Douglass reacts to Caston's sectional loss to North White
Feb. 7—One of the great things about Hoosier Hysteria and March Madness is the unpredictability of the results.
Unfortunately for the Caston girls basketball team, the Lady Comets were on the wrong end of that Friday night, as they were upset by North White in a semifinal game of the Tri-County Sectional.
The Comets, ranked third in Class A, finished their season at 20-3. North White improved to 8-17.
The Pharos-Tribune talked with Caston coach Josh Douglass following the loss on Saturday afternoon. Douglass said he knew it was going to be a battle going in with the Vikings getting back to full strength at the end of the season.
"It might have been a surprise to fans but it wasn't a surprise to me. North White has four seniors. With [Abigale] Spry being out a big chunk of their season in the middle against some really competition, their role players got a lot better and I knew it'd be a really tough game," Douglass said.
The Vikings, a semistate team a year ago, are a team that has been known for their 2-3 zone and slowing the game down and keeping it close and having a chance to win at the end.
Douglass said the Vikings have a good defense but his team got good looks against it. The Comets just didn't have enough shots fall as they shot 27% from the field and 2 of 13 from 3-point range.
"Everybody is asking me that and honestly it did not give us problems last night. We got 40 shots up, we only had 10 turnovers and we had a ton of shots within 7-8 feet of the basket last night," Douglass said. "I do not know how many of them that we had go in and just pop out. Even the last look Belle had when we ran a Boston cut for her, it was clear in and it was like the rim, the basket just shoved it right back out and that would have put us up one in overtime before we fouled with 9 seconds to go. It was just that type of night for us. We just could not get a shot to fall.
"We had great looks. The girls executed offensively very well. There were times the zone would give us fits because it's a really good 2-3 zone, but sectionals is about having some luck and I felt a few shots that they hit were kind of crazy looking and they went in. But that's basketball. That's how it is."
It was a close game throughout. Caston led 6-5 after one and North White led 16-15 at halftime. Caston led 30-29 after three. It was tied 37-all at the end of regulation and the Vikings outscored the Comets 5-2 in overtime.
At the end of regulation, the Vikings were called for a travel on a drive to the basket with 3.6 seconds left. The Comets called a timeout and set up a play where Isabel Scales got a good look on a 3-point runner at the buzzer but it just rimmed out.
Scales hit two free throws with 1:39 in overtime to get Caston to within 40-39. The Comets forced a turnover on a jump ball with 50 seconds left. Scales' shot in the paint hit back iron and bounced out and Autumn Reif rebounded the ball and was fouled with 9.7 seconds left. She hit both free throws to give North White a 42-39 lead. Addison Zimpleman got a look from 3 from the right wing that hit the rim twice softly before bouncing off as time expired as the Comets' season ended.
Scales led the Comets with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Bailey Harness had eight points and seven boards. Zimpleman had eight points and six boards. Kinzie Mollenkopf added four points.
Tessa Robertson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Vikings. Spry had 12 points and six assists. Autumn Reif added eight points and 10 boards.
Douglass mentioned during the phone call he thought North White would beat Tri-County Saturday night but added he wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings had a letdown. It was the Vikings' turn to have a cold shooting night as the Cavaliers defeated their White County rival 42-31 win to win their first sectional title since 2010.
The Comets have had a lot of success in girls sports in recent years, posting the best regular seasons in school history. They are the reigning HNAC champions in softball and girls basketball. But they're still waiting for their breakthrough in IHSAA Tournament play. They have gained a big following of fans who are hungry to follow a big tournament run which seems imminent. The players, coaches and fans are hoping the breakthrough comes in softball this spring. They'll have one more golden opportunity in girls basketball next year when Scales, Zimpleman, Macee Hinderlider and Annie Harsh will be seniors.
But they'll graduate two of their six main rotation players: Harness and Mollenkopf.
"Bailey and Kinzie mean the world to me, they mean the world to this team," Douglass said. "They were the start of the turnaround. Not a very good freshman year for them for what they wanted to be and the expectations they had. They went to work. They put the work in to the summer. They led by example and they showed all the younger kids what it's like. The girls need to look up to that, the program, I hope the freshmen did, the sophomores did because if you put the work in, there's nothing to say you can't win 20 games your senior year. That's what means so much to me is those two and the work they've put in. Ann [Ulerick] showed up every day. She did her own workouts and was a very big part of this team. Our managers, Stevanna and Tayler, I didn't have to worry about anything for game days for three years now since I've taken over."
The Comets will return four seniors but will need some other players to step up.
"I don't know if we can be better, I would love to be, and we possibly could be," Douglass said. "Our freshman big, Autumn [Miller], is really starting to come into her own. And us coaches feel like a good summer of work with her, she might be a starter next year, we don't know that. It's too early to tell. But we've got Olivia Thomas and Kaitie [Hutsell] coming back that are tall and athletic and are only sophomores. Then we'll see how this summer goes but there's a possibility my daughter [Madisyn] can be thrown in that mix pretty easily too. She's averaging 26 a game [in eighth grade]."
It was a season that saw the Lady Comets start 19-0, go 7-0 in HNAC games and win Cass County and Miami County championships. But the season ended early against North White in sectional play for a second straight year.
"That's what I told the girls. Nothing taken away, you had one hell of a season," Douglass said. "Sectionals are just hard and the worst part about it is you get one chance every year for four chances, that's it. North White played really well."
