ST. JOHN - Crown Point and Lake Central both showed patience on offense
Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs came away with a 55-37 victory.
Using a full-court press to start the game, Crown Point (9-1) jumped out to
a 10-2 lead. The Bulldogs caused four Indian turnovers in the first four
minutes, including three steals by Amanda Bernard.
Facing a nine-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, LC (5-5) was
first to use a patient offense to find good shots.
The Indians went on a 14-4 run to start the second quarter to take a 22-21
lead with 3:30 left in the half. The run included three 3-pointers by Kim
Haviar, who finished with 16 points.
"People say that LC is down this year, but Coach (Tom) Megyesi has
them on the right track," said Crown Point coach Tom May. "They are
extremely athletic with several multi-faceted players. There are three or four
shooters on their team that you can't leave open."
The Bulldogs came out in the second half with a change on defense. Instead
of the press, they used a more aggressive one-on-one defense to pressure LC.
The plan worked as Sarah Zondor opened the half with a steal on the Indians
first possession and a resulting lay-up.
She had three steals and nine points in the period.
"I felt like we weren't doing as well on defense as we could have in
the first half," Zondor said. "We tried to cut off the passing lanes
more in the second half."
The Bulldogs also copied the patience that LC had in the second quarter as
Zondor and Ashley Plumley methodically passed the ball around until they found
a good shot.
Crown Point had 14 steals as a team, including four by Zondor, and caused
18 turnovers by Lake Central.
"We had to play smarter in the second half," May said. "The
purpose of the press is to force quick, bad shots, but they were hitting them.
So we had to quit trapping.
"We're much better now than at the beginning of the season. We've had
some brain-dead sessions, but they are getting less and less."
Besides Zondor's 19 points, Alex Webster had 15 for the Bulldogs while
Nikki Borys added 10.
Kim Haviar had 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead the Indians.
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