2007 Girls Basketball Sectional Tournament Preview:  Crown Point Lady Bulldogs A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (02-03-2007)

Class (4A) Crown Point Bulldogs (10-9)
Sectional titles  (17) last in 2001
Regionals (7)  last in 1997
Semistate titles: (4) last in 1997
State Titles (2) 1984-1985

Class 4A at EAST CHICAGO (CST)
2/6 (Tu) Munster [16-6] at Gary West Side [15-5]
2/6 (Tu) Highland [16-5] at Lake Central [7-13]
2/9 (F) Munster/West Side vs. Highland/LC
2/9 (F) LOWELL [4-15] vs. East Chicago [2-18]
2/10 (S) Sectional championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A at Portage (CST)
2/6 (Tu) Portage [12-8] vs. CROWN POINT [10-9] 6 p.m.
2/6 (Tu) Chesterton [7-12] vs. MERRILLVILLE [14-5]
2/9 (F) Portage/CP vs. Chesterton/MERRILLVILLE - 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) Valparaiso [6-13] vs. Hobart [6-13]
2/10 (S) Sectional championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A at (SB) Washington (EST)
2/6 (Tu) South Bend Clay [13-9] vs. Michigan City [20-1] 6 p.m.
2/6 (Tu) South Bend Washington [21-1] vs. South Bend Adams [7-12]
2/9 (F) Clay/MC vs. Washington - 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) South Bend Riley [6-16] vs. LaPorte [10-9]
2/10 (S) Sectional championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A at Concord (EST)
2/6 (Tu) Elkhart Central [7-13] vs. Mishawaka [3-17] 6 p.m.
2/6 (Tu) Goshen [11-9] vs. Penn [14-6]
2/9 (F) Elkhart Central/ Mishawaka vs. Goshen/Penn - 6 p.m.
2/9 (F) Elkhart Memorial [17-5] vs. Concord [2-19]
2/10 (S) Sectional championship game - 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A at Valparaiso Regional (CST)
2/17 (S) EC champ vs. Goshen champ - 11 a.m.
2/17 (S) Riley champ vs. Portage champ - 1 p.m.
2/17 (S) 4A Regional championship game - 7 p.m.

Strengths:  Defense.  CP is a good half court defensive team.  They can press slower teams full court.  Daniela Tarailo is a big athletic defender on the perimeter and Rospond can block shots inside.  Depth.  Even with the loss of Sydnee Reeves and Courtney Perry, CP still has 10 players they can use.

Weaknesses:  Ballhandling.  CP has had three different starting point guards this season.  It's what has held them back offensively.  Rebounding.  With center Courtney Perry out for the year (broken foot), everybody's got to hit the boards.  CP is slow compared to Merrillville and Merrillville is the sectional favorite.

Outlook:  They wanted a bye, but if CP goes 0-3 against Portage, they should be out of the playoffs because they wouldn't have defeated Merrillville.  The Bulldogs don't have to play Merrillville back to back (Feb. 3 and Feb. 6), but they also would not have to face them as a third game in five nights.  For the sake of focus, this is the team CP needed to draw.

If they win, they get two days off to rest up for Merrillville.  After some bad losses at mid season, CP appears to have turned the corner with strong showings (early leads) against LaPorte and Michigan City and wins over Valpo and Hebron.  Putting your best athlete at the point guard position (even if she isn't a natural at that position) is what got Chesterton the sectional title in 2006.  Kristen Morason has been an adequate fill-in at center and she'll have a tall order against 5-10 Gloria Hernandez.

Tom May may go deeper into the bench for 6-foot Nicci Brown.  Unlike some teams, CP needs everybody to play well in every game and they can't take another injury.  And understand that asking someone to score in double figures for three game is a major request for a team that has no one who averages in double figures for the season.


Crown Point's Key Players:

1. Daniela Tarailo - 5-10 sophomore guard

Daniela will play a key role in any playoff game.  She will have to balance distributing the ball with taking her driving and shooting opportunities, which is her strength.  CP needs double digit scoring from Tarailo every night with Courtney Perry out, but her most important role will be to break the full court pressure of Portage and take it to the basket.  Tarailo has the athletic ability to beat the first defender, draw a second one and make the pass.  She's the key player against Portage and she would be the key player against Merrillville.

2. Anjellica Rospond -  6-1 senior forward

Here's another player who will be asked to do a lot.  Rospond has to play to her strengths, which are shooting the mid range jump shot and passing.  No one in this sectional has a tall forward to defend Anjellica.  Defensively, she's got to contest shots and rebound without getting into foul trouble.  Portage has no one taller than 5-11.  Merrillville has no one taller than 5-9.  Rospond has the offensive skills to be the MVP of this sectional.

3. Amanda Moore -  5-9 senior guard/forward

Amanda is the key to the team and the most will be asked of her next week.  She's got to be an inside-outside player because she is CP's best long range shooter.  But with Perry out, she can also slide into the post and score.  She is not 100% physically, so you might see a lot of her in the low post on offense.  If there are game-winning shots to be taken next week for CP, Moore probably takes them and if there are foul shots needed to clinch games, Moore probably makes them.


WHAT WILL HAPPEN:  Everybody wants a bye, but but I think Crown Point got the opponent they wanted.  Portage has defeated Crown Point twice and the Lady Bulldogs didn't give it a good shot either time.  Portage jumped all over CP in the first half of both games and the Lady Bulldogs' rallies were too little and too late.  CP is on the rise since they shuffled the roster and put Daniela Tarailo at lead guard.  Tarailo is not a natural point guard, but she's the team's best athlete and she does not seem to be afraid of the situation.  CP must go without post Courtney Perry, so they have to get big time effort out of Kristen Morason and Nicci Brown.  That should happen.

But the Lady Bulldogs have to score points.  One of the things that coaches can't say is that 'role playing' teams eventually get beat unless someone wants to score big baskets in big games or wants to defend the other team's top scorer.  Senior starters Anjellica Rospond and Amanda Moore will be the focus of everyone's defense, so I look for a senior like Kristi Quigley, who scored 10 last week against Valparaiso or Andjalina Obradovic, to come out firing.  But Moore and Rospond have to score in double figures and they will.

Somebody has to take on Portage's Lisa Samplawski, who is the best player in this sectional.  In the first two meetings with CP, no one bumps her, no one holds her.  No one knocks her down.  No one seriously denies her the ball.  No one double teams her.

Crown Point got the worst draw here overall.  They open with the hosts, and if they win, they'd see favored Merrillville.  And if CP gets through those two winning teams, they might see a Valparaiso team they've beaten twice in close games.

I'd be surprised if CP won three games this week, but I'd also be surprised if they didn't beat Portage.

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Revised: February 03, 2007 .