Panthers keep girls hoops sectional streak alive

GRIFFITH | When Brooke Brinkley walks into the Griffith High School gym, she sees something on the wall only she and her fellow seniors can point to with pride.

On the placard that holds the accomplishments of the girls basketball team, the entire first row signifying the sectional championships is filled. When Brinkley entered high school, there were just two years on the wall. Since, she has been a part of four straight as the class of 2012 has never lost a sectional game at Griffith.

That's not to say there haven't been close calls.

The sectional title games in 2009 and 2011 needed overtime to crown the Panthers as winners. Over those four years, they've changed sectionals, faced new opponents and played some opponents in consecutive weeks.

Still, Griffith keeps winning sectional after sectional.

"It's such a good feeling, I'm so proud of myself along with my teammates," Brinkley said. "The numbers that are up there, now that you come in and see those numbers up there, it's just routine, and you think 'I want another number up there so I'm just going to get it done.'"

Griffith has won nine straight sectional games, and will face South Bend St. Joseph's at 11:30 a.m. in Saturday's Rensselaer Regional. The Panthers have also won two straight regional semifinal games with a semistate berth in 2010.

"Especially this year, we were the newbies," Brinkley said. "We had sectional titles in the past, but everyone was looking to go after us. This year, we came into the sectional with a lot of intensity, we knew we had to had a lot of confidence to get it done."

The Panthers have never shied away from a game plan that emphasizes defense first, with offense coming second. The players have bought into that plan, without egos that hope to score 16 or 17 points per game.

During the four years of sectional champions, junior Sammi Adams, who is averaging 12.1 points this season, has been the scorer averaging the most points per game.

Meanwhile, the Panthers haven't ranked lower than 14th in the state over that same time. Limiting opponents to 31.4 points per game this year ranks Griffith fourth-best.

"We've had some really talented, good athletes come through in the last four or five years, starting with the (class of 2010) and then we've had some good classes in a row, kids who love basketball and are willing to put the time in," coach Tom Golumbeck said. "They play in the offseason, they're competitive and they like to come in and work. Those are also kids that are committed to getting better, and we have to take what we have and make the better.

"They like playing defense and frustrating the other team."

A first this season, the Panthers are without a prominent post player. Ashley Parish, who led the team in rebounds in 2009-10 and 2010-11, graduated, and Kelsey Bonewits, an all-area volleyball player who was second in rebounds last season, opted not to remain on the team during the second week of practice.

The Panthers are no taller than 5-foot-8 this season, changing the offense and opting out of plays that push the ball inside.

"Everyone worked harder," senior Emily Witvoet said. "Everyone knew that they had to step up and things had to be played differently."

"We all want the ball just as bad as anyone would, so we go for it just as much as anyone 6-foot, even though we're only 5-7," junior Alyssa Gebo said.

Still, Griffith has pushed past the need for inside presence to an 18-6 record this season, including a 10-game winning streak that put the team at 10-1 on Dec. 28.

"We had to do a lot of adjusting at the beginning of the season and we had to change a lot of roles of players on our team, and it took a while for everyone to adjust," Golumbeck said. "No one complained or had a problem with their new role. We worked on boxing out a lot, because we don't have big people to get rebounds -- I don't know if they liked that a whole lot, but we did it. We're probably quicker, we're a much better free-throw shooting team, and we don't turn the ball over as much, because we don't have any post players, so there are some advantages, too."

To win a third-straight regional opener, the Panthers will have to work past a SB St. Joseph's team that averages 53 points per game and held sectional opponents to no more than 39 points per game. The Indians hadn't won a sectional title since 2007, so this is the first time that most of the St. Joseph's players have been in this position.

"We've been coached that it's not winning or lose, but if you put all into that game and you walk off the floor giving 100 percent," Witvoet said. "It makes you better."