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Crown Point guard Alex Webster (right) drives past Andrean's
Jamie Gutowski during Saturday's game. (P-T Photo by Leslie Adkins)
CROWN POINT - Crown Point set the tempo right away with its
defensive intensity.
Facing the constant pressure, Andrean hurried shots and never
got into any kind of a rhythm offensively in a 60-35 loss on Saturday night.
"Our defense is not perfect right now, but we like to
play a run and gun style of basketball," Crown Point's Alex Webster
said. "We had a few breakdowns, but everyone is always
hustling. It's great when you see your biggest girl (6-foot-2 Carissa
Triplett) diving all over to get loose balls."
The 59ers (0-1) were limited to only 14 field goals on 14 of
42 shooting. That's not a good scenario when your tallest players are
only 5-foot-9 and rebounding is a challenge.
"It was our first game and I thought we were impatient on
offense," Andrean Coach Ken Markfull said. "We were making
only one pass and putting it up. We need to take some time to let things
develop more."
Webster, who has verbally committed to Southern Mississippi,
has moved to shooting guard this year, replacing Sarah Zondor (DePauw).
Webster's still a point guard at heart, but she scored a game-high 21 points
in her new role.
"I still have a point guard's mentality and skills, but I
am adjusting to more of a scoring role this year," Webster said.
"A lot of our offense revolves around the wings and guards so it's a lot
easier to score now."
Webster knocked down five 3-pointers and shot 47 percent.
"They were running a zone (defense) and we wanted to
bring them out of it to play man-to-man," Webster said. "To do
that, you have to prove you can hit the outside shots."
Triplett dominated inside, scoring 18 points and grabbing
eight rebounds.
"Carissa really was the key for them because we needed to
do a better job of boxing out and she has a lot of quickness underneath,"
Andrean's Jamie Gutowski said. "She and Webster were on fire."
Gutowski, who had knee surgery this summer, said she is
playing at about 95 percent right now, but still needs to get into basketball
shape. Despite that, she scored 14 points.
"I know I'm not going to be at 100 percent for a while so
I am just trying to get comfortable out there again," Gutowski
said. "My knees are killing me right now. I started out all
right but when I got sore and tired, it kind of dropped off."
Meagan Austgen had a very uncharacteristic game, scoring only
two points on free throws for Andrean. The team's second-leading scorer
last season missed all five shots she took.
"She needed to be a little more patient taking shots and
she is a confidence-type of shooter," Markfull said. "When she
hits her first couple shots, she gets confidence and does well the rest of the
game. But she missed a few early and she didn't have that
confidence."
Crown Point (2-0) lost three starters from last season, but
the Bulldogs are already playing in midseason form.
"This is the best team Crown Point's had since they went
downstate (in 1997 and finished state runner-up)," Markfull said.
"They are very impressive and execute everything well. It's going
to be hard for anyone to beat them."
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