Girls Basketball: Nikki Adams, guards team up for LC

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:09AM

Nikki Adams was being bumped around like a pinball.

If Lake Central’s guards couldn’t feed her the ball in the post, the Indians seemed to struggle offensively. When the Indians managed to make their entry passes inside to Adams, it was like putting money in the bank.

The 6-foot senior came off the bench to score 15 points in the second through fourth quarters, leading LC (7-7, 4-5) to a 43-31 Duneland Athletic Conference win over LaPorte (8-5, 4-5) Saturday afternoon. Adams made 7 of 13 field goal attempts to score a game-high 15 points. She also had nine rebounds and made three steals.

“I was really happy that my guards were getting the ball inside to me, especially in the second half,’’ Adams said. “They (Slicers) were tough and physical inside. There was a lot of contact inside, down low.’’

While the play of Adams was key to LC snapping a three-game losing streak, the defensive effort turned in by LC guards Angela Perez and Jordan Horan, also played a major role in the Indians’ win.

All Perez and Horan did was play blanket defense aganst LaPorte’s hot 3-point shooters, Jaclyn Heath and Kelsey Sule. They limited the duo to a combined 2 of 11 shooting overall. Heath scored five points — more than 10 under her average — while Sule was held scoreless on seven shots.

“If I had a game ball to give out, I’d split it in half and give each one of them half of it,’’ LC coach Leslie Iwema said. “Angela never let Jaclyn get comfortable at all. She kept her in her back pocket. Horan did a nice job on Sule. She played great defense on her.’’

Adams was a beast inside when she managed to get the ball.

“Nikki was huge for us tonight,’’ Iwema said. “She was demanding the ball inside. Our plan was to try and get the ball inside to her as much as we could. Our kids did a nice job of getting the ball inside to her, especially in the second half.’’

LaPorte’s only bright spot was sophomore Taylor Thompson, who scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“Their defense was even better than ours,’’ LaPorte coach Skeeter Heath said. “They did a really good job on Jaclyn. She didn’t do very well tonight. She took only four shots. She averages 15 points — but you can’t score if you don’t shoot, and you can’t shoot if you’re not aggressive.’’

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