SPASH girls finish second at state By MIKE KEMMETER Special to The Gazette MADISON -- In the WIAA State Tournament title game for the first time in 21 years, the Stevens Point Area Senior High girls basketball team matched the defending state champions and USA Today's No. 14 team in the nation point-for-point for nearly 25 minutes. But for a period of just over three minutes early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers were held scoreless and committed three turnovers, allowing Janesville Parker to pull away in a 51-44 loss to the Vikings last Saturday. Prior to that point the Panthers more than held their own and senior center Janel McCarville dominated Mistie Bass, Janesville's junior center and the returning state player of the year. "We just had a three or four minute stretch where things didn't go our way. It was very untimely," SPASH coach Kraig Terpstra said. The Panthers had to hang tough through the end of the first and half of the second quarter, when McCarville sat out after receiving two quick fouls. SPASH didn't score for the next 6:45, but the team's defense kept the Panthers in the game. When she returned with about four minutes left, Janesville held a seven-point, 15-8 lead. "I thought they did a good job with their zone. I'm disappointed we didn't take more advantage of that," Janesville coach Tom Klawitter said. Point guard Carla Zarecki, playing with a sprained right ankle she suffered in the semifinal, got SPASH within 15-11 by hitting a 3-pointer, her first made in five attempts from beyond the arc all season. Janesville answered just eight seconds later, when Angie Sommerville hit a three of her own. Zarecki found senior forward Rachel Kreuser for a lay-in with 26 seconds left in the half, pulling the Panthers within three. But Bass answered with a basket with 14 seconds to go, giving Janesville a 20-15 lead entering the half. "Every time someone would take a run at us, we countered," Klawitter said. "Champions always come back. We've never really broken. We responded." McCarville took over in the third quarter, helping SPASH stay in the game. She opened by scoring 13 of her team's 16 points of the quarter, all from inside the lane. Many of her game-high 17 rebounds came in the quarter as well. Two McCarville free throws with four seconds left got SPASH within one, 32-31, entering the final quarter. "I thought she came out in the second half and was super aggressive and dominated the game for 10 minutes," Terpstra said. A Zarecki basket 59 seconds into the fourth gave SPASH a 33-32 lead, the team's final lead of the evening. The Vikings started to pull away, as Bass picked up two steals and three different Parker players scored. Bass' two free throws with 3:05 left gave Parker a 43-35 lead. McCarville put back her own miss underneath to pull SPASH within 44-39 with 1:24 to go, but Brittini Sherrod got an offensive rebound on the other end and basically sealed the victory with a pair of free throws. Terpstra said he is "really proud" of his team, which came home Sunday to a pep rally with the state runner-up trophy. "It doesn't change any views on how well I thought our kids have played all year long and played this weekend," he said. "We had an opportunity to gain respect and we did that." The team came down to Madison Wednesday, and Terpstra said they often talked about being heroes. "In Stevens Point, I think these kids will be. They should be extremely proud. I thought their effort was outstanding." * * * In the much-anticipated state championship game match-up, McCarville dominated Bass statistically. The SPASH center, a Minnesota recruit, finished with 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting, and had 17 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Bass finished 4-of-12 from the field with 13 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals. McCarville may have set the tone on Janesville's opening possession, where she blocked Bass' first shot of the game. "I think you saw the best player in the state on the floor, and she's sitting right here," Terpstra said at the post-game conference, with McCarville seated next to him. "McCarville is an unbelievable player," Klawitter said. "Everybody should try to guard McCarville and see how they like it." McCarville's performance in the tournament apparently influenced sports writers in The Associated Press because they selected McCarville and Bass as Wisconsin Associated Press Co-Player of the Year award for 2001. That was the first time a player on SPASH's girls team received that honor. McCarville was also a unanimous selection to the All-State Team of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association, a decision made before the tournament. Bass was also a unanimous selection to the All-State Team and was named Miss Basketball as the player of the year. The Journal Sentinel quoted Bob Yuska, coach at Merrill, saying about McCarville, "Real nice touch around the basket. Good rhythm blocking shots. I call her a franchise player."