Crandall leads Janesville Craig to win
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Craig's Katie Villa tries to drive past Parker's Dani Fugate during the Cougar's 46-41 victory over The Vikings on Friday.
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Craig's Kristi Crandall drives to the hoop with Parker's Kayce Chesebro, left, and Morgan McCulloch giving chase on Friday.
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Craig's Brooke Negus is fouled by Parker's Dani Fugate who tried for a steal on Friday.
JANESVILLE — Janesville Craig and Janesville Parker games seem to bring out the best in certain athletes.
Whatever the sport, nothing is more rewarding than playing against and beating your crosstown rival.
Kristi Crandall gave one of the all-time great performances Friday night.
The Craig junior scored 25 points, including 18 in a furious fourth quarter, to lead the Cougars to a 46-41 Big Eight Conference upset win over Parker.
Craig (6-4, 5-3) trailed by five early in the fourth, but hit Parker (8-4, 5-3) with a 13-4 run to seize control. Crandall had 12 of the 13 points during the run, including the go-ahead free throw to make it 38-37 Craig with 1:43 left to play. She made 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth.
“She was in a zone, and I could see that even during warm-ups,” Craig coach Kerry Storbakken said of Crandall. “She ran the show for us for 32 minutes without coming out of the game. That’s how focused she was.
“And our team continues to improve. I keep telling them that they’re a good basketball team, and I to believe it.”
Parker was a very good basketball team early in the season, climbing all the way to second in the state ratings in Division 1. But the Vikings have hit the skids lately, especially on the offensive end, losing three of their last four conference games.
Parker did not reach double figures in scoring the first three quarters, and had to rely on the bench to finally make a run in the fourth. Reserves Jackie Shepler and freshman Paige Smith made five three-point baskets to give the Vikings a boost, but the starters scored only 16 points between them.
“I thought we played hard, but I didn’t think we played very smart,” Parker coach Tom Klawitter said. “Two kids (Crandall and Katie Villa) hurt us that shouldn’t have.
“We’ve taken a big step back right now, and we’re going to have to try and go back forward. We’ll either learn from it, or it will be a tough road to come back on.”
Villa, who finished with 11 points, had all eight of Craig’s points in the second quarter as it led 19-17 at the half.
Craig led by one after three quarters, but Smith’s three gave Parker a 33-28 lead with 6:18 to play. Crandall hit a three on the next possession to cut the lead to two, and added two free throws with 5:05 left to tie the game. She scored 18 of Craig’s 20 fourth-quarter points.
“I was just happy to be able to help the team win,” said Crandall. “It means a lot to beat Parker because it’s such a big game for us. And knowing that they were ranked second in the state at one time, and we beat them, it proves we can play with anybody.”
If Crandall has any more performances like Friday night’s, she might be right.
CRAIG 46, PARKER 41
Parker (41)—Fugate, 2-0-4; Hartwig, 4-1-9; Washington, 1-1-3; Shepler, 3-0-9; Smith, 3-1-9; Chesebro, 3-1-7. Totals: 16-4-41.
Craig (46)—Holzhuter, 0-1-1; Negus, 0-1-1; Kennedy, 2-0-4; Calkins, 2-0-4; Crandall, 6-11-25; Villa, 5-1-11. Totals: 15-14-46.
Janesville Parker 8 9 8 16—41
Janesville Craig 11 8 7 20—46
Three-point goals—Parker 5 (Shepler 3, Smith 2), Craig 2 (Crandall 2). Free throws missed—Parker 7, Craig 4. Total fouls—Parker 15, Craig 16 Fouled out—Kennedy.
Sophomores—Craig 35, Parker 29.
Jan 18, 2012 at 12:13 a.m.
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Really Cougar1? I think you didn't read enough of what I said and the first thing was Crandall had a great game. But hey, it is your first post you'll get the hang of it. You win as a team, you lose as a team plain and simple and I would bet Kerry would agree with this. It was a poor choice of words probably spoken in all the excitement. You can't have a great game like this unless your TEAMMATES are setting up blocks and passing you the ball, or do you not understand how the game is played? Yes I was there and I am very real.
Jan 17, 2012 at 9:58 a.m.
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avidreader: Were you at this game? If you were, you would know and have witnessed Kristi Crandall take this game into her own hands. She took over this game. I think the quote was a way of explaining how well she played. I don't think it was meant to "slap any of the other players in the face". She did control the game as the point guard of her team, but nowhere does it say she did it all by herself. You can only say so much after the game. She ran the point guard position for her team to near perfection. The quote is a way of giving her credit of doing a nice job. I think you read too much into this quote...get real.
Jan 16, 2012 at 12:24 p.m.
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Yes Crandall had a great game but this was not the Kristi Crandall show and for the coach to make a comment like, "she ran the show for us for 32 minutes" is a complete slap in the face to the other 4 teammates on the floor. Blocks had to be made for her, passes had to be given to her and this had to be done by her teammates. For a person who was not at the game they might ponder wether she got so many points because of being a ball hog or maybe not having faith in her teammates to score. I am not saying any of this is true but articles such as this makes people wonder.
Jan 14, 2012 at 8:06 p.m.
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Crandall had 23 points last night take out fwo free throws for kristi and give them to negus and that is the correct totals ; negus had 3 free throws and therefore 3 points
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