G: Valparaiso 39, Crown Point 37

* The Vikings outscored the Bulldogs 12-2 in the last 5:33.

CROWN POINT -- When his team broke the huddle with 49.5 seconds remaining, Greg Kirby told his players he wanted them to look for a good shot.

When Lauren Hutton immediately launched the team's 13th 3-pointer of the night, following 12 misses, he probably figured that wasn't it.

Until it dropped through the bottom of the net.

Hutton's trey from the corner with 46.8 seconds remaining capped a remarkable comeback over a frenetic fourth quarter as Times No. 4 Valparaiso stunned No. 2 Crown Point 39-37 at the Russ Keller Athletic Center to grab the upper hand in the race for the Duneland Athletic Conference title.

The Vikings (8-1, 3-0 DAC) trailed 35-27 with 5:33 to play, but held the Bulldogs (7-3, 2-1) scoreless until Alex Webster's 18-footer at the buzzer. Trailing 35-29 with just over a minute to play, Valpo got a 15-footer from senior Kelly Compton then a lay-up from Brooke McAfee to cut the deficit to 35-33.

McAfee was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. Isailovich grabbed the rebound but was tied up by Compton, forcing a jump ball and giving possession to Valpo with 49.5 to play.

"He told us if we were open, to take the shot. I was wide open, so I took it," said Hutton of her only make from the floor in three attempts. "You try not to think of all the previous misses, because then you'll just keep missing.

"I just kept thinking, 'I'll make it.' "

From there, Webster missed the front end of a one-and-one with 40.9 seconds remaining, but Cassie Pruzin stripped Compton of the ball. The resulting scrum on the floor led to the Bulldogs regaining possession, but Webster dribbled straight into Compton on the baseline, fell down and was whistled for traveling with 31.2 seconds to go.

Isailovich then fouled Hutton, who hit the first and missed the second. McAfee grabbed the offensive board and was fouled. The senior center stepped to the line and drilled the pair to give Valpo a 39-35 lead with 22.5 seconds to play.

"I was pretty impressed by the way we came back," said Valpo coach Greg Kirby, whose team has now won eight straight. "That little sophomore -- didn't she hit a big shot for us?

"I think this can be a turning point in our season. I thought that before we came here. We haven't really established the level of confidence we needed to play in a game like this. We beat a good team in a tough place to play."

Crown Point coach Tom May was unavailable for comment after the game. His Bulldogs hurt their cause by going 0 for 5 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 0 for 6 for the game.

CP had possession and a 35-29 lead with 3:41 to play when May called timeout to set up the stretch run.

"At 3:41, Kirby said their heart and will was overpowering ours," Compton said. "The only way we could win was to get our hearts back into it and play as hard as we could for the rest of the game."

Compton led the Vikings with 15 points, four assists and four steals while McAfee added 12 points and seven boards. Webster led all scorers with 19 points and also had eight steals and four assists.

Valpo led 8-4 after the first quarter but trailed for the majority of the game after that.

"There were two or three times where we could have just chalked it up," Kirby said

Sean P. Hayden can be reached at hayden@howpubs.com or (219) 462-5151, Ext. 362.

VALPARAISO (39)

Lauren Hutton 1-3 1-1 4, Brittany Landreth 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke McAfee 5-8 2-5 12, Megan Diaz 2-13 0-0 4, Kelly Compton 5-7 5-6 15, Erica Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Cassie Kerns 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Hutton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals -- 15-38 8-12 39.

CROWN POINT (37)

Cassie Pruzin 1-3 0-0 2, Alex Webster 8-18 0-2 19, Blayre Reeves 1-4 0-0 2, Janel Heneghan 2-4 0-1 4, Carissa Triplett 5-9 0-0 10, Ashley Plumley 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Isailovich 1-1 0-3 2, Amy Zondor 0-0 0-0 0, Jill Weiand 0-0 0-0 0, Keri Cuculich 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 18-40 0-6 37.

SCORING BY QUARTERS

Valparaiso 8 6 13 12 -- 39

Crown Point 4 15 12 6 -- 37

3-point field goals: L. Hutton (V); Webster 1 (CP). Rebound leaders: McAfee 6 (V); Triplett, Webster 5 (CP). Assist leaders: Compton 4 (V); Webster 4 (CP). Steal leaders: Compton 4 (V); Webster 8 (CP). Team fouls: Valparaiso 15, Crown Point 13. Fouled out: Landreth; Heneghan. JV score: Valparaiso 41, Crown Point 29.