Published: November 15, 2008 11:42 pm            

South claims its second sraight Clabber Girl title

TERRE HAUTE — After a first-round girls high school basketball game against Owen Valley, the tournament runner-up the past two years, and a semifinal matchup with city rival Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South’s path to a third straight HI-99 Clabber Girl Classic looked like it would be downhill all the way Saturday night.

Maybe that’s what the Braves were thinking too, as it turned out, because unheralded Fountain Central played the Braves on virtually even terms for a half before South finally annexed its third straight championship by a 62-39 score.

“We came out too slow,” admitted South’s Krista Smith after the game, looking back to a second quarter in which the Mustangs were within a basket until the final moments. “We didn’t get our energy level high enough.”

“Sometimes we try to force things we shouldn’t,” added teammate Tessa Johnson.

But the Braves hit their first six shots in the second half, not missing until past the midpoint of the third quarter, and quickly blew a 32-25 lead up to near-blowout proportions.

“We picked up our defensive energy,” said coach Dave Cassell. “The girls know the first three minutes of the third quarter [are important].”

Smith hit three of those six third-quarter baskets, with Dragana Grbic getting two and Johnson one. Haley Seibert and Randa Rector each had two assists, Johnson and Smith one apiece. And by the time any Mustang but Kenzi Lindquist — who had all five Fountain Central points in the third quarter — scored in the second half, the game was well out of reach.

“We just ran out of gas,” coach Brad Odom of the Mustangs said later. “We gave it everything we had.

“It says a lot about how hard our team works, to stay with a team that good for that long.”

Fountain Central showed immediately it wasn’t at Saturday night’s game to settle for second place, stealing the opening tip and taking the lead on a 3-pointer by Natalie Robinson.

South took its first lead at 6-5 on Grbic’s third first-quarter basket, then got six straight points to break a 6-6 tie. When Johnson opened the second quarter with a basket for a 16-8 lead, it appeared the Braves might be ready to pull away.

Instead Robinson — the eventual tournament MVP — led her team back into contention. She scored one basket and assisted on two, then hit another 3-pointer that cut the lead to 18-17. At that point of the second quarter neither team had missed, but two South turnovers had enabled the Mustangs to close the gap.

Grbic got the game’s next five points, and again the Braves looked ready to go on a run. But two free throws by Lauren Krout and two more by Robinson had Fountain Central within 23-21, and a basket by Johnson was answered by Fountain Central’s Katie Krout.

Seibert helped South open a little bit of daylight before intermission, getting a basket, a steal and two assists in the Braves’ 7-2 run to close out the half. And finally in the third quarter the Braves took over for good.

“[The Mustangs] were a good team,” Johnson said later, “but we came out strong [in the third quarter].”

“We always try to push harder in the second half,” added Smith.

Johnson and Smith had 17 points each for the Braves and Grbic added 15. Lindquist scored 13 and Robinson — who rested some injuries in the second half once the game got out of hand — added 11 for Fountain Central.

Cassell credited Johnson and then Rector for slowing Robinson, and thanked assistant coach Aaron Byrd for suggesting the switch of Rector on Robinson once Johnson picked up a third foul.

And the Braves, particularly the four senior regulars, celebrated the continuation of a tradition.

“When we lost our freshman year, it was kind of a downer — especially since it was against North,” Rector said. “We definitely didn’t want to lose it our senior year.”

“It feels great, especially our senior year,” echoed Grbic. “I thought we really played well as a team.”

“It feels good, as a senior, to be the first team to win it three years [in a row],” noted Smith.

“It feels good,” repeated Johnson. “I think we’ve had a strong start of the season at practice, and we’re ready to go.”



Terre Haute South 62

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Johnson 8-12 1-3 0-0 1 1 3 17

Smith 7-11 0-2 3-5 5 3 3 17

Grbic 7-9 0-0 1-2 6 4 2 15

Rector 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2 3 0

Seibert 1-1 0-0 2-2 2 2 2 4

Metheny 1-3 0-0 1-3 2 0 1 3

Lee 3-7 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 6

Bailey 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0

Vollrath 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 2 0

Goss 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Dietz 0-0 0-0 0-2 3 0 2 0

Totals 27-49 1-9 7-14 *27 12 20 62

Fountain Central 39

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

L.Krout 0-4 0-0 2-2 5 0 3 2

N.Robinson 3-8 2-5 3-4 3 2 2 11

Lindquist 5-10 0-1 3-4 2 0 0 13

M.Robinson 0-3 0-2 3-4 0 1 0 3

Shoaf 1-2 0-1 1-3 1 1 1 3

Bowman 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 1 0

K.Krout 2-2 0-0 0-2 5 0 1 4

Sanders 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0 0

Price 1-4 0-0 0-0 4 0 2 2

Galloway 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

McGrady 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0 0 1

Totals 12-36 2-9 13-22 *35 5 10 39

Terre Haute South 14 18 19 11 — 62

Fountain Central 8 17 5 9 — 39

FG Pct. — THS .551, FC .333. 3-pt FG Pct. — THS .111, FC .222. FT Pct. — THS .500, FC .591. (*) Includes team rebounds — THS 7, FC 11. Turnovers — THS 8, FC 21. Assists — THS 17 (Seibert 6, Rector 5), FC 9 (N.Robinson 4). Blocks — THS 6 (Grbic 3), FC 1 (Bowman).

Next — Both teams have home games Tuesday, South (3-0) against Bloomington South and Fountain Central (2-1) against Western Boone.

        

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