By Colin Altevogt
Staff Writer
ELKHART â??? â??And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground.â?
So goes the famous Bible verse used in the movie â??Hoosiersâ? before Hickory upset the team from South Bend in the state championship. It may as well have been Fort Wayne Luers’ motto in the semistate championship Feb. 25 at Elkhart Central.
With a state finals berth on the line, the young Luers squad downed defending Class 3A state champion South Bend St. Josephâ??s, 56-49, in the second of two semistate championships in Elkhartâ??s North Side gym. The youthful Knights, who start four underclassmen, have not lost to a team from Indiana since Dec. 6 at Warsaw, a string of 17 consecutive victories inside the state.
Both teams started off hesitantly. Second-ranked St. Joeâ??s (22-3) committed seven turnovers while No. 9 Luers (23-4) shot 3 for 14 from the field in a first quarter that ended knotted at 8.
Early foul trouble hurt Luers as freshman Mary Hathaway and sophomore Amanda Pedro spent much of the first half on the bench. St. Joeâ??s led, 22-18, at the half.
Needing a spark after intermission, Luersâ?? captain Vini Dawson, the teamâ??s only senior, hit a pair of free throws and put back a miss in the first minute. The Knights then grabbed the lead when sophomore MarKee Martin, the gameâ??s leading scorer with 19 points, scored three the old-fashioned way with 6:28 remaining in the third.
Twenty seconds later, Dawson broke a 25-all tie with a 3-pointer. St. Joeâ??s guard Sydney Smallbone answered with the Indiansâ?? only three of the game to even the contest again. But Hathaway returned with three fouls and nailed a shot a step back from the arc, igniting a 10-2 Knight run that culminated in freshman Kelsey Wyssâ?? three-point play with 1:39 left in the third.
With Luers threatening to pull away before the final period, St. Joeâ??s senior guard Melissa Lechlitner began to carry her team. The Notre Dame-bound Lechlitner, the star of last yearâ??s state championship win over Corydon when she put up 28, scored eight of her team-high 16 points in the third. She scored on an easy layup and knocked down a jump shot to bring the Indians within four, 38-34, at the end of three.
St. Joeâ??s chipped away at the deficit in the fourth, tying the game twice before reclaiming the lead on a shot underneath from Lechlitner. The Knights responded, however, getting an easy two when Pedro found a wide-open Hathaway off an inbounds play.
Despite being held to just four points â??? all in the first quarter â??? Pedro was key for the Knights. The hero of the dramatic sectional championship game against Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran grabbed 10 boards, many of those coming in critical stages late in the contest.
The Indians again tied the game on a pair from the line by Lechlitner, but the Knights got buckets from freshmen Megan Pedro and Wyss, creating a four-point gap. St. Joeâ??s would not lead or tie again.
St. Joeâ??s cut the deficit to a basket, 51-49, after a layup from 6â??5â? center Kristen Dockery with a minute on the clock, but Luers went 5 of 6 from the stripe in the last 60 seconds to preserve the victory.
Luers advances to play Evansville Memorial at Conseco Fieldhouse next week. The game will be the Knightsâ?? third appearance in the 3A state championship in the last five years, including a title in 2002 in coach Teri Rosinskiâ??s first year. The three years before that, Luers won back-to-back-to-back titles in the 2A tournament.
Processing your request, Please wait....
