Indians win pair before falling

Pioneer Press Article

January 3, 2007

By MIKE LANSU Contributor

Lane Tech's girls basketball team proved it is better than its record indicates by winning its first two games of the Public League Holiday Tournament.

The Indians defeated Hubbard 45-31, Tuesday, Dec. 26 in its first round game. Kristen Cline scored 12 points, while Tiffany Jackson added 10 points and six assists. Alexis Dillon and Maria Joyce added eight points each.

"We've been playing better and that's why we won four games in a row," Lane head coach Frank Zepf said. "We got our front line girls involved. We've been talking about doing that all season and they are finally starting to see the light."

The Indians won their second game by defeating Hyde Park 48-39, Wednesday, Dec. 27. Lane took a 14-4 lead, led by 12 at halftime, and Hyde Park never rebounded.

"We did a nice job again of getting our post players involved," Zepf said. "We had a short bench with three people out with injuries, two people out of town and one person sick. Only seven people dressed, but we did a nice job of fighting through it."

Jackson scored 15 points, while Marry Dennewitz scored 12, Joyce nine, Dillon eight and Cline six.

"It's nice to get balanced scoring," Zepf said. "We're getting our confidence back and for the most part everyone is playing pretty well."

Lane lost to Harlan 53-43 last Thursday, despite being tied at halftime.

"I think playing short-handed the night before really caught up with us," Zepf said. "Mary played over 30 minutes both games. Then Maria got into foul trouble and that really hurt."

Jackson scored 12 points, while Dennewitz finished with 10, Dillon six and Cline four. Leah Czuhajewski contributed off the bench on the boards.

"We've been emphasizing our rebounding and really working at it in practice," Zepf said. "We've been cutting down on our turnovers and really rebounding better.

"Against Harlan, they went to a man-to-man defense and all we've been seeing is a zone. We forgot how to execute our man offense. That could have been to the holidays, but we shouldn't forget how to run the offense. We run the same plays over and over again in practice all the time and in the summer leagues."

Lane (6-9) will look to get back on the winning track when they face Evanston, Friday before resuming conference play with a pair of games against Roosevelt.

"We play a tough schedule on purpose. We want to play strong opponents that will challenge us," Zepf said. "You don't get better by playing someone else's J.V. team."