Girls basketball: Boone Grove rallies to beat Hanover

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Updated: February 28, 2012 8:22AM

CEDAR LAKE — For three quarters, it appeared that Hanover Central was going to avenge its loss to Boone Grove in the opening round of the PCC tournament and cement its position at the top of the conference standings.

Then came the fourth quarter.

Scoring more points in the final period (30) than it had in the previous three (22), Boone Grove rallied from a 15-point deficit for a stunning 52-48 victory over Hanover Central (11-5, 4-1 PCC).

“Amazing,” was the first word out of the mouth of Boone Grove (17-2, 7-0 PCC) head coach Candy Wilson after the game. “We really struggled in the first half. It wasn’t our effort, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. Our defense pulled us through. We finally got some adrenaline flowing.”

Boone Grove guard Brittany Shaffer was at the top of an aggressive 1-3-1 zone defense that pressured Hanover’s guards into making eight turnovers in the final quarter.

“They really stepped it up,” said Wilson. “Schaffer caused a lot of havoc up top and we hit the boards hard. It was a total team effort.”

On the offensive end, Boone Grove entered the final period in the bonus and hit 13 of its 17 free throw attempts in the last eight minutes. Emily Bobrowski scored nine points in that quarter, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

“I knew I had to make those free throws for my team,” said Bobrowski, who finished with a team-high 14 points. “Coming off a loss in our last game against Lowell, we knew we had to win this one. We didn’t want to lose two in a row.”

Bobrowski’s drive to the basket for a layup with 33.5 seconds left gave the Wolves their first lead of the game in a contest largely dominated by Hanover.

“For three quarters we played to win. In the fourth quarter we played not to lose,” said a dejected Hanover head Doug Nelson. “We just didn’t play with any composure.”

Hanover’s Tiphani Ward was the story of the first three quarters, hitting four threes en route to a game-high 15 points. The Wildcats built a 20-11 lead in the first half and extended that lead to 37-22 after three quarters. But Hanover made just one field goal in the final period, allowing Boone Grove to make the comeback.