Robinson leads Indians to 62-48 win over Bulldogs at CP in Boys Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-11-2011

LAKE CENTRAL (62) Tye Wilburn 3-0-8, Tyler Wideman 4-5-13, Glenn Robinson 7-6-21, Taylor Lehnert 0-3-3, Alex Ratic 2-0-6, Ryan Burvan 0-2-2, Nick Miklusak 2-2-7, Dan Paschen 1-0-2, Zack Gentz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (18-25) 62.

CROWN POINT (48) Braxton Rice 3-0-6, Bret Barclay 3-1-7, Nick Jeffirs 2-2-6, Tommy Bardeson 7-5-20, Sean Kelly 2-0-4, Zak Bostian 1-1-3, Brett Haskell 1-0-2, Dejan Stefanovic 0-0-0, Zach Plesac 0-0-0, Alex Nickla 0-0-0, Zach Plesac 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (8-12) 48.

FREE THROWS: LC (18-25, 72%) Burvan 2-2, Robinson 6-7, Miklusak 2-2, Lehnert 3-4, Wideman 5-10; CP (8-12, 66.7%) Bardeson 5-6, Stefanovic 0-2, Bostian 1-1, Jeffirs 2-2, Rice 0-1.
REBOUNDS: LC (27) Wideman 9, Lehnert 6, Robinson 4, Wilburn 3, Burvan 2, Miklusak 2, Paschen; CP (21) Barclay 5, Jeffirs 5, Bardeson 3, Kelly 3, Stefanovic 2, Rice 2, Plesac.

ASSISTS: LC (11) Wilburn 3, Burvan 2, Wideman 2, Robinson 2, Mikluskak, Lehnert; CP (8) Bardeson 3, Stefanovic 2, Nickla, Plesac, Bostian.

STEALS: LC (10) Wilburn 4, Robinson 2, Wideman 3, Burvan; CP (7) Bardeson 2, Rice 2, Kelly, Bostian, Barclay.

FOULED OUT: CP (1) Sean Kelly (4th Q) 3:02 left.

3-GOALS: CP (2) Brett Barclay, Tommy Bardeson; LC (6) Tye Wilburn 2, Alex Ratic 2, Glenn Robinson, Mike Miklusak.

Crown Point (1-2)
Coach: Clint Swan, 71-42 (6th year)

Dec. 2 (W) 53-48 at LaPorte (3-2)
Dec. 6 (L) 55-60 at Morton (1-3)
Dec. 9 (L) 48-62 Lake Central (3-1)
Dec. 13 Valparaiso (3-1)
Dec. 16 at Michigan City (3-1)
Dec. 20 Griffith {3A} 7:30 pm
Dec. 27 at Merrillville (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 3 at Portage (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 6 Chesterton (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 13 at Lake Central (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 20 Michigan City (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 21 at East Chicago
Jan. 27 at Valparaiso (4A) 7:30 pm
Jan. 28 Boone Grove (2A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 3 Merrillville (4A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 9 LaPorte (4A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 11 (SB) Washington (4A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 17 Portage (4A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 18 at Lowell (4A) 7:30 pm
Feb. 24 at Chesterton (4A) 7:30 pm

CROWN POINT, IN (12-09-2011) Let's be honest. When Crown Point won their season and Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) opener at LaPorte last week, those of us who follow them thought this was going to be a pretty good year. When they lost 60-55 at winless Morton four days later, many of us changed our minds.

It was no surprise that Lake Central, which returned four starters, including All-state forward Glenn Robinson from last year's team, defeated Crown Point, which returned just one player who started last season, in the Bulldogs home opener last Friday. But the 62-48 defeat wasn't nearly as bad as some of us thought it might be. This was a Bulldog team that lost 60-55 three days earlier at Morton (1-3), a team which hadn't beaten anyone else but CP

Clearly the loss to Class 4A No. 11 Lake Central in front of a home-opening crowd of about 2,000 was a good loss, as opposed to the one at Morton. CP coach Clint Swan probably didn't propose that theory, but you could tell after the game that he was pleased that his team, which trailed 43-23 midway through the third quarter, rallied to within 55-44 with 3:20 let in the game.

"I thought our effort was very good," Swan said. "They had some runs where things got away from us and that's what we have to work on."

The first quarter saw a lot of clumsy play and just a 6-6 tie, but Lake Central, which has lost only to 4A No.2 Hamilton Southeastern, started the second quarter with an 11-2 run.
LC's 6-foot-5 Glenn Robinson (22 points) and 6-foot-7 Tyler Wideman (10 points, nine rebounds) combined for 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half and LC built an 11-point halftime lead. LC's full court pressure exposed CP and left 6-foot-4 junior Tommy Bardeson vs. Robinson as the only option for bringing the ball up the floor.

In the third quarter, LC's speedy sophomore Trye Wilburn scored eight and stole the ball three times as LC ran the lead up to 20 points. But CP rallied in the final quarter and LC showed some frustration, getting into little push-and-shove arguments with Bulldogs and complaining to the officials. Wilburn was benched with six minutes to go and never returned.

"Clint's kids did a great job," said LC coach Dave Milausnic, who wasn't as happy with the win as he was with the middle quarters.

"The first three periods," he said, "I was pleased. In the last quarter, when we were ahead by 20, we seemed to forget what we were doing. We knew there'd be a lot of emotion here. This is a border game (LC and CP school districts border each other) and we played them a lot. We're still a young team in some respects and we played young. Our full court defense was a bailout because our half-court defense wasn't very good."

Crown Point was just 2 of 17 from three-point range and they took that many long shots because Robinson and Wideman were intimidators inside. LC was 6-of-13 on 3-point shots, but just 19 of 55 shooting overall.

Braxton Rice guarded Robinson most of the game, while Robinson, son of the 1980s and 90s national Basketball Association and Purdue University star, guarded CP junior lead guard Tommy Bardeson.

Robinson was 7-of-16 with six rebounds and four turnovers, while Bardeson was 7-of-18 with 20 points and four turnovers. It wasn't exactly a matchup because Bardeson didn't guard Robinson, but Bardeson won't see that caliber of athlete defending him until the CP-LC rematch on Jan. 13 in St. John.

"Tommy's a very good player," said Swan. "He's very good with the ball. He sees the floor. His decision-making was very good and his shot selection was very good. He was our leader tonight."

"I played against him last year a little," Bardeson said. "But not like tonight. I had a feeling he'd be the one guarding me. Just tried to run the offense. If his hands were down, I'd try to shoot it."

Bardeson, who played about 18 minutes a game last year (he started 10 times) seems to have taken to his role as floor leader. The 6-foot-4 right-hander averaged 5.5 points a game last year but he was averaging 17 points (he also scored 20 in the 53-48 win at LaPorte on Dec. 2) over the first three games this year. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal to face a player who may be in the National Basketball Association in four years.

"With him being so athletic, you have to fade away a little bit, but you just gotta play. If you're out there, you've got to play."

Crown Point, which was just 19 of 51 (37%) from the field Friday, will obviously start slowly this season, but they have a lot of potential. This is an unusually big Bulldog team with four starters at 6-foot-4 or taller. The dismal offensive start against LC may have been a result of players who had never started a varsity game before last Friday. Boys like CP's new trio of 6-foot-5 forwards: junior Elizabeth Seton (South Holland, Ill.) transfer Sean Kelly, sophomore Bret Barclay and 6-foot-5 freshman post player Nick Jeffirs got better as the game progressed.

"I was proud of Nick," said Swan. "I was proud of Sean. This is his first year at Crown Point. Both of those guys did a good job on the interior. They were pretty much a two-man tag team because Braxton couldn't give them any help. He was guarding the guy who should be Mr. Basketball this year."

DOG NOTES: Senior Stephen Galik was on crutches Friday and he'll be unable to play for some time, according to coach Clint Swan. Crown Point lost at Morton 60-55 three nights before the Lake Central loss. Tommy Bardeson and Braxton Rice both scored 11 and Nick Jeffirs added 10. CP trailed the entire second half, losing to Morton for the first time since 2006.

Rice, the 6-foot-6 wide receiver on the football team, looks quicker than he was last season. Starting for the first time this season, Rice guarded Robinson, who will play for the University of Michigan next season, and was not totally destroyed last Friday. There were only two successful dunks in the game and Crown Point's Rice, who scored just six points, had both of them.

Crown Point travels to Michigan City (3-1) next Friday and hosts Griffith on Dec. 20.

Football wide receiver Zach Plesac started at guard for the Bulldogs, although he only played 10 minutes. Plesac, a starting pitcher and third baseman in baseball will, barring injury, be the first CP boy to start on opening day in baseball, basketball and football since CP football coach Chip Pettit did that in the early 1990s.

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Revised: December 17, 2011 .