By MIKE BEACOM
of The Gazette
Janel McCarville put on a show for a visiting Wausau East girl's basketball squad Tuesday night.
The Stevens Point Area Senior High School center was a force under the hoop, accumulated 17 points and even made several nice passes. Her complete play helped carry her Panther teammates to a lopsided 72-39 conference win.
But, the win was not exactly smooth sailing early on for coach Kraig Terpstra and his team.
SPASH held just an 8-6 lead with 1:32 left in the first quarter when the team received a boost from seniors McCarville and Cassie Dudeck.
In an eight-point run to close the quarter, Dudeck supplied six points, while McCarville scored the other two and nailed down two blocks.
Wausau East swung the momentum back in their favor. Emily Johnson scored eight straight points to open the second quarter.
"I was disappointed in our defense letting them back in the game," said Terpstra. "We made some defensive lapses that are uncharacteristic."
A put-in by East's Lindsay Place tied the game at 18-18 with 4:03 left in the half.
From there, the Panthers regained themselves and control of the game.
Senior guard Michele Rosicky scored seven of her 14 points in the final minutes of the half and SPASH went into the locker room with a 33-21 lead.
The lead was never less than double-digits the rest of the night as SPASH improved its record to 13-0.
As impressive as McCarville's all-around performance was, the only thing that impresses Terpstra these days about the 6-1 force below the hoop is Janel McCarville the person.
"The number one thing that amazes me about Janel is how humble she is," said Terpstra.
"She understands that we're a team and compliments people well. She also consistently plays at a high level, plays hard and keeps her composure. She handles the pressure of being a prime-time player well."
Despite some defensive woes, Terpstra is generally pleased with his team's efforts and the direction they are headed.
"Our defense has improved and physically, we're playing well," said Terpstra. "I'm just hoping that mentally, we stay hungry. My biggest concern is that we don't get too wrapped up in the success we've had and that we realize we still need to work day in and day out."