Girls basketball: Merrillville pulls off upset over Elkhart

Updated: December 3, 2011 11:54PM

MERRILLVILLE — Maybe Amy Govert should throw her team out of practice more often.

Fed up with her players going through the motions — particularly with their laziness on defense — Merrillville’s head coach threw the whole team out of Thursday night’s practice.

“She left the gym and went to get her bags and coat,’’ Pirates’ senior guard Raveen Murray said. “We stayed in the gym like: ‘Let’s be big about this and keep practicing.’ After she grabbed her bags and coat, she came back in and said: ‘I’m serious. Get out and go home.’”

Intentional or not, Govert received the response she wanted as the Pirates (6-0) followed up Friday night’s amazing defensive performance in a blowout win over Chesterton with another impressive defensive effort against one of the state’s best teams.

Playing defense as if their very lives depended on it, the Pirates forced 28 turnovers en route to a 57-42 upset win over No. 4 Elkhart Memorial on Saturday.

Murray scored a game-high 18 points and had five steals and four assists, while freshman Victoria Gaines, plagued with two early fouls, accepted a halftime challenge from Govert and scored 12 points in the final two quarters. She also grabbed eight rebounds and made five steals.

“We knew they had it in them, that’s why we were so mad at them,’’ Govert said. “That jump-started it for them this week. They weren’t playing up to their capabilities. We have the athletes. We have the speed. We have the quickness. We were being lazy on defense.’’

That is, until this weekend, when the Pirates underwent a transformation. They took it to the Chargers — deflecting passes, grabbing loose balls, making steals, playing in-your-face defense.

Elkhart Memorial star Brionna Barnett, guarded most of the game by A.J. Downs, scored just 12 points to lead the Chargers. Khadijah Moore added 10.

“She’s such a good player, we wanted to take Brionna Barnett out of the game,’’ Govert said. “A.J. did a fantastic job against her. You won’t see any statistics on it, but her on-ball defense is the best in the state.’’

Murray shook her head and smiled when asked another question about the bad practice.

“Coach didn’t talk to us the whole day at school Friday,’’ she said. “That’s when you know she’s really mad when she doesn’t talk to you. We had her for P-Fit and she didn’t even talk to us then, either. She didn’t talk to us until game time.’’

What did Govert say to the team after the big win over Elkhart Memorial?

‘’She told us she should give us the silent treatment all the time,’’ Murray smiled.

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