H.S. Boys Basketball: Bishop Noll 49, Lowell 41

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr	Final
LOWELL (5-1)	16	4	12	9	41
Bishop Noll (4-3)	20	13	5	11	49

Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) Quarterfinals - Thursday, 12-18-2003 at Hammond

BISHOP NOLL (49) Gary Patterson 6-9-22, Sam Watts 4-0-9, Ryan Schooler 2-0-6, Vince Johnson 4-0-8, Greg Jones 0-2-2, Lawrence Sandlin 1-0-2, Michael Trojnar 0-0-0, Eric Pelletier 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-11-49
FTS: 9-16, 56.3 percent: Patterson 9-10, Johnson 0-2, Watts 0-2, Jones 2-2.
TURNOVERS: 13
REBOUNDS: Vince Johnson - 5
ASSISTS: Sam Watts - 3
STEALS: Gary Patterson - 4
FOULED OUT: none.
3-POINT GOALS (4) Schooler 2, Patterson, Watts.

LOWELL (41) Mike Miller 0-2-2, Mike Stoner 1-1-3, Jason Corns 1-2-4, Jim Jeffries 3-3-9, Jeff Clemens 0-0-0, Dustin Manis 7-3-17, Zach Steiner 3-0-6, Greg Johnson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-11-41
FTS: 11-15, 73.3 percent: Manis 3-4, Miller 2-4, Stoner 1-2, Jeffries
TURNOVERS: 20
ASSISTS: Mike Miller - 3
REBOUNDS: Dustin Manis - 7
BLOCKED SHOTS : 4,
3-POINT GOALS (0)

HAMMOND (12-18-2003) - If you take Gary Patterson away from Bishop Noll, then Lowell has a better team. Trouble is, you can't take Gary Patterson away.

Patterson, the 5-10 all-state guard for Bishop Noll, scored 22 points and controlled the ball in key moments, as the Warriors (4-3) won an uneven 49-41 victory over undefeated Lowell in the 2003 Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) tournament quarterfinals.

"You don't really stop the all star players," said Lowell coach Mike Magley. "You really only try to contain them. In the first half, we didn't help on screens and they were able to turn the corner. You can't let Gary Patterson turn the corner. We were playing too far off."

Lowell (5-1) had not seen anyone like Patterson in the first quarter of the season and that showed as the Warriors rolled to a 13-point halftime lead. The Devils adjusted in the second half and mounted a rally but also showed they're not quite ready as a team to pull off a big comeback.

"They did make some changes defensively in the second half," said Noll coach Eddie Fierek. "But we were able to hold on in the end."

The game actually sputtered to a finish. Lowell used a 12-2 run at the start of the third quarter to cut the Noll edge to 35-32 with 1:10 left in the period. But the Warriors (4-3) went to a delay offense for the rest of the game. The delay basically held the ball until Lowell chased and ran out of position. The Devils didn't do that very much. Offensively, the speed of the Warriors rushed Lowell on offense and there were only four field goals in the final period.

"You have to give Bishop Noll credit," said Magley. "With their quickness, they forced us out. Chest passes get stolen and your shot gets blocked. Against a quality team, the quickness causes problems. But, hopefully, you learn."

The problem with Patterson is that his dribbling skills are superior to most players. One player can't guard him without help, which sets the defense back on its heels. He takes away the aggressiveness of the defense because he can go by you.

Noll clearly had heard of 6-3 Red Devil scoring leader Jim Jeffries, who averaged 22.2 points per game heading into the LAC tournament.

"Jeffries is a quality player and he'll learn from this tonight and he'll be better," said Magley. "We've got Hanover and Wheeler coming up after the first of the year. We don't accept losing. But we accept this and try to make it a positive. There's a learning curve for him. He's now thrown in that light where he has some notoriety. You've got to sit down and look at some game film and work on what to do. Using screens and things like that. It's not easy."

The game was tied 9-9 late in the first quarter when Patterson, who averages 25 points a game, hit a three-point shot off an inbounds pass. Lowell committed 14 turnovers in the first half, many off deflected dribbles by the quicker Warriors.

The Devils went to a zone defense to protect the basket but Noll scored the final seven points of the first half. Lowell was over-passing, trying for the perfect shot, and losing the ball without an attempt.

Bishop Noll has lost to a full-strength Lew Wallace (they were 3-0 before Marcus Rhodes was hurt) and Andrean (5-2) plus a meaningless 66-53 loss out of state against Bay View of Milwaukee. Wisc. With 6-4 senior forward Vince Johnson coming off an injury, and Noll being a 2A team for the first time, the Warriors hopes are high.

Lowell made the game very physical in the second half, something that was accentuated by the fact that Noll was holding the ball. The Red Devils will take solace in the fact that they fought hard and stopped a much faster team in the final two periods. Senior guard Dustin Manis scored 17 points and helped rally the team with blocks, steals and short shots.

"Dustin's a kid who was not with us last year. But he's cleared things up and he's back. That's the kind of thing we believe he can do. They had their run and we had our run," said Magley. "We just couldn't make a shot at the end."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell's next two opponents, Wheeler and Hanover, will meet on Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. at Wheeler in the semifinals of the Wheeler Holiday Tournament. Wheeler upset Andrean 66-63 in the quarterfinals of the LAC tourney Thursday night at Wheeler. Lowell returns to Bishop Noll to end the reegular season on Feb. 27.

Lowell has not defeated a team with a winning record this season and they have eight .500 or better teams yet to come.

Noll's 5-10 guard Sam Watts is the brother of East Chicago's 5-10 sophomore forward Kelly Watts, a double figure scorer on East Chicago's girls team. Noll is five minutes from East Chicago.

The game got rough in the second half with Mike Miller tackling Patterson at one point, something that wasn't flagrant with the Noll players running a delay. Jeffries whacked Noll's Lawrence Sandlin with an elbow when he was being closely guarded, something Magley apologized for after the game.

LOWELL
Coach Mike Magley (3rd year) 11-12 in 2003

Nov. 25: W, 61-46 North Newton (1-4)
Nov. 28: W, 60-46 at Calumet (0-5)
Dec. 6: W, 69-50 CLARK (2-4)
Dec. 12: W, 57-32 LAKE STATION (0-7)

East Chicago 4A Sectional
March 2 (Tu) quarterfinals -   6 p.m.
March 5 (F) semifinals -   6 p.m.
March 6 (Sat)   championship - 7 p.m.

Michigan City 4A Regional
March 13 (Sat) semifinals - 11 a.m.
March 13 (Sat) championship - 7 p.m.

State Championship
March 27 (Sat) championship - 7 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse

Bishop Noll's Patterson leads Warriors to 49-41 win over Red Devils in LAC Tourney

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith