Merrillville outruns, over-powers Lady Devils 63-42

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-11-2012

Lowell's Kalyne Godbolt, above, brings the ball up against Merrillville. Lowell was within 18-14 in the second quarter but the Pirates then scored 18 points in a row.

Victoria Gaines, right, and her cousin Raveen Murray, below, discuss strategy against Lowell last Tuesday (1-10-2012). Gaines and Murray combined for 40 points and six blocked shots in the Pirates 63-42 win.

Christina Brown, above, left, tries to stop Kalyne Godbolt (33) in Merrillville's game at Lowell Tuesday (1-10-2012).

Lowell athletic director Patti McCormack and Merrillville AD Janis Qualizza, below, talk before the matchup of top girls basketball teams.

Lowell's Savannah Summers (25), above, tries to stay in front of Merrillville's Dariyan Patton in Tuesday's game. Patton scored 18 including three three-point shots.

Merrillville's Raveen Murray (center) is happy with the way the Lowell game went. The Pirates led 39-15 at halftime and won 63-42.

MERRILLVILLE (63) Raveen Murray 6-3-16, Dariyan Morris 8-1-18, AJ Downs 1-0-3, Victoria Gaines 10-4-24, Jasmyne Miller 1-0-2, Darian Patton 0-0-0, Christina Brown 0-0-0, Amber Sturdivant 0-0-0, Myranda Harris 0-0-0, Anjelica Peppers 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25 (8-11) 63

LOWELL (42) Sarah Wietbrock 0-3-3, Savannah Summers 4-0-9, Mackenzie Kreutz 5-1-11, Kalyne Godbolt 3-1-7, Katie Bobos 6-0-12, Nicole Sharkey 0-0-0, Sarah Wieser 0-0-0, Amy Fraikin 0-0-0, Hunter Jusevitch 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (5-12) 42

FREE THROWS: MERRILLVILLE (8-9, 88.8%) Murray 3-3, Morris 1-1, Gaines 4-5; LOWELL (5-12, 41.6%) Wietbrock 3-8, Kruetz 1-3, Godbolt 1-1.

REBOUNDS: MERRILLVILLE (21) Gaines 10, Patton 4, Downs 3, Miller 2, Murray, Brown; LOWELL (30) Wietbrock 12, Bobos 11, Kreutz 3, Summers 2, Sharkey 2.

ASSISTS: MERRILLVILLE (16) Murray 8, Downs 3, Miller 3, Gaines, Peppers; LOWELL (10) Godbolt 4, Summers 3, Bobos 3.

STEALS: MERRILLVILLE (16) Gaines 4, Murray 4, Downs 3, Patton 2, Morris, Brown, Thompson; LOWELL (13) Godbolt 4, Wieser 3, Bobos 3, Kreutz 2, Wietbrock.

TURNOVERS: MERRILLVILLE (5-7-5-7) 24; LOWELL (7-11-5-7) 30.

BLOCKED SHOTS: MERRILLVILLE (7) Gaines 4, Murray 2, Morris; LOWELL (0).

3-GOALS: MERRILLVILLE (5) Dariyan Morris 3, Raveen Murray, AJ Downs; LOWELL (1) Savannah Summers.

"We keep saying we have to put 32 minutes together and we still have not put 32 minutes together," said Govert, trying not to overstate the flaws of a team that's won 11 times by 10 points or more.

"We were talking at halftime about the 11 unforced turnovers in the first half. We'd travel with no one around us. We'd miss passes. First half. The intensity was good, but we got disinterested. I don't care what the score is. This (Lowell) is a good program. Obviously this isn't their (total) regular team. But if we play like stretches we did in the first half, we can play very good basketball."

Some coaches chant how badly their team has played no matter how well they play. It's a cult-like 'coach speak' that isn't believable. But remember that Merrillville was 25-2 two years ago, losing by 47 points to Ben Davis' 2010 dynasty team in the 4A title game. Govert has seen first hand that good has to be great to win down state.

"We looked at the tape and we thought if we could play defense and run, we'd outrun them, said Govert of Lowell. "We didn't think their post players could stay in front of Victoria. She had a great first half. She runs the floor so well. Other players just can't keep up with her."

"Coaches always go in before the game and give their speech," said Antcliff. "But I went a little longer tonight. I told them, 'This is what you want. Nothing gets any sweeter than this. They're coming into your home court. One of the top teams in the state.' The last thing I wrote on the board was, 'Keep it simple.'"

"We try to emphasize three things. Tonight it was,'Protect the ball.' We didn't do that. Boards. They came right over us. Stop the drive. We did it at some points, but not enough. We thought we had things taken care of, but obviously we didn't."

Lowell point guards Kalyne Godbolt usually can get a step on her defender and create double teams and passing lanes, but she was not able to do that against Merrillville. Sophomore guard Sarah Wieser, starting in the place of regular Carley Austgen, normally can run Lowell's offense. But she had passes deflected.

Front court players Katie Bobos and Mackenzie Kreutz usually can match up with opposing front court players. They could do nothing with Gaines, whose quick moves got her open to take easy shots or receive passes from Murray, an all-state player.

"I thought (Sarah) Wietbrock was able to stay in front of Murray but she was able to make passes and Gaines killed us. They are undefeated and ranked in the state for a reason. But we played not to lose. We got away from our fundamentals."

Lowell basically used just six players. Junior Katie Bobos missed a lot of easy shots, but she did score 12 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Matched up with Murray, Sarah Wietbrock did not score a field goal, but she grabbed 12 rebounds. Senior forward Savannah Summers came off the bench with one of her best games, including nine points and three assists.

"I would hope they know that, other than that six minutes in the second quarter, we played with them," said Antcliff. "Regardless of the score, I would hope we know we can play with them."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell junior Carley Austgen and senior Sarah Fraikin will miss five games with a suspension after a non-basketball related team rules violation.

"We're going to have to pull up a couple of junior varsity players full time." said Lowell coach Katie Antcliff. "We can't go with just six kids."

They will return Jan. 27 at Calumet, but they will miss games against 4A Hobart and Lake Central, plus rival Griffith and Porter County Conference (PCC) leader Boone Grove (13-1).

The combination of 5-foot-5 senior Raveen Murray (16 points, 8 assists) and her cousin, 6-foot, 15-year-old freshman Victoria Gaines (24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) overwhelmed Lowell to the extent that if the two teams meet again in the Class 4A regional next month, the Devils are going to have to totally overhaul the way they played on this Tuesday night.

"Gaines killed us in the middle," said Lowell coach Katie Antcliff. "Our kids just would not bump her. Gaines is a player. She ended up with 20 points in the first half."

"After halftime we told our kids: 'A freshman just scored 20 on you in one half. How does that feel?' We just did not play post defense and obviously that's something we're going to have to work on."

It is possible for Lowell and Merrillville to have a rematch in the 4A Regional in Valparaiso next month. If they do, look for Lowell to start the game in a zone defense. Lowell never led last Tuesday and, while they did play a 2-3 zone sometimes, they could not stay in it very long because of the deficit.

"A couple of teams have played man-to-man against us," said Govert, "and we usually handle it pretty well. We can get those same shots against a zone, but sometimes we do stand around."

Part of Lowell's performance against Merrillville had to do with their schedule, which gave them 19 days off after the Carroll County tournament and then a game with Andrean (1-14). Lowell hasn't played a 4A team in almost four weeks and then they face Merrillville, a perennial power.

"Patti (Lowell AD and former girls basketball coach Patti McCormack) and I have talked about that. That we get another tournament after Carroll or that we drop Carroll and get in another tournament. Having the time off is nice but it's not going to get us ready."

Merrillville junior guard Dariyan Morris had 17 points including three three-pointers, but it was odd to see sophomore guard AJ Downs playing point guard and playing the point against Lowell with Raveen Murray, the school's all-time leading scorer and assist leader, on the wing.

"Morris has been playing very well," said Govert. "It's just a matter of the unforced errors. She's been shooting well. She runs the floor. Attack the basket. Most of the time, we see a box-and-1 and triangle-and-2 (defense) against us. We want some other girls to get experience at the point."

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Revised: January 11, 2012 .