2007 Girls Basketball Sectional Tournament Preview:  Boone Grove Lady Wolves A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (02-03-2007)

Class (2A) Boone Grove  Wolves (17-3)
Sectional (2) 2003, 2006
Regional titles (1) 2003 

Class 2A at Lake Station (CST)
2/6 (Tu) 7 p.m. -   Bishop Noll [5-15] vs. Lake Station [1-19]
2/9  (F) 6 p.m. -   BOONE GROVE [17-4] vs. HANOVER CENTRAL [8-10]
2/9 (F) 7:30 p.m. Wheeler [17-3] vs. Bishop Noll (5-15)
2/10 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A at Jimtown (EST)
2/6 (Tu)  John Glenn [8-11] vs. Jimtown [18-2] 6 p.m.
2/6 (Tu) Westview [15-4] vs. Bremen [7-13] 7:30 p.m.
2/9 (F) Glenn or Jimtown vs. Westview or Bremen - 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) Fairfield [13-7] vs. LaVille [8-11]
2/10 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m

Class 2A at Winamac (CST)
2/6 (Tu) North Judson [16-4] vs. Rensselaer [13-7] 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) Winamac [13-7] vs. North Newton [4-13] 5:30 p.m.
2/9 (F) Rochester [9-11] vs. North Judson or Rensselaer
2/10 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A at Fountain Central (EST)
2/6 (Tu) Delphi [3-17] vs. Seeger [5-14] 6 p.m.
2/6 (Tu) Fountain Central [10-9] vs. Sheridan [3-16] 7:30 p.m.
2/9  (F) Delphi or Seeger vs. Fountain Central or Sheridan 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) North Montgomery [18-2] vs. Clinton Central [5-14] 7:30 p.m.
2/10 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.


Class 2A Regional at Rensselaer (CST)
2/10 (S) Fountain Central winner (probably North Montgomery) vs. Lake Station winner - 11 a.m.
2/10 (S) Jimtown winner vs. Winamac winner  -  1 p.m.
2/17 (S)  2A Regional championship - 7 p.m.

Strengths:  Flanigan is the top guard in NW Indiana and Boone has experienced wing shooters in Jessica Dowdy and Jessica Fauser.  They have size and depth in the front line with 5-9 Kristen Kessler, 5-10 Kelly Dobson and Brittney Roach, 5-11 Dani Diaz and 6-0 Emily Strilich.  Boone has never had a more talented team.

Weaknesses:  Youth.  Boone has just three seniors and they also have only three guards who have played any minutes at all.  Injuries or foul problems at guard could cripple them.  Boone's big front court, at times, is not physical at all.

Outlook:  Good, but the road is tough.  Sectional foe Wheeler has beaten them already and regional foe North Judson has beaten them by 19 points.  Who beat who during the regular season is irrelevant once you get a neutral site rematch.  Boone opens up against a team they have beaten in Hanover Central and if they get by that game, they should gain confidence.  All the pieces are in place here.  Boone has an all-state lead guard and a top wing shooter.  They have a big shooting forward and a couple of big rebounding forwards plus a shot blocking center.  This team beat 1A No. 4 Kouts by 16.  They have the ability to win decisively over anyone they will see, short of the semistate level.
 

Boone's Key Players:

1. Cortney Flanigan - 5-5 senior guard

Flanigan and North Judson's Kristen Bolen are the top two true lead guards in NW Indiana.  The MVP of the PCC, Flanigan averages 20.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists.  Few can stop her one-on-one and she will convince most teams not to press Boone Grove.  You almost have to guard her with a forward because she is too strong for your guards.

2. Jessica Fauser - 5-4 junior guard

Fauser is the ball-handling member of Boone's "Jessica" twins.  She is the back-up lead guard and a hustling defender.  Fauser's shot is much improved over 2006 and she'll get chances when teams double-team Flanigan and refuse to leave Dowdy.  Fauser will get many odd-man opportunities and open shots after teams double-team Flanigan in the back court.

3. Jessica Dowdy - 5-4 junior guard

The big shooting member of Boone's "Jessica" twins, who are two-year starters alongside Flanigan.  Dowdy (9.8 ppg.) had 40 three-point baskets in 21 games and her presence prevents too much help defense against Flanigan.  She has to shoot the ball early in the game to make the defense respect her on offense.  You cannot leave her alone even if she misses her first five shots because she'll probably make the next five.



PORTER TWP. -  Boone has to be very careful about overlooking Hanover Central, an improving team, in the Friday semifinals.  The Wolves have to press Hanover to speed the game up and take advantage of their superior skill level.  Hanover is highly unlikely to win a game where both teams are scoring 60 or 70 points.  They don't have that kind of firepower.  Plus, HC has only one post player who can score in Anna Turturillo.  Boone has four post defenders so they don't have to worry about playing hard and fouling a lot.

If Boone beats HC, and they haven't lost to the Lady Cats since 2004, they will then get to watch arch-rival Wheeler play.  Logic says that Boone Grove (17-4) and Wheeler (17-3) will meet in the finals, a rematch of Wheeler's 52-50 home win over Boone on  Dec. 11, a game in which Wheeler guard Emile Naccarato hit seven three-point baskets and scored a career-high 21 points.  Emilie averaged eight points (8.1) per game and she's just not going to score 21 again.

Boone Grove again has to hit the boards.  They have good size up front with 5-9 Kristyn Kessler, 5-10 Kelly Dobson, 5-11 Brittney Roach and 6-foot Emily Strilich and it will probably be Kessler who guards Wheeler's 6-foot-2 Becca Bruszewski.  Boone needs to run a second defender at Bruszewski when she puts the ball on the floor and you have to take the charge against her.  You can't block her shot.

Boone has a better defensive match for Bruszewski than Wheeler does for Flanigan, who has the ball a lot more than Bruszewski does.  Plus Boone has a half dozen players from last year's sectional title team and Wheeler does not have that many players back from the team that lost to Boone in the final last year.

On a neutral site, the Wolves are a very slight favorite over arch-rival Wheeler here.
 

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Revised: February 03, 2007 .