By Mike
McGraw
Executive
Director
THORNTOWN – Western Boone’s Brandy Woody
and Crawfordsville’s Lexi Stevens are both outstanding point guards, but they
are quite different players. Woody is a dynamic scorer who can carry a team
offensively, while Stevens is the ultimate floor general and the undisputed
leader of the Class 3A sixth-ranked Athenians.
The two players hooked up Nov. 21 in the
first round of the Sugar Creek Classic in a battle for the ages. Stevens, who
makes sure Crawfordsville’s big guns, Alex Gasaway and Mandi Johnson, get the
ball in position to be productive, had the last laugh in a scintillating 58-57
Crawfordsville victory.
That is, if she had enough strength left to
laugh.
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HIGHLIGHTS!!
The
key to this contest was Western Boone’s game plan. The Stars harassed Stevens
mercilessly from the outset in an attempt to get the ball out of her hands.
After
all, the best way to **** a serpent is to cut off the head. If Stevens did not
have the ball, it stood to reason, she could not get it to the big guns.
For
16 minutes, the plan worked to perfection. Western Boone grizzled Stevens,
forcing her into several turnovers. When the ball was not in her hands, the
Crawfordsville offense was a turnover waiting to happen.
In
all, the Athenians committed 15 first-half miscues. To make matters worse,
Johnson picked up her second foul with a minute to play in the first quarter,
and Gasaway was not far behind.
After
a 12-12 tie at the end of one, Crawfordsville was forced to switch to a passive
zone for most of the second quarter to survive the early foul trouble. And it
looked for awhile like the tactic might work.
After
giving Western Boone a 5-0 run to start the second quarter, Crawfordsville
scored five points of its own to again forge a tie. It was at this point,
however, that the Stars tactics began to pay real dividends.
Western
Boone ended the half on a 15-2 run that was punctuated by a flurry of Athenian
mistakes. The Stars went to intermission with a 32-19 cushion, and it looked
like Crawfordsville was in real trouble.
Whatever
was said at halftime, Crawfordsville returned to the floor in the third quarter
with a renewed sense of purpose. The Athenians went on a 12-4 run to start the stanza
and bring the margin to five at 36-31.
Woody
immediately responded with an old-fashioned three-point play to push the lead
back to eight. But reserve Athenian post player Betty Elliot made two huge
plays in the final minute of the quarter and, at the end of three periods, it
was 39-35 in favor of Western Boone.
A
funny thing happened as the tense fourth quarter began. Suddenly, Stevens no
longer seemed bothered by the Western Boone pressure.
She
began to assert herself, and the Athenians went on an 11-4 run to take a 46-43
lead. The spurt was capped when Stevens aggressively drove against the tight
defense she was facing and was fouled, and she calmly sank both free throws.
From
this point to the end of the game, the two point guards put on one heck of a
show. Woody scored on each of Western Boone’s next three possessions. Stevens,
meanwhile, assisted on three straight Crawfordsville scores, one by Johnson and
two by Gasaway.
The
fireworks brought the score to 52-51 in favor of Crawfordsville.
After
another Gasaway bucket, Woody canned a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54. Once
again, Elliot came to the Athenians’ rescue, grabbing an offensive rebound and
sticking it back in for a 56-54 lead.
Then
Katie Brewer, the other perimeter threat for Western Boone, found the mark with
a three with 22 seconds remaining. Suddenly, the Stars held the lead at 57-56.
After
a Crawfordsville timeout, Western Boone spoiled a sideline inbounds play,
knocking the ball out on the baseline. The Stars’ defense remained stout,
knocking a second baseline inbounds pass out of play.
That
left 2.1 seconds for Crawfordsville to take one last try.
This
time the Athenians sprung Johnson open on a roll back to the basket after a
screen at the foul line. Care to take a guess at who delivered the pass?
That’s
right. Stevens triggered a perfect inbounds pass to her mate, and Johnson did
the rest in canning a short shot from the right block.
After
its careless ballhandling in the first half, Crawfordsville committed only two
turnovers in the second half. Stevens survived and eventually outsmarted a
defensive effort as stern as any she will face all year.
Perhaps
most importantly, a Crawfordsville team that had trouble playing under pressure
last season responded with flying colors on this night. On the other hand,
Western Boone served notice the Stars are anything but frightened of the Athenians.
Woody
ended the night with a game-high 24 points, while Brewer added 16 markers to
the effort. Gasaway led the Athenians with 23 points.
The
evening’s first game supplied a math lesson to both Southmont and North
Montgomery. The Mounties learned 27 does not equal 32. Meanwhile, North
Montgomery learned five can equal three.
Southmont
controlled much of the first half of this game and enjoyed a 12-10 lead midway
through the second quarter. Then the Chargers went on a 14-2 run spanning the
last three minutes of the second period and the first two minutes of the third
stanza.
The
resulting 24-14 lead was all the cushion the Chargers would need. They played
evenly until the final minutes and eventually took a 48-34 victory.
With
the exception of the five-minute lapse, Southmont played the heavily favored
Chargers evenly throughout. For North Montgomery, the five-minute surge was
enough to garner its third victory of the season without a defeat.
Crawfordsville
and North Montgomery will meet at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday for the championship,
while Western Boone and Southmont will meet in the consolation at six o’clock.
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