VALPARAISO - Usually, teams coming to Valparaiso tend to be a little
intimidated.
Crown Point has never been one of those teams and it showed on Saturday
afternoon in the 46-35 Duneland Conference victory over the Class 4A No. 8
Vikings.
"I think most teams come in and think Valparaiso is just better, but
our kids don't believe that," Crown Point Coach Tom May said.
"And I think it is because of our tradition. We have two state
titles (1984 and 1985) and there are none here."
"In the first half, we played back on our heels and weren't attacking
on offense. But I thought our attitude changed in the second half."
Coach Greg Kirby said his Vikings (6-2, 2-1 DAC) were tentative and let the
Bulldogs (8-1, 3-0 DAC) control the tempo.
"The bottom line is they're just a much better team right now and I
don't think there was any aspect in which they didn't outplay us," he
said. "We came out too hyped up. I'm not sure why.
Their press just dictated our offensive flow."
The Bulldogs forced 13 turnovers, most off the press, and dominated the
boards.
"We didn't handle the press well at all and turned it over too
much," Kirby said. "They killed us on the boards and played
great defense."
"The Class 4A No. 8 Bulldogs took away Valpo's inside game as 6-foot-1
Carissa Triplett stood her ground against the region's most-talented post
tandem, Courtney Rosenbaum and Lee Traynham.
"I was proud Carissa played that well," May said. "We
took away the inside game and we knew it would be the key. Courtney hit
some big shots, but she is just a very talented player. At least, we
forced her to take them outside the paint."
"It was a game of imposing wills because they had to beat us outside
and I didn't think they could."
May switched his offense in the second half and that opened it up for
Triplett, who scored 11 points.
"We ran an open post offense in the second half because we wanted her
to have the ball," May said.
"I felt Valparaiso could not front her. Even when they got
backside help defensively on her, Carissa was too strong to stop."
Rosenbaum has showed her mid-range shooting touch all year and she is just
a more versatile player. She showcased that in this game as she scored a
game-high 21 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Only four other Vikings
scored and none scored more than four points.
"That was the one positive of the game," Kirby said.
"Courtney just played great. We were begging for someone else to shoot
the ball, but no one stepped forward."
Crown Point's Sarah Zondor kept her team ahead in the first half for a
21-16 halftime lead. She had 11 of the 21 points.
"Sarah got us that lead, but they were doubling down on her during the
second half," May said. "She was more of a decoy in the second
half and opened things up for her teammates. We needed some players to
step up and they did."
The Bulldogs had a 28-24 lead to start the fourth quarter, and guard Alex
Webster just took over. She had 12 of her 15 points in the final quarter
to break open the contest.
"I am extremely hard on her, but I give her free-lancing
ability," said May. "She can create shots and she drove the
lane well."
Like it normally does, Valparaiso played disciplined defense against Crown
Point and that kept the Vikings in the game in the first half.
"Valparaiso is the best defensive team we've played this season and we
played afraid in the first half," May said.
"Our defense did a great job in the first half, but our offense did
nothing. We felt fortunate to be ahead at halftime and we talked to them
about being more aggressive. They just decided to step it up."
Although May said this victory doesn't put his team in the driver's seat
for the DAC title, ti does after having already beaten Portage on Dec.
1. It has four DAC games left, but only LaPorte could potentially pull
of an upset. Crown Point has never won a DAC title.
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