Girls basketball: Merrillville completes unbeaten season
By John O’Malley Post-Tribune correspondent February 2, 2012 11:04PM
Merrillville's Raveen Murray puts up a shot over Crown Point's Morgan Frame during the second quarter on Thursday, February 2, 2012, in Crown Point. | Scott R. Brandush~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 4, 2012 8:20AM
CROWN POINT — It turned out to be anything but easy, but Merrillville accomplished an unlikely feat against rival Crown Point.
The Pirates (20-0, 14-0) completed an unbeaten regular season, including a perfect Duneland Athletic Conference record with their 63-55 victory over the Bulldogs (12-8, 9-5) Thursday night.
“We withstood everything tonight to win,’’ Merrillville coach Amy Govert said. “Nothing was in our favor here tonight. Everything was against us. I have to give credit to our kids for being able to overcome everything we faced and accomplish this. I’m so proud of them. We could have folded, but we didn’t back down. We didn’t crumble.’’
Pirates senior Raveen Murray, who scored a team-high 18 points, said the Pirates earned their unbeaten mark.
“It’s a big accomplishment,’’ she said. “It feels good to be a part of that. Every game we played this year wasn’t an easy game. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We didn’t want to think about it too much and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We just tried to come out and play like we did every other game.’’
Merrillville becomes the first girls team to finish the regular season undefeated in Northwest Indiana since the East Chicago Central Cardinals pulled it off in 2003 (19-0). That team won two postseason games before losing to West Side in the sectional championship game.
Highland, led by Jenny DeMuth, went undefeated in 2001 (22-0) and ended up 26-1 when the team lost to Kokomo in the semistate.
The 1998 Lake Central team, coached by Tom Megyesi and led by Kelly Komara, was 26-0 before it lost in the state final to Martinsville.
The last region team to go undefeated was the 1984 Crown Point squad, which coached by the legendary Tom May and led by Anne Kvachkoff (now Equihua and the coach of the Bulldogs). Those 1984 Bulldogs won the state title with a 55-54 overtime win over Warren Central. Crown Point went 22-5 in 1983 before losing to Bedford-North Lawrence in the state finals.
East Chicago Roosevelt, which was led by Hall of Fame coach Roberta DeKemper, finished undefeated twice (1977 and ’79).
The Pirates accomplished the feat thanks, in large part, to the play of talented freshman Victoria Gaines.
Gaines scored eight of her 12 fourth-quarter points in the final 2:36, to keep the Bulldogs from possibly tying the game and forcing overtime.
Crown Point had cut a 13-point third-period deficit (44-31) down to 53-51 after a baseline jumper by senior Courtney Kvachkoff.
Kvachkoff, who missed her first eight shots from the floor and had two points on a pair of free throws at halftime, scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, leading the Bulldogs’ comeback.
Kvachkoff scored 11 of her 17 second-half points in the fourth quarter.
Michaela Prough, another senior, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for CP.
“I thought we did a really good job,’’ Equihua said. “Merrillville is a real good team. I’m proud of my kids. They played hard and they played with heart. They left it all out on the floor. They battled. To be within two points of them with 34 seconds to go, I think we sent a nice message that we can play with them.’’
In addition to Murray’s 18 points, Gaines finished with 16 points, while Darian Patton added 10.
“I’m so happy for these kids,’’ Govert said. “It’s very rare for any coach, or player, to be a part of something like this. These kids deserve it, because they worked so hard every day. They’ve earned it. They deserve it.’’
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