ST. JOHN | Lake Central guard Gina Rubino has been told to run along the arc and be ready at any moment to hit her shooting stance.
"I have to be ready to shoot," Rubino said. "When I'm in my stance, that's when I feel like I can hit it the best."
Rubino's stance was perfect, and her shot was on as she hit five 3s and pulled the Indians away from Munster in a 45-27 girls basketball win Tuesday night.
"With a lot of our girls, it's a lot of shot prep," Lake Central coach Marc Urban said. "When that happens, we've got a lot of really good shooters."
The Indians needed Rubino as a sharp shooter as Jessica Bell was held to five points.
"When they take her away, we're all picking up all of our shots," Rubino said. "A lot of teams look to shut her down first, and it helps when we're making our outside shots to back her up."
Munster hit 2-of-17 shots in the first half and then out-scored Lake Central 14-6 in the third quarter to pull within seven points heading into the fourth quarter.
That's when Rubino hit three quick 3s to give the Indians (3-3) a 40-26 lead.
"We can't shoot as badly as we did in that first half," Munster coach Matt Backs said. "Our girls played hard, but we couldn't get the shots in."
The Mustangs (2-4) shot 28 percent on the night, behind 5-for-9 in the third quarter. Jordan Cole, who had eight of her team's 14 points in the third, led Munster with 11 points and added five rebounds.
Lake Central found itself in foul trouble early in the second half, with Bell and fellow senior Jessica DelBovo on the bench with three fouls each.
After turning the ball over eight times in the third quarter, Lake Central curbed its ball-handling and had just two turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"We knew the game shouldn't be that close, so I had to try to pull it away," Rubino said. "I knew if I was open to shoot the ball. I was feeling it all night."
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