MERRILLVILLE -- They are called "The Red Team,'' three male students and a couple of well-meaning teachers, and Lowell varsity girls basketball would be lost without them.

It is the duty of Joe Pahnke, Aaron Huber and Mike Bultema -- along with teachers Greg Holderman and John Anderson -- to literally make the girls team see red at practice each day.

"When we compete with them in scrimmages or drills, we have to be quicker, stronger, or they'll jump right over us,'' Lowell center Kelly Schoon was saying during Saturday night's Class 4A Sectional 2 net-cutting ceremonies at Merrillville.

The Red Devils (15-7), winning their school's third sectional title and the first since 1994, eliminated Crown Point 58-51 and will host West Side (19-4) in Tuesday night's Regional 1.

"I think we came in with a little bit more intensity,'' said Schoon, whose 14 points and 11 rebounds backed a superb 18-point effort by sophomore reserve Rachel Wielgos.

"I wanted to play West Side because I know three of their girls from AAU,'' added Schoon. "I think it'll be fun.''

Lowell's first two sectional games here were anything but. The Red Devils came in shooting 37 percent from the field, 53 percent at the line and with 45 turnovers.

A concerned coach Patti McCormack wondered if her team could turn it around quick enough, or would it continue to flop about like a fish out of water? Not to worry. Lowell hit 22 of 27 free throws against CP (10-12), including 16 of 18 in the key fourth quarter.

Sectional finals Saturday's scores CLASS 4A - West Side 66, EC Central 46 - Lowell 58, Crown Point 51 - Valparaiso 55, S.B. Washington 50 CLASS 3A - Griffith 54, Morton 42 - New Prairie 45, Kankakee Valley 32 CLASS 2A - Hanover Central 54, River Forest 42 - North Judson 62, North Newton 59 CLASS A - Kouts 73, Morgan Twp

"I swear to you. We had no doubts when we brought them in this morning,'' McCormack said. "The first thing we addressed was, OK, we hadn't played that well (against Hobart) Friday night, but we got out alive. A lot of teams played 'pretty' and didn't get out.

"We noticed something on Friday which we hadn't seen all season: heads were down, eyes were down, players were moping around. I told them that they'll never win a sectional, or anything in life, doing that.''

Katie Porento and Ginger Keithley provided some needed balance in the championship game with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Keithley hit 7 of 8 foul shots in the final period to keep CP at bay.

"We are a great team when we all work together. And all of us really wanted this,'' Keithley said. "Rachel had a very nice game. She hit everything she took.''

Try 7 of 14 shots, including four 3s.

"I've always seen 'something' in Rachel,'' McCormack noted. "She just needed a little bit of space to shoot and away she went.''

Clutching her piece of net, McCormack didn't know whether to laugh or cry, she was so elated.

"Our kids don't ever stop, even though we had played poorly in two games,'' she said.

Also watching from a distance, proud as could be, was the "Red Team.''

"We go out there to make 'em work hard and help get 'em ready,'' Pahnke said. "They don't give up and you saw that tonight. If anything, they play even harder.

"We don't try to hurt anyone. But if we give 'em a hard foul, they just give us one back.''

Sarah Zondor's 14 points led Crown Point, which shot 23 percent for the game and had 10 of its 24 turnovers in the final period.

* Al Hamnik can be reached at ahamnik@howpubs.com or at (219) 933-4154.

CROWN POINT (51)

Alex Webster 2-13 1-2 7, Sarah Zondor 3-15 7-8 14, Nikki Borys 0-2 0-0 0, Allyson Carnahan 2-5 5-8 9, Erin Plumley 1-5 6-7 8, Laura Warne 0-1 0-0 0, Katie Lemke 3-5 0-0 6, Nicole Smoljan 0-2 0-0 0, La'Kea Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Plumley 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Bernard 2-7 2-3 7, Amy Zondor 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals -- 13-56 21-27 51.

LOWELL (58)

Kelly Schoon 3-9 8-8 14, Ginger Keithley 1-4 8-10 10, Laura Holcomb 0-1 2-2 2, Vanessa Zolmer 1-2 0-0 2, Katie Porento 4-9 3-4 11, Rachel Wielgos 7-14 0-0 18, Eva Slinn 0-0 0-0 0, Jennifer Schulfer 0-0 1-3 1. Totals 16-39 22-27 58.

SCORING BY QUARTERS

Crown Point 10 16 9 16 -- 51

Lowell 12 11 11 25 -- 58