Adams gives Lake Central a boost

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:26AM

Lake Central's Nikki Adams must have sensed her team was in trouble.

Trailing Munster 20-9 early in the second quarter, the Indians appeared ripe for a possible upset and unplanned exit from the Munster Sectional semifinals Friday night.

With leading scorer Carolyn Sandrick missing her first five shots, Lake Central needed a big boost -and fast.

Adams, a junior forward, gave her team a major lift, coming off the bench to score a game-high 17 points and grab 10 rebounds in a 53-44 win over the Mustangs (7-12).

"Nikki really gave us a lift when we needed it," LC coach Leslie Iwema said. "She was very instrumental in our turnaround. She's an aggressive kid, who made a lot of good things happen on offense and did a good job getting rebounds for us."

The Indians (12-10) will attempt to win their first sectional title since 1998 when they face West Side (18-4) in tonight's championship game at 7:30.

The Cougars beat Lowell (13-8) in the nightcap, 49-33.

Adams, who missed several games earlier this season with an injury, usually comes off the bench for the Indians and provides at least some kind of spark.

As far as the Mustangs are concerned, Adams was a giant-killer.

She converted a three-point play to ignite an incredible 16-2 Lake Central run that saw the Indians turn that 20-9 deficit into a 25-22 halftime lead.

"The second quarter was huge for us, especially with (Jennifer) Walton on the bench with two fouls," Iwema said. "We wanted to catch them and take the lead."

Alexis Magnant helped the Indians do that - scoring on a drive to give them the lead for good at 23-22 and hitting a pair of free throws.

Sandrick finally got going in the second quarter, too. She buried a 3-pointer and scored five of her nine points in that quarter.

It was Adams, however, who really ignited the Indians with her inspired play.

"I know when I get put in, I'm going to bring energy and stuff," said Adams, who made four starts this season, but likes coming off the bench.

"I'm comfortable either way, but I guess less nervous (coming off the bench)."

Adams said he tried to get all her teammates fired-up when she entered the game midway through the first quarter.

"I was just telling them we needed to pick up the intensity and be smart with our decisions," she said. "I think we started to calm down a little there (second period). We were a little nervous coming out, because some of our players are so young."

One of those young players, freshman Lizzie Seymour, scored 10 points, to help her team's cause.

Adams, though, is the one that Munster coach Matt Backs said really hurt his team.

"I love Nikki Adams," he said. "She can come play for Munster any time she wants."

Jokingly, Backs laughed and said: "If she wants to come here, I'll even pay her tuition."

Munster hurt itself with what it has done all season - turn the ball over. The Mustangs had 31 against LC - many of them unforced.

"The girls did their best, but you can't survive 31 turnovers," Backs said.

In the nightcap, West Side held Lowell to only 14 points in the first half and cruised to a 49-33 win to move into tonight's championship game.

"That's where we belong," West Side coach Rod Fisher said. "I thought we played remarkably well at times, although we did some bone-headed things at times. We took ill-advised shots, made bad passes, even passed the ball to the wrong person.

"Lowell's the most improved program in the area. Lowell's definitely a program on the rise with all those sophomores."

Maxine Joyce played an impressive overall game for the Cougars, scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while hustling all over the floor and playing good defense.

"Maxine gave us a real good lift," Fisher said. "She gives us a lot of energy out there."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.