LAPORTE GIRL'S BASKETBALL
1999-2000
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Latest Slicer Basketball NEWS!
LaPorte girls run past Concord for first win of season
By: Earl Mishler
The LaPorte Herald-Argus
LaPorte's exciting new go-go Slicers claimed their first victim of the young girls basketball season Saturday night in Slicer Gym.
The running and pressing LaPorte team forced visiting Concord into 30 turnovers - a remarkable 22 of them on steals - en route to a 63-47 victory that was the first in the career of new head coach Greg Samuelson.
Sophomore center Katie Beckman scored all 10 of her points in the third quarter, which began with a 16-2 LP run that turned a 30-24 halftime lead into margins that reached as many as 20 points.
Bouncing back from Friday's season-opening loss at New Prairie, the Slicers cut their own turnover total from 27 to 17 and, although still guilty of far too many personal fouls (24), did better in that category in the second half.
"I was happy with the way we adjusted in the second half, committing only 10 fouls after 14 in the first half," Samuelson said. "Eventually, we're going to learn not to reach in, while still being aggressive."
And aggressive indeed were the Slicers, who paid a whimsical tribute to their new coach by wearing bow ties - Samuelson's favorite neckwear - during their pregame warm-up period.
LaPorte never trailed, frequently beating the Minutemen downcourt en route to first-half leads of 15-5 and 29-17. Senior forward Laura Mumma scored 11 of her team-high 15 points before intermission.
And after the Elkhart County club had cut the lead to six at the break, the 6-foot Beckman took command.
"Beckman had a great spurt, just a great spurt," Samuelson said of the lanky sophomore, who finished with 10 points, six steals and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Another LP sophomore, guard Krysti Havens, came up with eight steals to go with eight points, while junior point guard Brooke Reed had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Mumma grabbed six rebounds, too.
"We were able to get nice contributions from a lot of players," Samuelson said. "Jackie (Woodrow) gave us a big lift and hit a 3-pointer and Kristen Harrow did a lot of good things in there."
Concord was playing without star senior Jaime Hershberger, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during a preseason scrimmage earlier in the week.
"I know their star player was out, but I think we would have given them trouble even if she had played," Samuelson said. "I know our press gave them a lot of trouble."
The Minutemen, who were playing their season opener, got a game-high 21 points from senior guard Rebecca Stewart.
Concord coach Lyle Gaff is a brother of former New Prairie assistant boys coach Doug Gaff and of longtime Kouts boys coach Marty Gaff.
Concord is a Class 4A school located in Dunlap on the southern edge of Elkhart. Its most well-known basketball product is NBA superstar Shawn Kemp, a 1988 CHS graduate.
LaPorte will have another double-duty weekend this week, hosting South Bend Clay on Friday night and visiting new sectional rival South Bend Washington on Saturday night.
Coach Larry Patterson's LaPorte jayvees also evened their record by smoking Concord 49-22. The Slicers held their guests scoreless in the third quarter, shot 51 percent from the floor and got scoring from 10 different players.
Freshman Aimee Menne led the way with 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Betsy Spoor had five assists and four steals and sophomore Sarah Valatka was high with five rebounds.
New Prairie girls take season-opening hoops contest over LP
By: Earl Mishler
The LaPorte Herald-Argus
NEW CARLISLE — Before Friday night's season-opening girls basketball game, New Prairie coach Dan Shead presented LaPorte counterpart Greg Samuelson with an orange and black tie.
But once the game began, Shead and his Cougars were far less hospitable to the former New Prairie player and coach, spoiling Samuelson's debut as the Slicers' head man with a hard-earned 55-45 victory.
Senior guard Jessica Bunton scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the reigning Bi-County champions held off a fierce comeback by an inexperienced but feisty LaPorte team that had trailed by 12 points on three different occasions.
"I thought we played tough," said Samuelson, a 1977 NP graduate who also was an assistant coach under Shead for a couple of years with the Cougars' boys program.
"We definitely didn't give it away; we made them earn it," said Samuelson, who is starting his varsity coaching tenure with a club that lost seven players by graduation.
"The LaPorte girls played very hard; that's what kept them in the game," said Shead.
"We don't have to time to dwell on this loss," said Samuelson, whose squad faces Concord tonight in the home opener. Junior varsity tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
Samuelson had promised an up-tempo team, and he wasn't kidding. A pressing defense and a push-it-up offense provided a lightning pace for the contest, and among the results was a total of 54 turnovers — 27 for each side.
"If you play that style of game, you're going to live by it or die by it," said Samuelson of the turnovers. "We have to improve our decision-making, and we have to get in better shape."
The Cougars also suffered significant graduation losses, but Bunton, fellow senior Krissy Mrozinski and junior Katie Williamson give Shead three veteran starters.
"Jessie (Bunton) had a very good game; it's nice to have seniors who can step up at crunch time," Shead said. "I thought we executed a little better than they did at the end."
New Prairie led 25-13 and 27-15 in the second quarter and again by a dozen at 35-23 with 4:40 left in the third. But the Slicers, falling back into a zone when their press didn't produce a steal, scrambled back in the game.
A 3-point goal by sophomore guard Krysti Havens got the Slicers within a point at 37-36 with 5:18 to play but they never got over the hump. Senior forward Laura Mumma scored eight of her team-high 10 points during the comeback and LaPorte was still within three at 44-41 at the two-minute mark.
Leading 46-41, the Cougars sprang Bunton loose on an inbounds play from deep backcourt. She took Mrozinski's long pass and converted a clinching 3-point play with 1:22 to play.
New Prairie at one stretch hit six straight free throws in the final minute to protect the lead. The Cougars, in fact, were 18-for-28 at the line for the game to LaPorte's 1-for-7.
"We were called for a lot of reach-in fouls that hurt us," Samuelson said. "And in the first half we missed a lot of layups; I counted at least five."
Bunton added eight rebounds and three assists to her 20 points for the night, showing she'll be able to handle more of the ball-handling duties for the Cougars this year.
"Last year we were sort of point guard by committee," Shead said. "She'll have to carry the load until some of the younger players come along. If she can do that and still score 20, we'll be OK."
One of the newcomers is guard Nicole Zakrzewski, one of four sophomores on the roster. She had 13 points and three steals in an impressive debut. Meghan Pilarski, another sophomore who played varsity ball at Michigan City last year as a freshman, had five points and matched 6-2 senior Jessica Beatty's seven rebounds.
Besides Mumma's 10 points, the Slicers got nine from junior forward Alexis Bernacchi and eight from Havens, each hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Bernacchi also had a game-high nine rebounds, while Mumma had four steals and Havens three. Senior Becca Meyer and junior transfer student Andrea Borrego had seven rebounds each.
But the floor leader of this year's team clearly will be junior Brooke Reed, a non-stop whirling dervish of a point guard with quick feet and fast hands. Although her breakneck pace generated some turnovers along the way, Reed delivered six points, seven assists and six steals while keeping a constant heavy foot on the Slicers' accelerator.
And so while LaPorte fans were given plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the 1999-2000 season, this night belonged to the Cougars.
"We hope this will be the first of many," said Shead, whose team has 10 home games this winter and then will host the Class 3A sectional for the first time. "I'm happy with where we're at."
And that tie?
"Actually, somebody gave it to me a while back to wear when we played LaPorte," Shead said. "But we lost the game and I decided I'd never do that again.
"Besides, I've seen too many pictures of Greg wearing a bow tie," Shead smiled.
New Prairie also captured the junior varsity contest 43-28 as freshman forward Gretchen Geyer had 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomores Melanie Bunton and Casandra Gadacz added six points each for coach Tim Scott's Cougars, while Gadacz had five steals and freshman Tiffany Jones four.
Freshman Aimee Menne had seven points and five rebounds for coach Larry Patterson's Slicers while classmate Candice Link added six points. Sophomore guard Betsy Spoor had six assists, coming on all six of LaPorte's second-half baskets. Freshman Kayte Mebust and sophomore Ashley Dobbins had five rebounds apiece and sophomore Mandy Masterson had three steals.
In an unprecedented move the LaPorte School Board rejected the High School's selection committee's nomination of Rodger Kirkpatrick of Penn H.S. and instead selected their own candidate, Kesling Middle School teacher, Greg Samuelson. Samuelson is a former Girl's JV coach and has coached at Kesling Middle School for five years.
Winner of the SWISH Award ©
1996-98
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