PORTAGE | Courtney Kvachkoff might not have been totally pleased with her offensive performance Tuesday night, but the Crown Point senior guard got the desired result.
Kvachkoff was just 3-of-10 from the field and 10-of-15 from the free throw line, but it was enough to help the Bulldogs get past host Portage in the opening round of the Class 4A Sectional.
"It wasn't a hot shooting night," said Kvachkoff, who finished with team highs of 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the 53-47 hard-fought win. "I just did anything I could to get us the W."
Crown Point will face LaPorte in Friday's semifinals. The Slicers defeated defending champion Chesterton 38-31.
Crown Point's Kvachkoff had five consecutive dishes in the second quarter, helping her team go on a 17-5 run and lead 30-22 at the break.
"That was a momentum builder for us," Kvachkoff said. "It was huge."
But the Indians (5-18) were far from finished. They went to a 1-3-1 half-court trap, which played a part in 10 Crown Point turnovers in the second half. Nicki Monahan scored 12 of her game-high 18 in the second half, draining a 3-pointer to give Portage a 43-42 lead with 3:45 remaining in the game.
"I wanted our girls to be active with their hands and speed it up a bit," Portage coach Chris Seibert said. "Our kids did a great job of fighting back."
Alexis Johnson and Kaitlin Doud each added 10 for Portage.
The Bulldogs pulled away from the free throw line, outscoring the Indians 11-4 the rest of the way.
Kvachkoff, who was 9-of-12 from the line in the fourth, hit four straight to extend the lead to 49-43.
"Courtney's a gamer, she won't lose her confidence," Crown Point coach Annie Equihua said. "She could go 0-for-30 and still want the ball in her hands."
Alexis Joseph added 12 points, including eight in the first quarter, while Kendall Brown had 10.
"At this point when you're one and done, you cannot dwell on the negative," Equihua said. "Our goal is to win one game at a time."
In the LaPorte-Chesterton game, Kelsey Sule had a game-high 18 points for LaPorte (13-8), while Kelsey Gushrowski added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Gushrowski had six points in the fourth quarter, as the Slicers outscored the Trojans 14-7 in the final frame.
Lindsay Gorman led Chesterton (10-11) with 13 points.
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