Girls Basketball: Wheeler tops Griffith, reaches final

CEDAR LAKE — To hear Sammi Adams talk after Griffith beat Bowman Academy in the first round of Hanover Central’s Wildcat Winter Classic Wednesday, you’d think the Panthers’ guard had virtually nothing to do with her team’s 53-43 victory.

“I had a lot of good passes and dishes from my teammates,’’ she said. “We all played as a team. It’s a team game. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.’’

While those overly modest statements uttered by Adams are definitely true, exactly where would the Panthers (10-1) be without the offense and defense Adams provided?

Perhaps they wouldn’t have even earned a berth in Wednesday night’s semifinal round against Wheeler, which the Bearcats won 38-35 behind Tijana Raketic’s 19 points and Nickole Finch’s 14.

The Bearcats will face Oregon-Davis — a 73-47 winner over Hanover and a 68-59 winner over Whiting — in the final.

Griffith’s semifinal loss overshadowed a tremendous first-round performance by Adams. All she did against the Eagles (7-5) was make 10 of 14 shots from the floor and score a career-high 23 points. She also outscored Bowman’s Princess German, who finished with a team-high 22 to lead the Eagles.

“She took a lot of the good shots we want her to take,’’ Griffith coach Tom Golumbeck said. “I thought she did a good job of taking the ball to the basket today.’’

Adams also combined with three other teammates to limit German — who entered the week averaging nearly 29 points per game — to 7-of-21 shooting overall.

“We tried to stop Princess,’’ Adams said. “That was our main goal. We knew she’d have most of their points. We played pretty good team defense.’’

Semifinal: Oregon-Davis 73, Hanover Central 47: Jesse Averone’s 22 points led the Bobcats (10-1) while Ashley Campbell added 21. Blayr Poston had 20 points for the Wildcats (8-3).

Hanover Central 65, Bishop Noll 25: Rylie Singleton scored 13 points and Tiphani Ward added 11 as the host Wildcats (8-2) demolished the Warriors (7-3) in a first round game.

Blayr Poston, Emily Blue and Kristen Roper all had nine points for Hanover.

Oregon-Davis 68, Whiting 59: Brianna Blackwell scored a game-high 27 points and Abby Bondi had 11, but it still wasn’t enough to keep the Oilers (7-3) from losing.

Wheeler 46, Knox 42: Tijana Raketic scored 15 points and Nickole Finch added eight as the Bearcats (7-3) edged the Redskins (2-9).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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