Bulldogs surprise Cardinals 75-69 at EC after dropping 67-59 home loss to Michigan City

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-21-2008

Saturday, 01-19-2008 - Non-conference at EAST CHICAGO, IN

CROWN POINT (75)  Ben Derks 1-0-3, Aleks Alavanja 6-4-16, Zach Cecich 3-2-8, Kyle Hanaway 0-5-5, Stephen Albrecht 6-18-32, Jacob Burkholder 1-0-2, Michael Lipton 0-2-2, Derrick Garletts 2-3-7.  TOTALS:  19 (34-46) 75.

EAST CHICAGO (69)  Bryce Walker 3-2-9, Derrell Conner 5-2-14, Matt Julkes 2-0-5, Angel Garcia 3-5-13, Kawaan Short 7-3-17, DeMarko Johnson 1-0-3, Michael Harris 3-0-7, Tremel Cooley 0-0-0, Henry Davis 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  24 (13-23) 69.

FREE THROWS:  CROWN POINT (34-46, 75%) Albrecht 18-20, Alavanja 4-7, Hanaway 5-6, Garletts 3-4, Cecich 2-7, Lipton 2-2;
EAST CHICAGO (13-23, 56.5%) Garcia 5-8, Walker 2-3, Conner 2-2, Short 3-7, Julkes 0-2, Davis 0-1.

REBOUNDS:  CROWN POINT (39) Zach Cecich 12, Aleks Alavanja 8;  EAST CHICAGO (34) Kawaan Short 12.

ASSISTS:  CROWN POINT: Kyle Hanaway 10;  EAST CHICAGO: Derrell Conner 6.

3-GOALS:  CROWN POINT (3) Stephen Albrecht 2, Ben Derks;
EAST CHICAGO (8) Derell Conner 2, Angel Garcia 2, Matt Julkes, Bryce Walker, DeMarko Johnson, Michael Harris.

FOULED OUT:  CROWN POINT (1) Jacob Burkholder;  EAST CHICAGO (3) Bryce Walker, Derrell Conner, Tremel Cooley.

TECHNICAL FOUL:  Tremel Cooley (4th Q) 0:36 left.

Friday, 01-18-2008 - Duneland Athletic Conference at CROWN POINT, IN

MICHIGAN CITY (67)  Adam Harmon 2-2-6, Chance Nelson 4-0-8, Deon Dudley 3-0-6, Jarrod Jones 4-6-14, Kent Alleyne 1-3-5, Stephen Ward 10-2-28,  Byron Lee 0--0-0, Barndon Pawlawski 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  24 (13-19) 67.

CROWN POINT (59)  Ben Derks 2-2-7, Aleks Alavanja 5-1-11, Zach Cecich 5-0-10, Kyle Hanaway 1-0-2, Stephen Albrecht 7-3-19, Jacob Burkholder 5-0-10, Michael Lipton 0-0-0, Billy Cox 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  25 (6-12) 59.

FIELD GOALS:  MICHIGAN CITY (13-19, 68.4%) Harmon 2-2, Ward 2-4, Alleyne 3-4, Jones 6-9:  CROWN POINT (6-12, 50%) Albrecht 3-4, Derks 2-2, Alavanja 1-4, Cox 0-2.

REBOUNDS:  MICHIGAN CITY (17) Jones 8, Dudley 3, Aleyne 3, Ward 3, Harmon, Farless; CROWN POINT (27) Alavanja 8, Cecich 5, Lipton 4, Albrecht 4, Burkholder 3, Cox , Derks , Hanaway.

ASSISTS:  MICHIGAN CITY (9) Ward 2, Harmon 2, Dudley 2, Lee, Farless, Nelson;  CROWN POINT (15) Hanaway 9, Cox 2, Albrecht, Derks, Lipton, Burkholder. 

STEALS:  MICHIGAN CITY (6) Dudley 2, Nelson, Harmon, Ward, Jones;  CROWN POINT (6) Alavanja 4, Cox, Albrecht. 

3-GOALS:  MICHIGAN CITY (6)  Stephen Ward 6; CROWN POINT (30 Stephen Albrecht, Ben Derks.

CROWN POINT, IN (01-19-2008) - If you looking for an explanation of how Crown Point can lose at home to Michigan City one night and then beat the defending 4A state champion East Chicago, the 10th-ranked team in the state the next evening, you've come to the wrong place.

What I suspect is, the consistent intensity of Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) games and the ability of coaches to zero in on your squad defensively when they see you more than once, makes it easier for CP, when motivated, to upset a nonconference team than it does to continually play the large DAC schools again and again.

Basketball is not about winning the games where 'nobody gave us a chance'.  It's about winning the ones you're supposed to win against the teams you have to beat.  With that said, the Bulldogs' 75-69 victory over East Chicago (9-3) gives them a chance to revive a season that had become sleepy after three consecutive DAC losses.

Saturday night's victory over Northwest Indiana's highest profile team, while statistically meaningless to a CP team that has fallen into the second division of the DAC, had to do great things for team confidence that had to be broken after consecutive losses to Lake Central (6-7) and Michigan City (7-6).  Crown Point (8-5) fell behind 7-0 but led 24-21 at halftime as coach Clint Swan switched defenses.  East Chicago, coming off an 85-65 stomping of Hammond and a 102-76 rout of Gary Roosevelt (2-9), started missing shots and couldn't stop.

Crown Point didn't exactly burn the net, scoring just 19 field goals.  But they eased to the front, building an 11-point lead at 66-55 with 1:40 left in the game.  Michael Harris hit a three-point shot with 45 second to play, but Tremel Cooley fouled CP's Stephen Albrecht and Cooley was called for a technical foul, reportedly for ripping his shirt off in protest.  Albrecht, an 85% foul shooter, sank four consecutive free throws to ice the game.

One key to the game may have been the play of 6-foot-6 senior Aleks Alavanja, who scored 16 points with eight rebounds while guarding EC major college hopeful Angel Garcia.  The 6-foot-11 Garcia sank just 3-of-12 shots from the field and only 5 of 8 from the line.

CP seniors Kyle Hanaway and Ben Derks also broke even against East Chicago's speedy Derrell Conner and Bryce Walker.  Hanaway, Derks and Albrecht helped CP finish with just 12 turnovers in the game while both Conner and Walter fouled out.

Friday's game with Michigan City was an example of how your leading scorer has to be selfish.  Call it selfish or call it working within the offense.  The player who's best at shooting the basketball has to take the initiative shooting the basketball for the mutual good of all who came on your bus.  Michigan City senior guard Stephen Ward was 'selfish' enough to take 15 open shots and make 10 of them (including six from three-point range) and totaling 28 points Friday night, giving the Wolves a 67-59 win at Crown Point and a split of the DAC season series.

While Ward was taking 33% of the Wolves' shots from the field, Crown Point couldn't find an outside shooter other than Albrecht in the fourth quarter and fell to their fourth loss in six games.

"This was big for us," said first year Michigan City coach Bob Buscher, a veteran of four Northwest Indiana schools.  "We moved the ball and we didn't care who scored."

But the ball at key times stopped with Ward, a three-year varsity starter, who scored 18 first half points and added seven in the fourth quarter.  It's hard for coaches to explain how they expect players to know when to stop passing off to open, but lesser teammates in key situations and do what the team as a whole needs them to do.

"They have to understand the game," said Buscher.  "They have to understand what the team needs to win.  Tonight it was Stephen.  You have to recognize that.  When we lost to Chesterton, we didn't do what we needed to do.  We didn't do what I think we are.  And I think you saw some of that tonight."  

Crown Point seemed to play somewhat one-handed.  While big forwards Zach Cecich, Jacob Burkholder and Aleks Alavanja totaled 31 points and 20 rebounds, the Bulldogs could not find a perimeter threat opposite Albrecht, who averages 17 points a game.  Albrecht scored seven of his 19 in the fourth period, but he was often double-teamed and when CP reversed the ball to the other wing, no one would or could score.

"We just aren't playing very well," said CP coach Clint Swan, who didn't want to get into specific offensive problems, some of which may have been cured Saturday.  "Ward got hot and when he can shoot the ball like that, it makes them very difficult to defend because of Jones inside."

Michigan City was 24 of 45 from the floor and a lot of it was Ward, who scored only four a week earlier in a 67-47 loss to Chesterton.  This game looked like a CP victory as the Bulldogs led 16-10 and 27-20 as Hanaway had six assist in the first half.  But a 12-2 run ended the half as Ward, who is also a tennis star at Michigan City, scored 10 second quarter points.  Ward's shots were all from the perimeter.  He made crossover moves to create space and confidently fired down jump shots.

"We've got a lot of work to do," said Swan.  "We've got to work on getting better shots.  We need to get the ball inside more.  We've still got some games left to work on things and get it right.  At the start of the game we were getting the ball inside.  We were getting the ball into the lane and got some good touches.  But not later."

DOG NOTES:  Crown Point is 4-5 in DAC play and 4-0 outside the DAC.  East Chicago is 4-0 against 3A schools and 3-3 against Class 4A schools.  CP's Kyle Hanaway has recorded eight or more assists against every team this season except Merrillville.

EC led 7-0 in the first quarter, but CP led by 11 with 1:40 to play in the game.  EC has allowed 65 points or more in six consecutive games.  This was EC's 3rd game in five nights and they were 24 of 67 from the field.  CP, which broke a 3-game losing streak, was 19 of 39 but committed just 12 turnovers.

EC averages 80 points per game, but the lowest point totals scored by EC this year have been against CP (69) and Munster (54).  This is EC's first home loss since a 72-55 loss to Merrillville on Jan. 15, 2005.

Michigan City senior Stephen Ward and sophomore Adam Harmon both appear to be the lead guard and they, at times, seem to share the role.  That alternating role rarely works, but it worked fine for MC Friday.

"It depends on what's happened," said coach Bob Buscher.  "If Steve's got a hot hand like he did tonight, then Adam's the lead guard.  If we need our best foul shooter to handle the ball, then Steve plays the point."

Michigan City coach Buscher and CP's Clint Swan are both former Andrean high school coaches.  Buscher preceded Swan.

"When I was at Chesterton, he was at Andrean," said Buscher.  "This might be the first time I've beaten him.  He had a guy named Shane Power when I was at Chesterton."

MC loves Jarrod Jones' potential but he wants him to be more assertive.

"He's got to demand the ball," said Buscher.  "You can't just give it to him.  He's a shy kid.  A good person.  And that's more important than being a good player."

Buscher is new to Michigan City and he knows that his ways will not immediately become his players' ways.

"Its been a roller-coaster," he said.  "You can't change habits that have been in place for six years.  I have to realize that I'm not going to get seniors to totally change.  Tonight, they bought it.  Will they 'buy it' for the rest of the season?  I certainly hope so.  I think I have one kid who'll buy it after tonight."