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| | |  | Crete-Monee Girls Like Underdog Role - Northwest Indiana Times |
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| Posted By: Kristina Smith on 2008-02-22 23:12:07 EST | Email Story | Flag As Spam | Comments (0) |
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Prep Beat
Mike Nieto
The Crete-Monee girls basketball team went through the season with just seven varsity regulars and the Super Seven will be playing in one the biggest games in the program's history when the Warriors face favored Hillcrest tonight in the championship game of the Class 3A Crete-Monee Regional.
Crete-Monee has had seven players all year and the girls told first-year coach Mike Pope they wanted to stay with seven for the tournament. Sort of their way of showing they are the underdogs.
It has been 25 years since the program has won a regional crown.
The Warriors have won 10 of their last 11 games with their only loss in 2008 being in the regular-season finale to Rich Central. That one hurt as it cost the Warriors a share of the SICA South title and Crete has not won a conference title since 1988. It avenged the loss Tuesday by eliminating the Olympians in a first-round game.
This was a program that has struggled the past few years with discipline and sub-.500 records. Pope admits he had to not only make changes with the team, but he also had to change his strategy. After Christmas, he switched from a trapping 2-3 zone to a 1-2-2 half-court defense because he did lack depth.
There simply is no eighth man or woman. Crete was 6-9 and is now 16-10.
"It's tough to do all that with just seven kids because you can't move kids in and out. It was hard because pressing takes a lot of you when you can't come out for a break," Pope said. "I was trying to force my style on the kids that I used at Blue Ridge. I knew I had to adapt to the talent I had."
Pope was successful as the boys coach at Blue Ridge in Farmer City, a school of 284 students. It was a place where everyone went out for basketball, which is not the case at Crete-Monee, which graduates more seniors the Blue Ridge had students.
"I told the girls, it is still doing the fundamentals and putting the ball through the hoop," Pope said. "Our girls, they want to win and they see how hard work can pay off."
If you look at the numbers, there is no big scorer, though junior Loretta Burton averages 10.6 points per game. Shantika Ford, who transferred from Marist two years ago, is about 8.5, but Pope said she has averaged a little more than 11 points over the last 10 games. Senior Kristina Smith is getting the job done on the boards with 8.2 rebounds per game and 9.7 ppg. Sophomore point guard Tracea Smith, a transfer from Rich South, has shown leadership and has hit a few big shots this season.
Another number that Pope points out is the Warriors are 14-3 when they practice the day before a game. They are 2-7 when they don't and that includes playing games on consecutive days like in tournaments.
You can bet the Warriors had a good practice on Thursday and they are hoping it isn't their last one of the year. |
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| Posted in basketball, high school sports, women's athletics |
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