.png)
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
FULTON — Caston senior Bailey Harness might have scored a game-high 18 points against visiting Winamac Saturday, but she was rejoicing for her teammate and fellow
senior Ann Ulerick more than for her own accomplishments afterwards.
Ulerick entered with 1:01 left and with sportsmanlike help from Winamac freshman Corinne Ulerick, Ann’s cousin, who kept passing the ball back to her after five misses, she got her first career basket off the glass with 13 seconds left to complete the scoring.
And it all happened Ulerick’s 18th birthday. Harness said Ulerick is at practice every day working on her shooting and ballhandling.
“That was awesome,” Harness said. “We were all so excited, and I am so happy for her.”
In addition to Harness’ 18 and Ulerick’s two, Isabel Scales and Addison Zimpleman added eight each, and Annie Harsh came off the bench to score seven, and Macee Hinderlider had six.
Freshman Kandace Kroft had nine for Winamac, who fell to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the Hoosier North.
Caston improved to 5-0, 1-0. Girls historical records are spotty, but this marks the first time in the 21st century that Caston has started a season with five straight wins.
They also beat Winamac for the third straight season after never having beaten them prior to 2020.
Caston went on a 28-1 run after a Kroft pull-up 15-footer with 5:40 left in the first quarter. Winamac went nearly 18 minutes without a field goal until a Chloe Rausch 3-pointer cut the lead to 31-6 with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
“I’ve seen her play quite a bit,” Caston coach Josh Douglass said of Kroft. “She’s played with my daughter some. They’ve played together. So I knew what her capabilities were, so I wanted to make sure that she was our focus that we wanted to shut down. Addison started on her. She got that one tough shot on Addison there in the first quarter, and that was it for a long time.”
Douglass said the team was a “little flat” in the second half but was pleased when taking a broader view of winning five games in 10 days.
“That’s what we wanted,” Douglass said. “That’s our goal. We’re going to enjoy it, rest up this weekend. We’ve got to get back after it Monday in practice; we’ve got Rossville on Tuesday.”
Harness scored in a variety of ways – putbacks on loose balls, in transition, in the paint, four made free throws in six attempts and a pair of 3-pointers. She said she worked on her post moves after the graduation of all-Hoosier North post player Maddi Smith from last year’s team.
“It feels pretty good,” Harness said. “I can always do better, but it feels pretty good tonight. … I just try to play my hardest and hope for the best. … We all know that we are all able to score, so just whoever’s hot, give them the ball.”
Of the 10 Winamac players who played, six were freshmen or sophomores.
“They’re versatile, they’re big, they’re fast,” Stesiak said of Caston. “They’re not big per se, but they’re athletically big. The weight room has paid off for them. And they’re just so veteran. Those juniors and seniors have played varsity together for three years now, and you can tell. One team is playing their fourth game together, and the other one is playing their 60th, 70th game together. That makes a big difference.”
Winamac took the JV game 26-18. Lauren Bruce and Corinne Ulerick had six points each for Winamac, and Marissa Iverson, Brooke Rausch and Brody Goodman had four each. Cyaira Wolford chipped in with two.
Olivia Thomas led Caston with eight points. Kaitlyn Hutsell had five, Kylee Logan had three, and Autumn Miller had two.
Caston 49, Winamac 15
WINAMAC (15) (0-4, 0-1)
Maggie Smith 1 0-0 2, Kandace Kroft 3 2-4 9, Chloe Rausch 1 0-0 3, Piper Link 0 1-2 1, Hailey Attinger 0 0-0 0, Mershai Loehmer 0 0-0 0, Marissa Iverson 0 0-0 0, Kaelyn O’Connor 0 0-0 0, Corinne Ulerick 0 0-0 0, Cyaira Wolford 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 5 3-6 15
CASTON (49) (5-0, 1-0)
Isabel Scales 3 0-2 8, Addison Zimpleman 4 0-1 8, Macee Hinderlider 2 1-1 6, Kinzie Mollenkopf 0 0-0 0, Bailey Harness 6 4-6 18, Kaitlyn Hutsell 0 0-0 0, Ann Ulerick 1 0-0 2, Annie Harsh 1 4-4 7
TEAM: 17 9-14 49
Three-point field goals:
Winamac 2 (Kroft, Rausch),
Caston 6 (Harness 2, Scales 2, Harsh, Hinderlider)
Total fouls: Winamac 14, Caston 9
Turnovers: Winamac 22, Caston 11
Score by quarters
Winamac 2 1 6 6 – 15
Caston 14 12 12 11 – 49
JV: Winamac 26, Caston 18
Comments