Satellites Orbit Tiger Den, Land Safely With Two Wins!

It was a doubleheader, that would double as Senior Night for the LaCrosse Lady Tigers. In honor of Senior Night, the usual order of a girl/boy doubleheader was reversed, with the boys teams taking the floor first.

Things would start off fairly tame in the first game, with each team showing some signs of early game jitters. LaCrosse’s Ben Garwood came out like a man on a mission, getting the ball in the post and going straight to the basket time and time again against the athletic opposition. The 6’4 Sophomore would even be seen knocking down a 3-pointer in the first half on his way to a game-high 15 point first half. Unfortunately for Garwood, his aggressiveness would get him into foul trouble, forcing Coach Preston Frame to bring him out of the ballgame for long stints. With LaCrosse focusing in on stopping South Central’s 6’8 center, Brendan Carr, the Satellites would lean heavily on Junior Gavin Scott, who would drop 14 points in the first half, including 4 of the team’s 6 first half made 3-point shots. Carr would not end the half empty handed, as he was still able to put up 8 points in the first two quarters. The first quarter would end with the Satellites leading 18-10. The second quarter would see nearly the same results as the first, with LaCrosse leaning on Garwood in the paint and at the free-throw line, while South Central continued to rely on Scott and Carr for the inside-outside combination. The Satellites would outscore the Tigers in the second quarter 18-14, to take a 36-24 halftime lead.

The second half would see a new hero emerge for the Satellites, as Zack Christy would come alive in a big way. After scoring just 3 points in the first half, the 6’1 Senior exploded for 12 in the second half, with an impressive display of athleticism and finesse. Christy would be seen driving through the defense at times, getting to the hoop for layups. At other times, he would be seen knocking down midrange jumpers off the dribble.

At game’s end, the Satellites would have 9 individuals put up points in the win, five of whom scored in double figures, led by Gavin Scott’s 19. The Tigers would have a fine showing by Ben Garwood, who would lead all scorers with 23 points, despite having to spend significant minutes on the bench in foul trouble. It would be Satellites’ Gavin Scott who would earn the Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game honors, with his 19 point performance, which included four 3-pointers, and 3-4 at the free throw line, while also pulling down 5 rebounds, and grabbing 3 steals in the win. The Satellites improve to 6-8 on the year, including 1-4 in conference play, while the Tigers drop to 2-11, and an 0-1 PCC record.

Game number two would see the girls teams in the spotlight, with LaCrosse looking for a second consecutive win, while South Central was looking to get back on the winning side of things, after having lost to Morgan Township in the championship game of the Porter County Conference Tournament.

The game would start off with a good back and forth, that saw intense defenses from Wes Bucher and Chris McGowen’s squads. The two veteran coaches would provide the fans with an entertaining chess match, with the Lady Satellites as well as the Lady Tigers bouncing in and out of different styles of zone and man-to-man defenses. The first quarter would end with the Satellites leading 15-9, with no one individual lighting up the scoreboard, rather each team would rely on 5 or 6 individuals to help get points on the board. The second quarter would continue on with a similar pace as the first. Both teams would show multiple bright spots in different areas. It would be the defense of South Central that would make the biggest difference in the first half, as they were able to record 8 steals as a team. Not surprisingly, 6’0 Senior Amber Wolf would be looked to, to spark things in the scoring column as she would put up 9 of her game-high 15 points in the first half, helping lead the Lady Satellites to a 26-18 lead at the half.

The second half would witness the launching of the Lady Satellites, as they blew the game wide open, outscoring the Lady Tigers 17-5 in the third quarter, to hold a 43-23 lead going into the final quarter. Once again the Lady Satellites would find seven girls in the scoring column in the second half of play, led by Faith Biggs and Amber Wolf, who each put up 7 points in the final two quarter. LaCrosse, meanwhile, would rely on the very athletic Mya Morrow and the extremely tough Claire Garwood for the bulk of their second half scoring, as each would chip in 5 points in the final two quarters.

In the end, the balanced scoring attack and mixture of defenses by South Central would prove to be too much for the Lady Tigers on Senior Night. The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game honors for the girls portion of the doubleheader would go to Senior Amber Wolf, who scored a game-high 15 points, which included 3-4 at the free throw line to go along with 6 field goals. She also was able to corral 7 rebounds and pull away 2 steals in a tremendous all around effort in the win.

The Lady Satellites improve to 16-7 on the year, including 6-1 in Porter County Conference play, while the Lady Tigers drop to 9-13 on the year, and 3-4 in the PCC. The Sectionals are up next for the ladies. With South Central now in class 2A, the Lady Satellites will be taking on Wes Radtke’s 13-9 Rensselaer Lady Bombers in the first round of Sectional 34 at Hebron, while the Lady Tigers have a first round bye in Sectional 50 at Culver, and will await the winner of Argos (12-9) and Triton (10-13)

Boys Game Statistics

Scoring

South Central(73): Zack Christy-15, Brady Glisic-8, Alex Newburn-2, Gavin Scott-19, Trent Smoker-6, Brendan Carr-16, Jax Markus-1, Sam Haschel-3, Justin Bunce-3

LaCrosse(43): Kyle Gorski-2, Devin McCoy-2, Brandon Brust-4, Zach Brust-12, Ben Garwood-23

Free Throws

SC: 11-19 57%

LaC: 11-14 78%

3-Point Shots Made

SC(8): Zack Christy-1, Gavin Scott-4, Trent Smoker-1, Sam Haschel-1

LaC(4): Zach Brust-3, Ben Garwood-1

Rebounding

SC(23): Zack Christy-2, Brady Glisic-2, Alex Newburn-1, Gavin Scott-5, Trent Smoker-3, Brendan Carr-6, Karson Bailey-1, Trent Hudspeth-3

LaC(12): Kyle Gorski-1, Brandon Brust-4, Zach Grieger-4, Zach Brust-3, Jesse Rhoda-1

Steals

SC(12): Zack Christy-2, Brady Glisic-3, Gavin Scott-3, Trent Smoker-2, Sam Haschel-1, Justin Bunce-1

LaC(3): Brandon Brust-1, Jesse Rhoda-2

Girls Game Statistics

Scoring

SC(51): Delanie Gale-8, Falyn Anthony-3, Abby Tomblin-6, Faith Biggs-8, Lexy Wade-4, Amber Wolf-15, Olivia Marks-5

LaC(32): Hailey O’Brien-1, Mya Morrow-8, Kaylee Welkie-4, Sami Vance-2, Madi Heavilin-4, Claire Garwood-10, , Jersie Bartels-3

Free Throws

SC: 9-12 75%

LaC: 8-19 42%

3-Point Shots Made

SC(4): Falyn Anthony-1, Abby Tomblin-1, Faith Biggs-2

LaC(2): Claire Garwood-2

Rebounding

SC(32): Delanie Gale-3, Falyn Anthony-2, Abby Tomblin-3, Faith Biggs-5, Lexy Wade-4, Amber Wolf-7, Holly Noveroske-2, Olivia Marks-5, Violet Noveroske-1

LaC(24): Hailey O’Brien-5, Morgan Wozniak-1, Mya Morrow-3, Kaylee Welkie-1, Sami Vance-5, Madi Heavilin-4, Claire Garwood-4, Jersie Bartels-1

Steals

SC(14): Delanie Gale-3, Elle Kimmel-1, Falyn Anthony-3, Abby Tomblin-1, Faith Biggs-3, Amber Wolf-2, Holly Noveroske-1

LaC(7): Hailey O’Brien-2, Morgan Wozniak-1, Mya Morrow-2, Avery Hendrixson-1, Kaylee Welkie-1

*Statistics In This Article Provided By Kankakee Valley Broadcasting Staff. These Are Not Official Game Statistics*