It was　a girls basketball game of bad news, good news, bad news Friday at Chesterton.

The Trojans committed 28 turnovers against Lake Central,　still managed to take　the Indians into overtime, but wilted in the extra session, dropping the Duneland Athletic Conference game　and home season finale, 66-56.

"To their credit, they probably play better defense than anybody in the conference," Chesterton coach Jack Campbell said of the Indians. "Kids are trying to get open and they do a good job of getting in the way. The bad part of turnovers are the ones that become layups."

Two in particular proved　most costly. After 6-foot-6 center Andrea Kras put　LC in front 52-50 in the overtime, a Carolyn Sandrick steal led to an Ashley Doreski breakaway bucket.　

The Indians　led 56-51 when an Isis Thomas steal, her sixth of the game, resulted in a Brooke Polus chippie, effectively sealing the outcome. Just to be sure, Polus swished eight straight free throws for the rest of　Lake Central's　points.

"One positive is we did take an outstanding team to overtime," Campbell said.

L.C. (13-6, 9-4) got 19 points from Kras, 16 of them coming in the second half. Chesterton effectively surrounded her in the opening two quarters, enticing the Indians to shoot the ball from the outside. The strategy worked early as Kras put up just one shot and notched　only three points before the half, during which LC made just 2-of-10 from the arc.

"Obviously, she's someone that gives us matchup problems," Campbell said. "They ran a couple special plays for her (in the second half) and we got caught behind her one time."

Kras' presence also impacted Claire Holba on the offensive end. The Trojans' leading scorer managed 13 points on just 4-of-12 shooting. Campbell put Holba on the perimeter at times with the ball in her hands in an effort to draw Kras out of the paint, and the move　proved beneficial　to Lindsay Gorman.

The Chesterton guard stashed 20 points, all but four of them coming after the break, and had a field day at the foul line, where she swished 13-of-16 free throws. Gorman also snatched eight rebounds.

"Lindsay got to the basket, got fouled and made her foul shots," Campbell said. "Obviously, it's a little tougher with somebody 6-6 in there. Everybody else is so pressured, but somebody still has to get open."

The rest of the Trojans weren't as productive as Gorman at the charity stripe, making just 10-of-20. Holba was 4-of -9.

"We killed ourselves at the foul line," Campbell said. "And how many dead-on shots at the basket did we miss? All we can do is put them in position."

Riley Taubert added 10 points and eight rebounds for Chesterton (6-12, 4-9), which has lost five of six for the second time this season.

Lake Central (12-10-15-13-16)

Carolyn Sandrick 6, Brooke Polus 11, Britney Tuskan 6, Andrea Kras 19, Kaley Marcinak 8, Isis Thomas 11, Alexis Magnant 2, Ashley Doreski 3. Totals -- 23-61 17-23 66.

Chesterton (11-9-16-14-6)

Ryan Bozak 4, Alyssa White 5, Lindsay Gorman 20, Riley Taubert 10, Claire Holba 13, Reva Key 2, Maddie Houpt 2. Totals -- 15-40 23-36 56.

3-point field goals: Marcinak, Sandrick 2 (LC); White, Taubert, Gorman (C). Leaders -- Rebounds: Kras 7 (LC); Gorman 8 (C). Assists: Sandrick 5 (LC); Gorman 3 (C). Steals: Thomas 6 (LC).

The Lake Central junior varsity jumped out to an 18-5 lead through one quarter and cruised to a 54-18 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Kierstin Berry led the Trojans with nine points, while Taylor Bissonnette scored four points. Ari Mahaffey had three points and Kelly Braun scored two points.

Posted 2/1/2010