Shooting.

The Chesterton girls basketball team made a furious fourth-quarter comeback, but couldn’t overcome a poor shooting first half and dropped a 56-45 decision to Crown Point on Friday night.

“We got beat in the first half,” Chesterton coach Jack Campbell said. “You can’t shoot 3-for-22 and win. We got some good shots, we just couldn’t hit any.’

The Trojans made just one basket the first 13 minutes of action and trailed 18-6 after a 12-0 Bulldog run started the second quarter.

Kassidy Scott scored all seven Chesterton points in the final three minutes of the half to keep the Trojans within reach 22-13 at the break.

“We keep saying it, but when we shoot well we’re a good team,” Campbell said. “When you don’t shoot well, we have to find other ways to get points. We don’t have the size to get offensive rebounds when we do miss.”

The Trojans got going a little bit offensively in the third quarter with 12 points, but still trailed 35-25 after three periods.

“Making a basket changes things energy-wise,” Campbell said. “When the ball goes in, you have more effort on defense and you cut a little harder on offense. When it doesn’t, you spend more time thinking about it instead of the other things you need to be doing.”

Chesterton turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter, forcing six CP turnovers in the period, and pulling within 50-45 with 1:52 left to play.

“We tried to make it an 84-foot game because of their size,” Campbell said. “You can’t play them just in the half-court. We were able to turn them over and capitalize, but if they get past the initial pressure, they are going to shoot layups.”

Crown Point ended the game on a 6-0 run to set the final score.

Kelsey Conway and Caroline Puntillo each scored 14 points to lead the Trojans, while Scott added nine points in the loss.

Hannah McCafferty (5 points) and Sarah Richards (3 points) rounded out the scoring as the Trojans finished 14-of-44 (31 percent) from the field.

Crown Point (6-16-13-21)

Hannah Albrecht 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Rivich 2-6 1-2 5, Katija Tarailo 6-8 1-2 13, Abby Kvachkoff 6-11 2-4 14, Taylor Equihua 0-0 2-2 2, Rachel Honaker 1-3 2-2 4, Ashley Cunningham 1-3 0-0 2, Katie Pawlowski 0-0 2-2 2, Katie Howarth 4-4 2-3 10, Miranda Elish 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 22-39 12-17 56.

Chesterton (6-7-12-20)

Sarah Richards 1-5 1-2 3, Kelsey Conway 6-6 1-1 14, Hannah McCafferty 2-3 1-2 5, Caroline Puntillo 2-13 9-10 14, Kelly Braun 0-3 0-0 0, Kassidy Scott 3-6 2-3 9, Haley Sekula 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Malackowski 0-1 0-0 0, Mary Mochen 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Wadding 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-44 14-18 45.

3-point field goals: Crown Point 0-4 (Rivich 0-1, Kvachkoff 0-3); Chesterton 3-11 (Richards 0-1, Conway 1-1, Puntillo 1-4, Scott 1-2, Malackowski 0-1, Wadding 0-2). Rebounds: Crown Point 33 (Tarailo 7); Chesterton 20 (Richards, 4, McCafferty 4, Puntillo 4). Assists: Crown Point 8 (Kvachkoff 2, Cunningham 2); Chesterton 5 (Puntillo 2). Steals: Crown Point 0; Chesterton 5 (Scott 3).

The Chesterton girls basketball team blew open a close game with a 12-point fourth quarter en route to a 27-19 victory over Crown Point on Saturday.

Kayla Malackowski led the Trojans with 14 points, including three 3-pointers, while Lauren Kusbel added six points.

Tara Schnadenberg (3 points), McKenzie Sullivan (2 points) and Lia Lombardini (2 points) rounded out the scoring.

Posted 1/7/2013