January 24, 2001

Columbian rules over Madison

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Ten turnovers in the fourth quarter isn't exactly the conventional route to securing a victory.

But when you play defense the way Columbian has lately, everything seems to work its way out.

The Tornadoes limited visiting Madison Comprehensive to six fourth-quarter points on 1-of-11 shooting and managed to turn a slim lead into a 46-35 victory.

Columbian also tempered its 10 fourth-quarter turnovers by out rebounding the Rams 12-4 over that same stretch.

"The big thing for us during this offensive drought, is that we've been playing very good defense and that was evident again tonight," Columbian coach Larry Kisabeth said. "But the thing I was most pleased with was the fact that we put three girls in double figures. That's excellent.

"Jess Sendelbach really stepped up," he said. "We've been telling her to shoot the ball more and she did a nice job. And Alex Miller, we've been asking her to take the ball to the basket stronger and she did that."

Miller (18 points, 12 rebounds), Sendelbach (12 points, eight boards) and Katie Kobelt were ringleaders during a fast start by the Tornadoes.

Sendelbach scored the first bucket of the game and then fed Alex Miller the next trip for a 4-0 lead.

Kobelt (10 points) scored the next two baskets and Sendelbach and Miller tacked on one more each to up the ante to 12-0 with 3:01 left in the first.

The Rams (6-7) missed their first five shots from the field and made just 2 of 13 field goals during TC's 14-4 first-quarter run.

"This is our third long road trip of the year -- we go to Marion and Vermilion and here -- and we haven't come off the bus ready to play in any of them," Madison coach Andy Booth said. "I don't know if we need to change our pregame talk, or play cards on the bus, or let girls the sleep or what, but three long road trips we have just been flat as can be.

"The bottom line, though, is they outworked us and came ready to play."

Whether it was the bus trip or not, one thing was for sure -- the Rams had no shooting legs. They shot just 26 percent (15 of 13) from the field, including 0-of-8 3-pointers, and all but four of their points came from inside the paint.

Madison leading scorer Carrie Ritchie, who made six of the Rams' 15 field goals, managed 13 points, but she missed her first five shots and had just four points by half-time.

"We felt that we had to stop Carrie Ritchie," Kisabeth said. "Now, she finished with 13 points, but she had to work for all of them. And (Jillian) Firestone had a big game against us last year and we held her to two. And I don't know what the rebounding numbers were, but I thought our kids did a nice job there, especially in the second half."

The Tornadoes owned a 42-26 advantage on the boards, enough to help overcome 29 turnovers.

Ritchie was the lone Madison player to score in double figures.