Senior’s treys power Slicers to win
Thiem hits first 3-pointers of season for LaPorte
LaPorte’s Natalie Thiem connected on her first 3-pointers of the season at an opportune time.
The senior guard/forward hit two Thursday night as the Slicers topped visiting Chesterton 48-41 in a Duneland Athletic Conference game.
Thiem came off the bench to score eight points for LaPorte (7-8, 2-2) against the Trojans (11-5, 3-3), who were without coach Jack Campbell.
“She was 0-for-something from the 3-point line until (Thursday), and it was like, ‘One has to go in, the percentages say she’s going to hit one,’ ” LaPorte coach Sarah DeShone said. “She stepped up big-time.
“She can hit. She’ll go in practice and hit two or three in a row. She just had a little mental block in games, and it came out (Thursday).”
Thiem’s initial 3-pointer gave LaPorte its first double-digit lead at 15-5 with 6:50 left in the second quarter, an advantage the Slicers stretched to as much as 22-5.
Her second 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left in the third made it 36-27 after Chesterton had drawn as close as 26-25 midway through the quarter.
“There was a lot of emotion right there because the whole team was so excited,” Thiem said of her second 3-pointer. “I haven’t been hitting them, they were coming back, and it was just really exciting.”
Thiem also scored off an offensive rebound with 6:33 left in the game, giving LaPorte its last double-digit lead at 39-29.
“I just hustled more (Thurs
day),” Thiem said. “I wasn’t scared. I’ve been more confident to work harder and be better for the team.”
Tommy Berry, Chesterton’s assistant athletic director, filled in for Campbell, who eclipsed 400 career wins earlier in his 33rd season as coach.
“I can’t really disclose that,” Berry said when asked about the reason for Campbell’s absence. “He’ll be back soon, maybe a week or so. But he’s out for now. I can’t comment on personnel stuff. It’s the state of the game right now and the world we live in. But he’ll be back.
“You can’t replace 50 years of basketball experience. He certainly could’ve helped us out. I didn’t have a lot of answers in the first half. We were struggling to shoot the ball, and as Jack would say, ‘When the ball doesn’t go in the basket, it’s not very pretty.’ He probably would’ve had a few more things up his sleeve. He’s certainly a great coach, and we missed him.”
Chesterton scored the last six points of the second quarter to cut LaPorte’s edge to 24-14 and then the first six points of the third. But the Slicers held off the Trojans.
“The old team, a month ago, during some of those spurts would’ve hung their heads,” DeShone said. “But the new team is sticking together and just thinking about the next play instead of dwelling on what happened. That was on point. It was kind of like the attitude, ‘Hey, we’re not losing this game. Whatever it takes.’ ”
DeShone lamented LaPorte’s 19 turnovers, but the Slicers went 11 of 13 from the foul line, including 8 of 10 in the fourth quarter.
Ryin Ott had 17 points and seven rebounds for LaPorte.
Emma Schmidt had 13 points for Chesterton, and Carley Balas added 10.
“Our girls played hard,” Berry said. “They battled back. Like I just told them, I’m pleased with the fact we didn’t quit.
“But they have some nice players. When we made a run, they did a nice job of answering to push it back out, and that’s what good teams do. We made another run, and they made free throws at the end. Give them credit. Coach DeShone does a nice job, and they executed when they needed to.”