SOUTHPORT – Athletics can be very cruel. In some ways, that is why we find them so fascinating.
The suddenness with which adversity can strike is part of the drama. For the team it strikes, however, it is anything but entertaining. Still, it often brings out the best in competitors, and that is truly why we watch.
All of this is a lesson that sixth-ranked Crawfordsville painfully learned Feb. 28 in a heartbreaking 49-44 Class 3A Southport Semistate loss to No. 10 Owen Valley.
(TO CHECK OUT PICTURES FROM THE CRAWFORDSVILLE-OWEN VALLEY GAME BY OUR OWN MARK GRICIUS, CLICK HERE!!)
Everybody anticipated the Athenians would face a tough battle with Owen Valley and wily coach Tom Anderson. The opening minutes did nothing to change that view. The two defenses controlled much of the first quarter, and the lead was never more than a couple of points either way.
Then late in the period, Owen Valley (24-2) scored the most damaging basket of Crawfordsville’s season. Three Athenians converged to stop a Patriot who was driving into the lane from the left side. After the play, Athenian point guard and floor general Lexi Stevens lay on the ground holding her ankle.
Just like that, the heart and soul of this talented team was gone. She didn’t return in the first half, and the questions hanging over a packed Southport Fieldhouse were if she would return at all – and how long Crawfordsville (23-3) could survive without her.
Fellow senior Mandi Johnson and junior Alex Gasaway quickly answered the latter question. Trailing 17-11 at the end of the first period, Johnson and Gasaway scored the first six points of the second stanza to tie the game and serve notice that the Athenians weren’t going away quietly.
Owen Valley responded quickly. The Patriots scored, stole the in-bounds pass, and scored again. That burst would carry them to the half with the lead. The Patriots used a variety of stingy zones and full-court presses to keep the rudderless Athenians off-balance.
Meanwhile, Crawfordsville all but vanquished Owen Valley’s interior attack. A Gasaway 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the half pulled Crawfordsville within two at the break, 27-25.
Stevens returned to the court with her team for the start of the second half, but it was clear that she was far from 100 percent on the gimpy ankle. She began the half but went for only a couple of minutes before being pulled by Crawfordsville coach Darren Haas.
Nonetheless, the Athenians surged into the lead on the strength of a 7-2 opening run, with Johnson and Gasaway scoring all seven points. And the Athenians led 32-29 when adversity struck again when Johnson picked up her third foul with 4:24 remaining in the quarter.
The Patriots immediately caused two turnovers and turned them into four points to regain the lead. That brought Stevens back in the game. Even at less than her best, she was the best ball-handling option the Athenians had.
The move worked, and the remainder of the period was a back-and-forth affair that previewed what was to come. The stanza ended with Owen Valley clinging to a 41-40 advantage.
It would take several pages to describe all the drama in the fourth quarter. Suffice to say it was eight minutes of the most tense, and intense, basketball you will ever see. In the end, two plays in the final two minutes spelled the difference.
With Crawfordsville leading 44-43 with just under two minutes to play, Haas spread the court and put the ball in Stevens’ hands as he has done countless times over the past four years. The idea was to take advantage of her ball skills and deadly free throw shooting.
It nearly worked.
On the first possession, Stevens found a seam and drove to the basket, drawing a foul. But it was ruled to have been committed on the floor, and Crawfordsville was forced to in-bound the ball instead of getting shots. Then on the ensuing possession, Stevens attempted a spin move when the ankle gave out, resulting in her losing the ball out of bounds.
The Athenians survived that when Gasaway stepped into the lane and took a charge. They would not be so lucky the second time. Still needing to give a foul before Crawfordsville would be forced to shoot free throws, Owen Valley quickly fouled with 38 seconds to play.
The Patriots then made the first of two huge plays, tipping the in-bound pass and tracking down the loose ball for a steal. Stevens was forced to foul to prevent the layup, and both free throws were drained.
Crawfordsville rushed the ball back down the court, where Stevens found Gasaway on a give-and-go that seemed destined for a wide-open layup. But as Gasaway rose into the air, Owen Valley’s Kaitlin Sweatman came from nowhere to stage a sensational block. The resulting loose ball wound up in the Patriots’ hands, and Crawfordsville was forced to foul.
Once again the charity tosses were drained, and the Athenians’ fate was sealed.
Owen Valley is a well-coached, disciplined team. The Patriots sense an opponent’s weaknesses and are quick to exploit it, and they’ll get one final chance to do so March 7 in the 3A state championship game against No. 4 Fort Wayne Elmhurst (24-2) at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Crawfordsville, on the other hand, is a talented team with a great deal of courage.
It made for 32 minutes of compelling basketball. An obviously dejected but proud coach Haas spoke with Hoosier Authority after the game. His comments are in the accompanying video.
FORTVILLE
– Moments after winning their first Indiana High School Athletic
Association regional girls basketball title, Lexi Stevens tried to join
the celebration on the Crawfordsville bench.
She only made it halfway there.
Junior Kylie Justus picked up the 5-foot, 7-inch senior point guard and wrapped her in a bear hug.
Stevens was secure – late in the game and in her teammate’s arms.
Stevens
scored a game-high 26 points, hitting 9-of-12 free throws in the final
two minutes of the fourth quarter, to lift Class 3A No. 6
Crawfordsville to a 58-51 victory over Class 3A co-No. 8 Rushville in
Saturday night’s IHSAA Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional championship
game.
After winning their first IHSAA sectional title last weekend, the Athenians netted the school’s first regional title.
“It’s
amazing,” said Stevens, who also hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts.
“Coach [Darren] Haas said ‘get the ball to Lexi.’ I say anybody can
shoot free throws. It just happened to be me tonight . . . I didn’t
feel any responsibility [to score]. Some games it’s not my role to
score. Some games it is, and tonight was one.”
Crawfordsville
(23-2) will play Class 3A No. 10 Owen Valley (23-2) in this Saturday’s
IHSAA Southport Semistate. Owen Valley upset Class 3A No. 3 Vincennes
Lincoln 75-53 in Saturday’s IHSAA Jasper Regional championship game.
Crawfordsville
and Owen Valley will play in the 1 p.m. opening game, while Class 4A
No. 1 Ben Davis (28-0) and Class 4A No. 7 Mooresville (23-1) will meet
in the second game to follow.
Winners advance to the March 7 IHSAA State finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Haas was taken aback at the historical significance, especially after defeating Rushville (17-5).
Rushville
has won 26 IHSAA sectional titles, including a state-record 18-straight
from 1980 to 1997, and nine IHSAA regional championships overall.
Crawfordsville just earned its first of each this month.
“Rushville
is the number one girls program in the state of Indiana for sectional
titles,” Haas said. “Crawfordsville is at the very bottom. I only have
one. Rushville has 26 titles. They’re a program rich in history.
Crawfordsville now has one sectional and one regional title.”
Crawfordsville
had just four players score – Stevens, senior Mandi Johnson (22),
junior Alex Gasaway (eight) and junior Kylie Justus (two) – but that’s
all the Athenians needed.
They held off rally after rally by Rushville, including two late scoring flurries in the final minute.
Crawfordsville
led 47-40 with 4:30 remaining but the Lions scored six straight points
over the next two minutes to cut the lead to 47-46.
Stevens and Haas had an answer.
Crawfordsville
got her the ball and she scored the Athenians’ final 11 points, hitting
a key two-pointer and then nine free throws in the final 1:02, to lift
them to the win.
Even after Rushville cut the lead to 53-51 with 27.7 seconds remaining, the Athenians remained poised.
Stevens, an 80-percent free-throw shooter, hit two. Then Crawfordsville forced a turnover and she was fouled.
Stevens
hit her first free throw to make it 56-51, missed the second, but
Justus grabbed the offensive rebound and got it back to Stevens, who
was fouled again.
“I knew we had to get the ball in Lexi’s
hands,” Haas said. “When we take it out of her hands, it’s led to
problems. She was feeling it from three-point range.”
Shelbie
Justus led Rushville with 17 points, while Alexa Bess, who fouled out,
added 16. They combined to go 5-of-9 from the outside.
“The intensity was so high at so many levels tonight,” Haas said. “It was unbeliveable.”
Crawfordsville
defeated Class 3A No. 12 Batesville 56-50 in the regional semifinals.
Rushville defeated Roncalli 48-44 in the second semifinal.
CHS rallies to defeat Batesville
Crawfordsville almost faded away in the fourth quarter in its opening regional semifinal.
But Gasaway gutted out an illness and foul trouble to help Athenians recover.
She
scored nine of her 10 points in the fourth quarter to lead
Crawfordsville to a 56-50 victory over Class 3A No. 12 Batesville.
Crawfordsville trailed by four with 4:17 to play but outscored Batesville 12-2 over the final half of the fourth quarter.
“In
the fourth quarter, [coach Haas] said he needed me to play or we’d
lose,” Gasaway said. “When he gets stern, and with the game on the
line, I know I have to pick it up.”
Johnson led Crawfordsville with 18 points, but Gasaway provided the team with an enormous lift with her key fourth quarter.
Crawfordsville led 44-38 with 6:15 remaining before committing six straight turnovers – five off inbounds passes.
Batesville
went on a 10-0 run, scoring points off five of those turnovers, and
rallied to take a 48-44 lead with 4:17 remaining.
The Athenians answered with Gasaway inside.
She
scored three straight baskets – one off transition and two off
jumpshots – to give Crawfordsville a 50-48 lead with 2:18 remaining.
Then,
with Batesville down by four and inbounding a pass, Gasaway made a
steal and hit a lay-up to give the Athenians a 54-48 lead with 1:02
left.
She did all of this despite being saddled on the bench
with foul trouble (picking up her fourth foul just 40 seconds into the
third quarter) and battling a stomach illness most of the game.
The Paper photo by Lori Poteet
Southmont senior Andreas Winn-Turner finished as a dual IHSAA
Crawfordsville Sectional champion – taking the 200-yard individual
medley and the 100 butterfly.
The Paper photo by Lori Poteet
Crawfordsville senior Brett Linn won the diving competition in the IHSAA Crawfordsville Sectional.
Boys swimming
IHSAA Crawfordsville Sectional
Saturday
At Crawfordsville HS
Team
scores: Greencastle 302, Crawfordsville 262, Southmont 197, North
Montgomery 189, Western Boone 122, South Vermillion 104, South Putnam
74, North Putnam 50, Seeger 30, North Vermillion 27, Fountain Central
25, Attica 3
**The top team and individual swimming winners
advance to the IHSAA State finals and the top four divers advance to
the IHSAA Brownsburg Diving Regional**
200 medley relay: 1:40.52
Greencastle; 2. 1:44.97 Southmont; 3. 1:45.17* North Montgomery; 4.
1:46.42 Crawfordsville; 5. 1:50.66 South Vermillion; 6. 1:50.96 Western
Boone.
Consolation: 7. 1:57.64 North Putnam; 8. 1:59.12 South
Putnam; 9. 2:06.87 Seeger; 10. 2:13.32 North Vermillion; 11. 2:13.68
Fountain Central.
* = school record
200 freestyle:
1:46.27 Nick Stevens G; 2. 1:53.14 Alex Clauser SM; 3. 1:54.90 Walter
Chiarella G; 4. 1:55.33 Austin Woodall G; 5. 1:56.34 Tony Sturm CR; 6.
1:59.29 Clayton Servies CR.
Consolation: 7. 2:02.61 Cody Ford
WB; 8. 2:03.52 Dakota Michael NM; 9. 2:05.28 C.J. Olin NM; 10. 2:07.19
Jacob Gibson SV; 11. 2:07.40 Jason Hook NM; 12. 2:07.61 A.J. Ehrlich CR.
200
IM: 2:03.02 Andreas Winn-Turner SM; 2. 2:11.53 Kevin Amstutz NM; 3.
2:11.59 J.D. Furr CR; 4. 2:13.08 Jay Guffey G; 5. 2:13.85 Joel Hobson
CR; 6. 2:15.86 Blake Mohler WB.
Consolation: 7. 2:16.04 Gabe
Wolf CR; 8. 2:17.15 Wade Miller NM: 9. 2:18.34 Aaron Wheeler SM; 10.
2:20.38 Jordan Moody WB; 11. 2:24.29 Thomas Ball G; 12. 2:24.51 Dakota
Watson G.
50 freestyle: :22.13 Luke Crimmins G; 2. :22.72 Eric
Spencer NM; 3. :23.09 Sam Abriani SV; 4. :23.19 Luke Smith G; 5. :23.65
Chris Lewis SM; 6. :24.17 Jeremiah Ban G.
Consolation: 7.
:23.84 Sam Hatcher SM: 8. :24.50 Christopher Pierce G: 9. :24.61
Charles Hegg SE; 10. :24.66 Chris Smiley SP; 11. :24.83 Brandon Largent
CR; 12. :24.92 Jacob Bohlander NM.
Diving: 425.90 Brett Linn
CR: 2. 341.00 Eric Totheroh CR; 3. 297.05 Jason Hieston WB; 4. 284.30
Cole Julick NV; 5. 270.40 Bart Powell NM; 6. 230.75 Max Catterson SV:
7. 224.90 Jeremy Swenson FC: 8. 220.75 Sam Gould SP; 9. 205.45 Zach
Naylor SV; 10. 197.55 Seth Cunningham A; 11. 191.90 Kenneth Buchanan G;
12. 184.00 A.J. Wendall NM.
100 butterfly: :56.21 Andreas
Winn-Turner SM; 2. :56.73 Aaron Wheeler SM; 3. :57.11 Jesse Elkins G;
4. :57.92 Cody Ford WB; 5. :58.55 Kevin Amstutz NM; 6. :59.80 Tony
Sturm CR.
Consolation: 7. 1:01.79 Chris Sills CR; 8. 1:02.37
Thomas Ball G; 9. 1:02.83 Garrett Gates NM; 10. 1:03.20 Zach Hines SV;
11. 1:03.99 Ryne Clark WB: 12. 1:06.92 Ryan Richmond CR.
100
freestyle: :48.98 Eric Spencer NM; 2. :49.03 Dakota Smoll CR: 3. :50.58
Jay Guffey G; 4. :51.67 Chris Lewis SM; 5. :52.45 Ryan Payne G; 6.
:53.12 Sam Hatcher SM.
Consolation: 7. :52.38 Sam Abriani SV:
8. :53.62 Jeremiah Ban NP; 9. :53.82 Chris Smiley SP; 10. :53.90 Luke
Smith G; 11. :55.34 Brandon Largent CR; 12. :55.44 Jordan Moody WB.
Consolation: 7. 1:01.37
Joel Hobson CR; 8. 1:02.86 Chris Coakes NM; 9. 1:02.95 Sean Richardson
WB; 10. 1:04.84 Jordan Urbain SV; 11. 1:06.25 Darrick Grundlock SP; 12.
1:16.42 Jacob Gibson SV.
100 breaststroke: 1:04.11 Ian Line
SM; 2. 1:04.36 Ryan Payne G; 3. 1:05.69 Gabe Wolf CR: 4. 1:06.28 Blake
Mohler WB; 5. 1:07.18 Wade Miller NM; 6. 1:07.43 J.D. Furr CR.
Consolation:
7. 1:06.14 Walter Chiarella G: 8. 1:09. 20 Jake Gould SP; 9. 1:09.84
Bryan Swift NM; 10. 1:10.66 Ryan Richmond CR: 11. 1:11.69 Justin
Zurawski NP; 12. 1:12.30 Joseph Kass G.
400 freestyle relay:
3:20.95 Greencastle; 2. 3:22.57 Southmont; 3. 3:33.37 Crawfordsville;
4. 3:41.10 South Putnam; 5. 3:44.71 South Vermillion; 6. 3:47.88
Western Boone.
Consolation: 7. 3:45.99 North Montgomery; 8.
3:46.73 North Putnam; 9. 4:05.19 Seeger; 10. 4:16.86 Fountain Central;
11. 4:41.39 North Vermillion.
Reprinted courtesy of: The Paper of Montgomery County www.thepaper24-7.com
By Bob Cox bcox@thepaper24-7.com
All
three Montgomery County boys swimming coaches were thrilled with the
performances of their teams in Saturday’s Indiana High School Athletic
Association Crawfordsville Sectional.
But none of them could
stay with two-time defending champ Greencastle, who’s starting to put
together a nice little sectional title run.
Greencastle, who
had seven championship performances, won its third-straight IHSAA
Crawfordsville Sectional crown by outdistancing runner-up
Crawfordsville 302-262. Southmont finished third and North Montgomery
ended the day in fourth place, with 197 and 189 points respectively.
Twelve teams participated in the meet.
Southmont ended up with two individual champions in three events, while North Montgomery and Crawfordsville had one each.
Southmont
senior Andreas Winn-Turner led the way for some great performances from
Montgomery County swimmers, finishing as double sectional champion in
the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly.
Winn-Turner
will now participate in his third-straight IHSAA State finals and was
also was a part of the second-place 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle
relay teams.
He said he enjoys the atmosphere at big meets.
“I
get all psyched up for the big meets,” Winn-Turner said. “I love
swimming in front of the large and loud crowds in front of all the
teams. It really is fun for me.”
Southmont coach Kevin Hedrick praised Winn-Turner after the meet.
“I
always say Andreas is a racer,” Hedrick said. “He is a great leader for
this team and always steps up in big meets. We have hung our hat on him
for four years and he has always come through.”
Southmont’s second-seeded Ian Line won the 100 breaststroke, edging out Greencastle’s Ryan Payne.
Hedrick said seeing his team’s individual performance was exciting.
“Every
one of my kids swam personal best times in this meet and a coach
couldn’t ask for anything more,” Hedrick said. “My kids have worked
hard and they have earned everything they have gotten. I am proud of
them.”
Crawfordsville senior Brett Linn will advance to the
IHSAA Zionsville Diving Regional, as he finished as the sectional
diving champ.
Linn advanced to the regional for the third straight year.
He said he hopes the experience of his last three trips to the diving regional will help him finish in the state’s top 10.
“My
first year advancing I was a little overwhelmed with it all,” Linn
said. “The last two trips I have done better and now I hope to get a
top-eight finish.”
Crawfordsville coach Mark Hesse said Linn’s leadership has been a positive for his young team.
“We
swam with intensity today and we have developed some athletes who are
going to do some great things next year,” Hesse said. “But I attribute
our success to Brett’s leadership as our captain. He has been great for
our young team.”
North Montgomery senior Eric Spencer won the 100 freestyle event, even though he had not been healthy last week.
“I
was really sick on Monday and Tuesday and my times weren’t great,”
Spencer said. “I am better today and it was nice to finally get a
sectional championship.”
North Montgomery’s 200 medley relay
team of Spencer and juniors Todd Melish, Wade Miller and Kevin Amstutz
– also set a school record, finishing in third-place (1:45.17).
It
was the second time they’d set a record this sectional, breaking their
previous record from the preliminaries by .71 seconds.
Chargers’ coach Erin Yeager was more than pleased with her team’s fourth-place finish.
“My
kids had an awesome meet,” she said. “I am ecstatic about our
performance because we had many record personal best times. Seeing Eric
break through and win was awesome.”
So what did YOU do the weekend after Valentine’s Day? Our Mark Gricius spent a good deal of his post-VD weekend shooting pictures of high-profile high school postseason events, and HoosierAuthority.com is your link to all his stuff!
For pictures from the Feb. 20 preliminary round of the 71st Annual IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse, click here!
For girls basketball semifinal action from the Class 3A Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Regional semifinal pitting No. 12 Batesville vs. No. 6 Crawfordsville, click here!
For girls basketball semifinal action from the Class 3A Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Regional semifinal showdown between No. 8 Rushville and Roncalli, click here!
Finally, for the Class 4A Southport Regional championship bout between top-ranked Ben Davis and defending state champion No. 9 Carmel, click here!
… and now, a bonus video from Brad Plessinger – Ben Davis sophomore Bria Goss nailing a 3-pointer from more than 50 feet that gave the Giants an eight-point halftime advantage in their win over Carmel. Just click here or on the video player below!
Just another nugget from HoosierAuthority.com, your original and bestest Indiana high school sports authority on the planet!
FORTVILLE – On the afternoon of Feb. 21 at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville, all was right with the world – at least the world of high school sports. Once in awhile, I am reminded of just exactly why we do what we do at Hoosier Authority, and the Class 3A Regional 7 was one of those moments.
Everything that is good about high school sports was on display in full view of nearly 3,000 people.
Sixth-ranked Crawfordsville was the new kid on the block. The Athenians were appearing in their first girls basketball regional ever. The sectional title they won last week was more than a mere tournament victory. It was validation for a senior class that kept striving even after three years of gut-wrenching disappointment.
The Athenians are coached by Darren Haas, a man who not only has genuine affection for his players, but who also understands that the heart of a competitor beats just as hard in a 5’3’’ girl as in a 6’9” boy. That would be Lexi Stevens, a throwback pure point guard whose greatest skill is simply beating your brains in by whatever means necessary.
Next was Batesville, a community that personifies small-school excellence. A persuasive argument could be made that, over the past decade, Batesville has been the best athletic department in Indiana. The Bulldogs are good year after year at every sport in which they compete. More importantly, they do it with modesty, class, and character.
The No. 12 Bulldogs were outsized in every way in their game with Crawfordsville, except one: heart.
Also on hand was Roncalli, the private school that accepts nothing less than excellence from its teams and supporters. It is a private school that does things the right way. The Rebels were guided by first-year coach Sara Reiderman, whose enthusiasm and belief in her players kept them in a game they frankly had no business being in down the stretch.
Finally, there was Rushville, a community that embodies the history and heritage of Indiana high school basketball as much as any in the state. The Lions were supported by a crowd that made you want to shout, “That’s what it is all about!” Rushville fans and players alike understand what it means to wear a Lions jersey.
More importantly, they respect what it takes. Coach Melissa Marlow instills pride and tradition in Rushville basketball every time she steps on a court.
The teams were great. The coaches were genuine role models. The crowd was large, loud, and proud. The games were exciting and competitive. The smiles were jubilant, and the tears were real.
In short, it was everything those of us who champion Indiana basketball hold sacred. If any of you have matured to the point that you can no longer be moved by what I witnessed Saturday, you aren’t grown up.
By: Mike McGraw Hoosier Authority Executive Director
Saturday afternoon at Mt. Vernon High School all was right with the world, at least the world of high school sports. Once in awhile I am reminded of just exactly why we do what we do at Hoosier Authority and the Mt. Vernon Regional was one of those moments. Everything that is good about high school sports was on display in full view of nearly 3000 people. First, there were the teams.
There was Crawfordsville, the new kid on the block. The Athenians were appearing in their first girls’ basketball regional ever. The sectional title they won last week was more than a mere tournament victory. It was validation for a senior class that kept striving even after three years of gut wrenching disappointment. The Athenians are coached by Darin Haas, a man who not only has genuine affection for his players, but who also understands that the heart of a competitor beats just as hard in a 5’3’’ girls as in a 6’9” boy. They have Lexi Stevens, a throwback pure point guard whose greatest skill is simply beating your brains in by whatever means necessary.
There was Batesville, a community that personifies small school excellence. A persuasive argument could be made that over the past decade Batesville has been the best athletic department in Indiana. The Bulldogs are good year after year at every sport in which they compete. More importantly, they do it with modesty, class, and character. The Bulldogs were outsized in every way in their game with Crawfordsville except one—heart.
There was Roncalli, the private school that accepts nothing less than excellence from its teams and supporters. It is a private school that does things the right way. The Rebels were guided by first year coach Sara Reiderman whose enthusiasm and belief in her players kept them in a game they frankly had no business being in down the stretch.
Finally, there was Rushville, a community that embodies the history and heritage of Indiana high school basketball as much as any in the state. The Lions were supported by a crowd that made you want to shout “That’s what it is all about!” Rushville fans and players alike understand what it means to wear a Lions jersey. More importantly, they respect what it takes. Coach Melissa Marlow instills pride and tradition in Lady Lions basketball every time she steps on a court
The teams were great. The coaches were genuine role models. The crowd was large, loud, and proud. The games were exciting and competitive. The smiles were jubilant and the tears were real. In short, it was everything those of us who champion Indiana basketball hold sacred If any of you have matured to the point that you can no longer be moved by what I witnessed Saturday, you aren’t grown up, you’re just old.
FORTVILLE – Before the season started, Crawfordsville girls basketball coach Darren Haas told people the difference between this year’s team and last was the strength and hard-nosed nature of his bench.
That, along with a fact everybody knows – Lexi Stevens is really good – proved to be the difference Feb. 21 in the Class 3A sixth-ranked Athenians’ 56-50 victory over 3A No. 12 Batesville in the semifinal round of Regional 7 played at Mt. Vernon (Fortville).
The victory advanced Crawfordsville (22-2) to the championship game opposite 3A No. 8 Rushville (17-4), a 48-44 semi winner over Roncalli.
(TO CHECK OUT PICTURES FROM THE CRAWFORDSVILLE-BATESVILLE GAME BY OUR OWN MARK GRICIUS, CLICK HERE!! FOR MARK’S PICS FROM THE RUSHVILLE-RONCALLI GAME, CLICK HERE!! AND CLICK ON THE VIDEO PLAYER TO THE LEFT FOR RICHARD DUFFY’S VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM CRAWFORDSVILLE-BATESVILLE AND RUSHVILLE-RONCALLI!!)
In many ways, the Athenians made this semifinal harder than it needed to be. A first quarter that Haas referred to as “one of the worst defensive quarters we have played all year” left Batesville (21-2) with a 17-12 lead and one of Crawfordsville’s major weapons, Alex Gasaway, with two personal fouls. The slow start got worse when Gasaway picked up her third personal with six minutes to play in the second stanza.
Enter the Athenian bench. When Gasaway headed to the pine, Crawfordsville still trailed by five. But the Athenians went on an 8-1 run in the following minutes to grab a 20-18 advantage. In fact, they held Batesville to just five second-quarter points and clung to a 23-22 halftime edge.
Just when you thought things were getting better for the Montgomery County squad, Gasaway earned her fourth personal less than a minute into the third quarter. For the makeshift lineup to have withstood her absence once was one thing. It was entirely another matter to believe it could do it again.
Well, the Athenians created a lot of believers over the next seven minutes as Crawfordsville immediately increased its margin to eight at 34-26.
There are reasons, however, why Batesville was in this game and had lost only once during the season. Resiliency is one of them. The Bulldogs came roaring back, taking advantage of two Athenian turnovers to go on a 5-0 run that cut the lead to 34-31.
It was time for a stone-cold rally ******, and Crawfordsville just happens to have one of the best. Stevens buried a 3-pointer on the next possession to take the lead back to six points, and it stayed there at the end of three quarters, 41-35.
In the middle periods, it had been Crawfordsville’s ball pressure on defense that had turned the tide in its favor. Early in the fourth period, though, Batesville did a little pressuring of its own.
Crawfordsville led 44-38 when things started going wrong for the Athenians. Batesville began to full-court pressure, and the tactic could not have worked better as the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to take the lead 48-44.
The scoring spree was obviously worrisome for the Athenians. The way it happened was far more concerning.
Crawfordsville simply hit one of those “dead spots” that have haunted the Athenians over the past two seasons. They committed six consecutive turnovers during the Batesville run and looked hopelessly out of sync.
Haas called a timeout, later saying he simply told his team that from that point to the end it was all about heart. Luckily for Crawfordsville, that is Stevens’ specialty. And the timeout also marked the re-entry of Gasaway to the lineup.
The duo immediately began working their magic. Stevens began getting the ball in her hands against the press, and it suddenly quit working for the Bulldogs. At the offensive end, Gasaway did what she does best: finish scoring chances. She knocked down three huge shots in the closing minutes.
The result was a 12-2 game-ending run that was an example of the Athenians at their very best.
Crawfordsville was led in scoring by senior Mandi Johnson, who shouldered much of the scoring load in Gasaway’s absence, with 18 points. Gasaway also hit double figures with 10, while Madison Lamppert led Batesville with 10 points.
One other factor that must be mentioned is the defensive play of Crawfordsville guard Kylie Justus. Suffice it to say, her picture might be on the wall of the Batesville Post Office next week. She harassed the Bulldogs into numerous turnovers and caused more jump balls than could be counted during the day.
Sparked
by some intense first-half defense and senior Mandi Johnson’s perfect
third quarter, the Crawfordsville girls basketball team won their first
Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional championship in
school history Saturday night.
Johnson scored 26 points,
including 19 in the third quarter, and Class 3A No. 6 Crawfordsville
earned a 52-32 win over Sagamore Athletic Conference rival Danville in
the IHSAA Western Boone Sectional.
“It feels awesome,” said
Johnson, who went 12-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from the
free-throw line. “I don’t know what to say except I’m very excited.”
Crawfordsville
(21-2) advances to the Mount Vernon (Fortville) Regional, where the
Athenians will play Class 3A No. 12 Batesville (21-1). Batesville won
the Batesville Sectional with a 47-35 victory over Greensburg on
Saturday.
After picking up two first-quarter fouls and sitting
on the bench for most of the first half, Johnson erupted in the third
quarter.
She went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3
from the free-throw line, scoring all of the Athenians’ 19 points in
the quarter.
In fact, Johnson scored 24-straight second-half points to push Crawfordsville’s lead to 19 midway through the fourth quarter.
Crawfordsville coach Darren Haas said she and senior Lexi Stevens (eight points) stole the show.
“They
absolutely stole the show,” he said. “Mandi was electric in the second
half. She was absolutely awesome. No one could stop her. Lexi is just
an amazing player.”
Crawfordsville dominated with its defense
again. They didn’t allow the Warriors (10-11) to hit a first-quarter
field goal and held them to just three points. Danville went 0-of-7
from the field and scored all three points off free throws.
They
shot just 4-of-21 (19.0 percent) in the first half and struggled,
especially with senior point guard Molly Stewart picking up three
first-half fouls and spending most of her time on the bench.
She led the Warriors with nine points, while junior Amy Kramer added eight.
Dylan
McBride of Crawfordsville won the heavyweight class championship at the New
Castle Semi-State on Saturday. McBride was the only champion from the Sagamore
Conference and one of just four SAC wrestlers to advance to the State finals
next weekend.
He is joined
by Nick Hodges of Southmont who will return to the finals after a second place
finish at 189 lbs. The other two grapplers to advance are Lebanon Tigers. Josh
Julian continued an outstanding season by claiming fourth at 112 lbs., and Adam
Skelton took fourth at 135 lbs.
Hillary
Mishler of Southmont finished in the top eight in two individual events at the
State Swimming Finals in Indianapolis on Saturday. Her performance allowed the
Mounties to claim 18th place in the team standings. That was the
best finish among four Sagamore Conference schools that dented the scoreboard
at the meet. Southmont totaled 25 points in finishing 18th.
Crawfordsville accumulated 16 points in ending 24th. Danville
claimed 32nd with 11 points, and North Montgomery tied for 37th
with seven total points.
Mishler
finished eighth in the 200 Yard Individual Medley and fifth in the 100 Yard
Backstroke. The best individual performance belonged to Missy Robinson of
Crawfordsville who finished third in the 100 Yard Breastroked final. Here is a
look at the complete and very comprehensive results from the championships.
Event
1 Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay State Record: *1:43.39 2008 Hamilton Southeastern (1:52.86 SCUT)
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