Oakville girls fall to Lindbergh 38-37

By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

It was a heartbreaking end to the season for the Oakville Senior High School girls’ basketball team as the Tigers fell 38-37 to the Lindbergh Flyers in the first round of district playoffs.

“Both teams played very hard,” Oakville head Coach Paul Harrington told the Call. “It was a tough game and a tough loss.”

What doomed the Tigers (15-11, 5-3 Su-burban South) in their loss was the fact that they struggled throughout the game at the free-throw line. Oakville shot a disappointing 4 of 13 – 30.77 percent – from the charity stripe, which Harrington felt cost his team the win.

“Our free throws were the most disappointing part of the loss,” Harrington said. “I was proud of our defensive effort.”

Speaking of defensive efforts, the 38 points the Flyers scored against Oakville was their second lowest tally of the 2002-2003 season.

Oakville’s Christine Dieckmann scored 11 points for the Tigers, while grabbing eight rebounds and creating six assists. The senior point guard also had three steals in the loss to Lindbergh.

“Christine’s performance in the second half has been outstanding,” Harrington said. “Whenever we needed some points, she always came through for us.”

The Tigers will graduate five seniors this season in Dieckmann, Kate Bartholic, Jessie Boncek, Laura Ortinau and Kelly Thouviner. The loss of five starters obviously will have a huge effect on next season’s squad.

“It’s going to be tough losing all five starters,” Harrington said. “The seniors really raised the bar and brought a lot of pride back into the program.”

Bartholic clearly was one of the key’s to the Oakville offense this season as she averaged 9.1 points per game this season. Her biggest weapon for the Tigers was her ability to shoot from three-point range where she hit 43 three-pointers this season.

“What a fun young lady to work with all year long,” Harrington said. “She provided a lot of leadership for us all year long. I think that it’s a shame that she’s not going to play beyond high school.”

Boncek averaged 5.1 points a game this season, while grabbing 3.1 rebounds per game. The senior guard also had 42 assists and 23 steals for the 2002-2003 campaign.

“Jessie is a good athlete who’s best sport is probably track and I’m looking forward to watching her run this spring,” Harrington said.”She gave us solid play in just about every one of our games.”

Ortinau led the Tigers in rebound with 6.9 rebounds a game, while averaging 6.6 points a match. The senior forward was second on the team in blocked shots (13) and third in steals (34).

“Laura really was our main force inside,” Harrington said. “She’s an excellent rebounder who fought all kinds of health and injury problems.”

Thouviner was a player whom Harrington wishes he had another year or two to coach. The senior center scored 5.1 points a game, while pulling down 4.8 boards a match. She led the team in blocked shots (16) and was sixth on the team in steals (12).

“I really wish I had a couple of more years to work with her,” Harrington said. “She has so much untapped potential talent. She always brings a lot of fun to the game.”