Crown Point vs. Andrean

Junior Sarah Zondor brings the ball up the perimeter, looking for the
open play, while senior Erin Plumley posts up her defender near the paint.

Crown Point 40
Andrean 37
The Lady Bulldogs put on a defensive show in the first half of this much-anticipated matchup, holding the Andrean 59ers to just 12 points, but almost losing the lead near the end to make an unwanted thriller out of it.

Soph Alex Webster set the tone early with a trey to start the scoring for CP.  The first quarter saw near-even scoring for both teams, aided by a technical foul on Andrean for an improper uniform number in the score book.  Junior freethrow ace Sarah Zondor took advantage, knocking down both charity attempts to put CP up by one at the end of the first.

The second quarter was the difference in the game, as Crown Point held Andrean to just 2 points for the quarter with a tenacious defensive effort that forced Andrean to take poor shots.  Post players Nikki Borys and Nicole Smoljan each dropped in a bucket, as did Zondor.  Webster gave her team an emotional lift heading into the half when she stepped in for a steal at half court and went in hard for the layup just as the buzzer sounded to end the half to put CP up by 10. 

The Dogs picked up where they left off early in the second half with a drive by Webster just 10 seconds in, to get the bucket and a foul.  Then Zondor went to work, scoring 6 of her game-high 11 points.  Senior Allyson Carnahan and junior Laura Warne also kept it going with a jumper apiece to round out the scoring in the third.  Andrean kept pace, picking up their offense, but CP still maintained the lead by 9 heading into the final quarter.

The fourth was almost the Bulldogs' undoing as they could not connect on easy shots and made fatigue turnovers.  As the CP lead dwindled and the clock ticked down, the 59ers tried to save precious time and put senior Katie Lemke on the line with :24 to go. She calmly knocked down the first of a 1-and-1 to put CP up by 6.  With 9 seconds left, Andrean senior Erin Furman marked up a trey to pull the 59ers within 3.  CP was fouled again by Andrean, but could not connect, leaving an opportunity for the 59ers to tie with a trey.  A shot got off, but hit the rim and Borys pulled down a monster rebound to assure the win as time ran out.  

Defense was the key in this game.  Andrean's scoring threat, Gutowski, was held to 7 points on relentless defense by Webster and Warne.  Borys swept the boards for 9 rebounds, taking away most of Andrean's opportunity for putbacks.  Borys, Carnahan and Webster combined for 6 blocks, and Webster and junior Amanda Bernard combined for 9 steals.

Leading scorer for CP was Sarah Zondor with 11, and Tracy Simon for Andrean with 9.

Crown Point:  Zondor 11 (6 reb), Webster 10 (5 stls, 6 asts, 2 blks) Borys 6 (9 reb, 2 blks), Carnahan 4 (2 blks, 2 asts), Warne 4, Smoljan 4, Lemke 1, Bernard (4 stls)

Crown Point 35, Andrean 32 (2 OT)
In the JV contest, the young and inexperienced Bulldogs had a fantastic first win in double overtime for first-year JV coach Mike Malaski, with clutch shots by sophomore Stephanie Swanson and freshmen Amy Zondor and Keri Cuculich.  This team will only get better as the season progresses.