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BY JOHN GORDON JTGORDON@LEADERNET
Thursday, January 27, 2000 Page: 28
Meyers managed two points on a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter of
the Jan. 19 junior varsity girls basketball contest against Crestwood. The
Mohawks went 6-for-21 at the charity stripe, trailed 23-19 at halftime and
were held to two points in the final frame. They were seemingly overmatched
and definitely undermanned, suiting up only six players for the contest.
All of this did not matter. They still won 38-33.
Heather Antolik and Caelie McCormick outscored the entire Comet offense in
the second half and they accomplished the feat in the third quarter alone. The
two girls combined for 13 points in the third frame as Meyers outscored their
opponent 17-4. Crestwood was held to 10 points in the second half.
The game began with sloppy play by both teams. The two squads continually
turned the ball over on errant passes, traveling calls and fundamental
mistakes.
The errors gave way in the latter half of the first quarter as both
offenses started to find a rhythm and the basket.
Missy Stout turned in a strong performance early as she drained three shots
to stake the Comets to a 10-8 lead after one quarter. She finished the game
with six points.
Crestwood continued with an offensive assault in the second quarter, led by
Kristen Boone’s four points that catapulted the Lady Comets to a 23-19
halftime lead. Boone had eight points in the half and finished with a
team-high 12 points, including a 4-for-5 showing at the free throw line.
Then came the decisive third quarter, highlighted by a ferocious full-court
press by Meyers which produced turnover after turnover and many transition
points. “We had the zone press working really well tonight,” said Meyers
head coach Bob Hassel.
The score went from a 25-23 Comet lead to a 31-25 Mohawk advantage in two
minutes due to the relentless defensive traps. “Real aggressive defense was
displayed by our team,” said Hassel.
The 8-0 run by Meyers came to an end when Crestwood’s Charbi Ann Webby hit
two of her fourth-quarter four points with a strong move to the hoop with 3:30
left in the third. Webby finished with six points.
The Mohawks got seven points from Antolik and six from McCormick as Meyers
dominated the quarter and built its biggest lead heading into the final frame,
36-27.
Antolik had seven points in the definitive quarter, and finished as the
game’s top scorer with 17. McCormick had six points in the third and finished
with nine points. She muscled inside repeatedly and her hustle paid off as she
pulled down several offensive boards and put a few of them back for key
scores. “The girls moved the ball around the perimeter and inside extremely
well,” said Hassel.
The only drama left in the waning moments of the game was whether the
Mohawks were going to be shut out by Crestwood in the final stanza.
Part of the punchless offense by the Lady Mohawks was because they went
into a semi-stall trying to run some time off the clock. Meyers was unable to
produce a field goal late in the contest but Heather Antolik managed to draw a
foul with 10 seconds left. She nailed both free throws in helping her team
avoid putting a zero under their fourth quarter tally. MEYERS (38) H. Antolik
7 3-5 17, McCormick 3 3-8 9, Sawicki 4 0-4 8, Hassel 1 0-2 2, Grilli 0 0-2 0,
Waechter 1 0-0 2, Totals 16 6-21 38
CRESTWOOD (33) Boone 4 4-5 12, Stout 3 0-0 6, Webby 3 0-0 6, Morgan 2 0-0
4, Babish 1 0-0 2, Joyce 1 0-0 2, Conway 0 0-0 0, Gehringer 0 0-0 0, Totals 14
4-5 33 Meyers 8 11 17 2 — 38 Crestwood 10 13 4 6 — 33 3-point goals: none