense, holding Hebron scoring ace Lauren Bechtold to just two field goals in the first half, and the post allowed very little scoring in the paint.  At the break, the Bulldogs had increased their lead from single- to double-digits, 33-22.
   
In the second half, the 'Dogs pulled even further away from the Hawks with some great team play on 7 assisted buckets.  All 14 players for the Bulldogs saw the floor and although Triplett and Webster led the scoring charge, the CP faithful got a good look at what the future holds for the Bulldogs in freshmen Cassie Pruzin and Jill Weiand.  Pruzin played defense toe-to-toe with a Division I guard and swished a trey, while Weiand stepped onto the floor in the fourth quarter to score 7 points in less than 1:30.  Juniors Keri Cuculich and Allison Isailovich also scored in the last few minutes of the game to give the bench a solid 15 points for the night.
   
Official scoring for CP:  Triplett 16 (10r 7b), Webster 15 (4r 2a 2s), Weiand 7 (4r), Plumley 6 (4a), Reeves 5 (5r), Cuculich 4 (4r), Heneghan 4 (5r), Pruzin 2 (3a 2s), Isailovich 2, Rhodes 0 (3r)
 

JUNIOR VARSITY
   
Crown Point 24, Hebron 13
    
The Crown Point Lady Bulldogs opened their Junior Varsity season on Friday, November 9^th with a 24-13 victory over the Lady Hawks of Hebron. Both teams struggled from the floor early and fought to a 4-4 tie at the end of the first quarter. Hebron would take their only lead of the game at 5-4 late in the second period as both teams continued their shooting dry spell.

Hebron would fail to score again until early in the fourth as Crown Point took a 13-5 lead going into the final quarter. A three-pointer by Hebron’s Toni Lindley narrowed the gap to 18-13 with just over two and a half minutes remaining, but it was the last time Hebron would get on the board. Crown Point went to the charity stripe several times down the stretch and scored their final six points from the line to put the game away.

Melissa Cooper, Mary Kvachkoff, Kaitlyn Sertich and Jill Weiand each scored 4 points in the victory for the Lady ‘Dogs.
   
Photos:  (Above) Frosh Jill Weiand tries to interfere with the Hebron pass out of the post.  (Left) Soph Amanda Wirtz tries to score despite the post defense of Hebron.