After two very strong opening wins against two state-ranked teams the previous weekend, the Lady Bulldogs came out in a lower gear against upset-minded Munster. The Mustangs had just shot down state-ranked Highland the night before, and now Crown Point was in their crosshairs. Although the 'Dogs came out flat in the first quarter, they made up for it the remainder of the game to pull out a good win against a determined rival.

Crown Point opened the scoring on an Ashley Plumley bucket, which began toe-to-toe scoring between CP and Munster for the first four minutes of the game. But some clutch three-pointers by the Mustangs, who simply weren't missing any shots in the first quarter, and a dry spell by the Bulldogs, who couldn't seem to hit anything, saw CP fall behind 12-17 at the end of the quarter.

Things didn't look too good when Munster opened the scoring in the first minute of the second quarter, but the Bulldogs received a spark off the bench when frosh Cassie Pruzin picked off a steal and scored five straight points, followed by an Alex Webster bucket to tie it up about two minutes in. More even-up scoring had the quarter nearly even at 30-32 with about 15 seconds to go, when Plumley scored a trey off a Webster assist and then scored again on a steal and layup on the ensuing Munster inbounds play to put her team up 35-32 at the half.

After the break, the Bulldogs came out with more intensity and created havoc for Munster, with 7 steals and 3 forced turnovers to disrupt the Mustang offense, resulting in a 12-6 quarter run. Some solid scoring by Pruzin (5), Webster (4) and soph Blayre Reeves (3) accounted for a more comfortable 47-38 lead at the end of the third.

In the final quarter, Crown Point opened up another defensive onslaught when Webster stole the ball and went full court for a layup to start the final scoring stanza. With some solid defense and 6 more steals, the Bulldogs built their lead to as much as 14 points behind the play of senior Janel Heneghan (5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal for the quarter) before Munster scored in the last 15 seconds to result in the 61-49 win for Crown Point.

The Bulldogs next face long-time opponent Warsaw the day after Thanksgiving on the road. Warsaw is currently ranked No.19 in the 4A ICGSA Poll and rated No. 12 in the Sagarin Ratings. Crown Point is ranked No. 13 in the ICGSA Poll and rated No. 7 in Sagarin. According to Sagarin's formula, the Bulldogs would be picked to lose this game by about one point, with Warsaw getting a 3-point boost for home court advantage. A win at Warsaw would be a good one for Crown Point. Hope our Lady Bulldogs don't eat too much turkey on Thursday!!!

Official scoring for CP: Webster 17 (6r 5s 3a 1b), Pruzin 13 (6s 4r 2a), Plumley 8 (3s), Heneghan 7 (5r 4s), Reeves 6 (3r), Triplett 5 (5r 2b), Swanson 5 (4r)

Crown Point 42, Munster 25 – Kaitlyn Sertich scored 14 points and Teresa Kaminski added 8 as the Crown Point Lady Bulldog’s Junior Varsity (2-1) picked up their second win of the season over the Lady Mustangs of Munster.

Crown Point captured a 26-10 rebounding advantage to counter a solid shooting effort from the Lady Mustangs. After grappling to a 9-7 first quarter Crown Point lead, Sertich would score half of her evening point total in the second quarter, lifting the Lady ‘Dogs to a 23-15 halftime lead.

The pace slowed dramatically in the third as neither team could ignite an offensive threat. The ‘Dogs came away with a 3-2 advantage in the period to hold a 9 point lead going into the fourth quarter.

Munster drew to within eight points at the 2:47 mark, but a pair of baskets by Kaminski and Jill Weiand spelled the beginning of the end for Munster. The Lady Bulldogs put the game away down the stretch with a solid defensive effort, keeping Munster off the scoreboard for the final two and a half minutes.

Photos: (Top) Jill Weiand and Stephanie Sandilla await the opportunity for the offensive rebound.
(Right) Teresa Kaminski scores on a layup in the first half. (Photos by Bob Strempka)