By Colin Altevogt
Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS â??? The future is now.
While everyone â??? coach Teri Rosinski included â??? wanted to be patient
and wait on this young Fort Wayne Luers team, the Knights players had
other ideas. Rosinski, a coach known for an intense, in-your-face style
of mentoring, began the season a little more relaxed than usual in an
attempt to ease the players into her system.
The team captains would have none of it. After a tough defeat to
Lima Bath (Ohio), three players approached Rosinski and informed their
coach that they did not want to be coddled.
Now they have the blue rings.
The ninth-ranked Knights, whose usual starting lineup included two
freshmen and two sophomores, defeated No. 7 Evansville Memorial, 65-54,
in the Class 3A state championship March 4 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Memorial played even with Luers over the final three quarters of the
game, but could not overcome the Knightsâ?? initial blitzkrieg. Halfway
through the first quarter, Luers was up 13-3, eight of those points
coming from lone senior Vini Dawson.
When Dawson, who recovered from the flu just in time for the game,
hit a jumper with 2:34 remaining, Evansville Memorial found itself down
20-5.
â??We normally get off to a good start in a game, but we didnâ??t do a
good job on the boards and didnâ??t shoot the basketball well in the
first quarter,â? said Memorial coach Bruce Dockery. â??We just dig
ourselves too big of a hole.â?
Rebounding was the key for Luers. The Knights finished with a 55-36
advantage over their opponent, including a 35-18 edge at the half.
Sophomores Amanda Pedro and MarKee Martin â??? a 5â??3â? point guard â??? both
tied the 3A state finals record by pulling down 14 boards apiece.
â??They just didnâ??t have an answer for our kidsâ?? rebounding,â? Rosinski said. â??It was all heart and desire from our kids.â?
Memorial trailed 24-10 after the first quarter. By halftime, the Luersâ?? lead was 34-19.
The opening half could not have gone any more poorly for the Tigers.
Standout senior point guard FahKara Malone tried to get her mates
involved but was forced into stepping up her individual game when their
shots wouldnâ??t fall. The results were debilitating.
Malone and junior forward Kari Stieler each went 1 for 8 from the
field, and the Tigers were 1 for 8 as a team on 3-point attempts. Their
offensive troubles were compounded by 6-of-13 shooting from the free
throw line.
Malone, who came in averaging 20.3 points a game, was held to just four at the half.
â??FahKara is a special young lady and an outstanding basketball
player,â? Dockery said. â??As well as she played today, unfortunately
everybody didnâ??t see the real FahKara Malone.â?
After connecting on just 19 percent of its field goal attempts in
the first half (6 of 31), Memorialâ??s shooting started to heat up a bit
in the third. Every time the Tigers scored, however, Luers seemed to
have an answer. And Memorial was in no shape to trade baskets.
The Knights took a 10-point advantage into the fourth, 49-39.
With fans from nearby Castle trickling in for the 4A game, senior
guard Courtney Reising hit a three to cut the lead into single digits
for the first time since 4:14 of the first quarter. The Evansville fans
erupted.
On the other end, though, Luers freshman Kelsey Wyss answered with a
three of her own. Fifteen seconds later, Dawson scored to stretch the
lead to 12 at 54-42, and the margin never dipped below nine for the
rest of the game.
Wyss and Dawson combined for 35 points on 13-of-24 shooting. Playing
her best game of the season, Wyss led all scorers with 21 points, nine
of those coming in the fourth quarter when the Tigers attempted to claw
back into the contest.
â??The shot was falling so I kept shooting,â? Wyss said.
Memorial sophomore center Chelsea Falkenstein cut the deficit to
nine on a putback with just under four minutes left, but Wyss again
responded, nailing a jumper with 3:32 remaining then hitting a pair
from the line with 2:17 to go that put Luers up, 62-49. And though the
Knights struggled from the line, going just 1 for 6 in the final two
minutes, it didnâ??t matter.
Pedro joined Wyss and Dawson in double digits with 13 points, while
the diminutive Martin â??? she of the 14 boards â??? filled out the most
interesting stat line of the night: 3 of 16 from the field, 0 of 2 from
3-point range, 1 of 6 from the free throw line, 14 rebounds, seven
assists, seven turnovers.
Luersâ?? victory extends its Indiana girls record to five state championships, two ahead of Kokomo and Tri-Central.
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Malone (20) and Martin (12) continue their backcourt battle. The Purdue-bound Malone scored 20 points in the 3A finals.
Photo by Scott Sampson |
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Malone and Martin, Part III. The 5’3″ Martin tallied a record 14 rebounds in leading the Knights to victory.
Photo by Scott Sampson |
Memorialâ??s Balbach named Mental Attitude Award winner
Girls Basketball Class 3A recipient of the Patricia L. Roy Mental
Attitude Award.
the schoolâ??s first-ever trip to the IHSAA state finals. She is a
four-time Academic All-City selection who has played on three sectional
and city champion teams, two regional winners, and two conference title
squads.
each in cross country and track, and two in basketball. She is a
three-time state qualifier in track and a four-time semistate qualifier
in cross country, earning all-conference honors in both.
grade point average on a 6.0 scale. She is a student council
representative who is active in the Snowflake Alcohol & Drug
Education Program for seventh- and eighth-grade students and the Tigers
in Drug Education high school program.
model and mentor to younger students,â? said Memorialâ??s principal, Gerry
Adams. â??While others celebrated our semistate championship last
Saturday evening, she returned to be part of the Snowflake overnight
retreat.
Easter Seals volunteer and a youth minister at St. Theresa Church. She
plans to study pharmacy at Purdue or business at Indiana University.
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