By James Costello Sports Editor
HAMLET — After hitting her first shot of the night — a triple from the baseline for her 1006th career points — Gabrielle Minix was presented with the game ball from last year’s regional final against Canterbury.
She pretty much took over from there.
The 5-8 Oregon-Davis senior point guard and Marquette University recruit drilled 4-of-5 triples in the first frame to spark a 26-9 first-quarter run by the Lady Bobcats, eventually rolling on to a game-high double-double of 28 points and 11 rebounds in addition to a near triple-double eight assists with four steals and a blocked shot. Her output was complimented by a balanced offensive effort from cousin Kelsi Minix and convalescent junior forward Justyne Kranenburg as well as OD’s stifling team de-fense, and the result was a comfortable 68-45 win over visiting South Bend St. Joseph’s in the two teams’ season opener at The Den Tuesday.
Gabrielle’s 28 points were just what the doctor ordered for the Bobcats, who lost much of their offensive production last year with the graduation of her sister Aubrey, the program’s all-time leading scorer and Indiana high school 3-point career record-holder, as well as fellow 2008 graduate Caley Savoie.
“(Coach and father Terry Minix) said I definitely had to step it up because we lost two high-scoring seniors — Aubrey and Caley,” said Gabrielle. “He told everybody that, but as a point guard I needed to distribute the ball and take more initiative shooting-wise this year because we lost 40 points between the two of them.
“It’s a different approach for me because I like to pass first. It’s just something where I like to create as opposed to just shoot, but I’m gradually working into it, and I think the girls are putting more initiative on themselves because they know we lost that much.”

Kelsi Minix and Kranenburg — still recuperating from a recent appendectomy — tallied 12 and 11 points,  respectively, behind her, while Minix pilfered a game-high six steals to lead OD’s potent defense, which featured an aggressive trap-and-rotate full-court press. The stifling pressure generated 32 St. Joe turnovers for 16 points, and the Bobcats’ swarming half-court D held the Lady Indians to 16-of-41 shooting from the field.
“That’s what we do,” said OD head coach Terry Minix. “For us to get in a half-court set, it’s not going to be a good thing for us because of our size. Obviously if they’re going to match up man-to-man on Gabi, I think we’re going to benefit from that, but if they’re going to sit back in a zone or they’re going to double-team her, we’ve got to score off the break and off the trapping and off the chaotic mess that we’re going through.
“Overall, it wasn’t bad. Sammy (Sims) brings so much energy. Between Sammy and Kelsey at the top they cause havoc, and it makes it tough on the other team.”
Another bright spot for the home team was its rebounding game as OD matched St. Joe’s 35 boards, including 20 offensive rebounds — five by sophomore newcomer Katie Schwenk — for eight second-chance points. It’s a statistical area that’s often been a stumbling block for the undersized Bobcats and one that has been a point of emphasis since Fort Wayne Canterbury’s Tabitha Gerardot came down with 25 rebounds in OD’s season-ending regional championship loss to the eventual state-champion Cavaliers last year.
“After last year’s game — you’re only as good as your last game, and our last game was against Canterbury — one girl named Gerardot had 25 rebounds, and they have heard that name, they have heard that number so many times,” said Terry Minix. “We’re going to have to do it all year long because we’re small, talking, because we’re small. We are extremely short and we’re going to have to box out and if we do that we’ll be competitive with almost everyone. Team rebounding was decent.”
The only real downside to Tuesday’s season opener was free throw shooting, where the Bobcats converted at a woeful 8-of-27 rate.
“Obviously, the two things I talked about in the locker room was the free throw shooting, and then we just didn’t do a very good job of talking and shifting and stuff like that,” Terry Minix said. “It’s little things that we can fix. It’s not like we have a big mountain to climb. I think that we can tweak a few things and really concentrate on those free throws, and I think we’ll be a better team because of it.”
St. Joe was led offensively by Alex Kubsch’s 12 points, including two 3-pointers. Taylor Kurzhal pulled down six rebounds to lead the Indians on the boards, and Amanda Chamblee dished out four assists.
Oregon-Davis will host Triton Saturday at 8 p.m. EST.
• OREGON-DAVIS 68, SOUTH BEND ST. JOSEPH’S 45
At Hamlet
OD: Katie Schwenk 3 0-2 6, Samantha Sims 1 0-0 2, Gabrielle Minix 9 4-10 28, Alivia Sims 1 0-0 2, Kelsi Minix 4 1-7 12, Justyne Kranenburg 4 2-6 11, LeeAnn Meyer 2 1-2 5; Totals: 24 8-27 68.
SJ: Ashley Plenzler 2 0-0 5, Casey Gelchion 1 0-2 2, Amanda Chamblee 2 5-8 9, Katie Campbell 2 0-0 4, Mollie Gillean 2 0-0 5, Alex Kubsch 5 0-0 12, Keri Grove 0 1-2 1, Darby Mountford 0 0-0 0, Annie Bednarek 0 0-0 0, Ashley Zielinski 0 0-2 0, Taylor Kurzhal 2 3-5 7; Totals: 16 9-19 45
Score by quarters
OD: 26  43  51  68
SJ:     9  27  36  45
3-point goals: OD 8 (G. Minix 4, K. Minix 2, A. Sims 2), SJ 4 (Kubsch 2); Rebounds: OD 39 (G. Minix 11, Schwenk 8), SJ 39 (Kurzhal 6); Assists: OD 14 (G. Minix 8, A. Sims 4), SJ 8 (Chamblee 4); Steals: OD 18 (K. Minix 6, G. Minix 4, A. Sims 4), SJ 4; Blocks: OD 1 (G. Minix), SJ 2 (Campbell, Kubsch); Turnovers: OD 15, SJ 32. Total fouls (fouled out):  OD 19 (None), 21 (Campbell).
Records: Oregon-Davis 1-0, St. Joe 0-1
J.V. score: St. Joe 28, OD 27