Published: February 14, 2008 10:58 pm            

Northwestern, Calumet offer contrasting styles

Squads will meet in second semifinal at Rensselaer

Win or lose, Calumet girls basketball coach Dori Downing is fired up about heading back to Rensselaer for Saturday’s Class 3A girls basketball regional.

The Warriors hadn’t been there previously in her 12-year tenure as coach, but after claiming the sectional title there, Downing raved about the treatment her squad got at Rensselaer.

“The first three times [we played there] were last week, and I’ll tell you it feels like home,” she said.

Saturday four teams head to Rensselaer hoping to turn the gym into their own friendly confines with a championship. The Plymouth (18-4) vs. Hammond (19-2) game opens the regional at 11 a.m. Kokomo time. Northwestern (22-0) faces Calumet (20-4) at 1 p.m. The championship is at 8:30 p.m. Kokomo time.

Northwestern is facing very different squad than itself in Calumet.

“Calumet is kind of a small, athletic team. They’re pretty quick,” NW coach Todd Miller said. “They like to pressure you a little bit, but they’re not really a fullcourt team.

“[They] play 2-3 zone but they like to be active, they like to gamble a little bit, go for steals.”

Miller noted strong play from Calumet’s leading scorer, 5-foot-6 sophomore guard Juaneice Jackson, and 5-5 junior point guard Megan Leal and 5-5 senior forward Aiesha Walker. Jackson (16.8 points per game, 5 steals) does damage as a penetrator, Leal (7.3 ppg) is an outside threat and Walker (13.4 ppg, 5.7 rebounds) drives and shoots from outside.

Against the smaller Warriors, the Tigers want to go inside to exploit their size advantage. Northwestern is led by forward Natalie Appelhans (15.7 ppg), who looks to go inside first, but can score in a variety of ways inside and out. Center Becki Lowden is second on the team at 11.1 ppg, followed by wings Lindsey Sewell (9 ppg) and Sarah Lubben (8.5 ppg), and point guard Annelise Tarkington (6.1 ppg).

“[The Warriors] are not real big so obviously one of our strengths is our inside game,” Miller said. “We definitely need to get the ball inside to Appelhans and Lowden. That’s going to be a key for us. If [the Warriors] can keep the ball out of their hands, it’s going to play into their game plan.”

Northwestern is outrebounding opponents by 8.6 caroms per game. Lowden is voracious around the glass, averaging 9.4 rpg, including 4.1 on the offensive end.

Calumet is wary of the threat Northwestern poses inside. Asked what she has to deal with in the Tigers, Downing laughed and said “a bunch of monsters!”

“They’re a lot bigger than us,” Downing said. “I’m not a fool. We’re up against a lot, we know that. We’re going to try to have our speed benefit us. We’re going to make sure we get back on defense, cover the post, try to cover those shooters. Northwestern’s got a little bit of everything, but we’re mindful of that.”

Downing, a voter in the state poll, said she’s been voting Northwestern No. 1 for approximately six weeks. The No. 4-ranked Tigers got two first-place votes in the last state poll.

When it has the ball, Calumet likes to run a fast, physical offense.

“[We must] do a pretty good job of containing their penetration,” Miller said. “They’re kind of a team where they’ll make three, four, five passes and if nothing happens, they like to create on their own, so we’ve got to do a good job of guarding against that.”

Downing said this Calumet team is one of the best in her dozen years guiding the Warriors.

“I’ve got a very close team that works well together,” she said. “When we get the basketball, there’s a good focus on common goals and what sacrifice means. And they work hard and want to achieve stuff.”

Miller also listed focus as a Northwestern strength. He noted that on the way home from the sectional championship at Twin Lakes last week, the Tigers were already interested in learning about their possible regional opponents.

In the other semifinal, perennial contender Hammond is in its fourth straight regional but has fallen in the first round each time. The Wildcats take on a strong No. 9-ranked Plymouth team in another matchup of a smaller team (Hammond) vs. a larger one (Plymouth).

Miller expects another Tiger attribute to be key Saturday: stamina, both mental and physical.

“I think it’s really tough for teams to stick with us for 32 minutes,” he said. “I think we’re a well-conditioned team, we’re an athletic team, we don’t get worn down, we have good subs, and also our mental approach [is good]. It’s tough for a team, for 32 minutes, to face all that.”



Class 3A regional:

At Rensselaer, Saturday

11 a.m. — Plymouth (18-4) vs. Hammond (19-2)

1 p.m. — Northwestern (22-0) vs. Calumet (20-4)

8:30 p.m. — Championship

        

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