Bulldogs' late run comes up short in 63-52 Sectional Semifinal loss to Chesterton

A USA-365.com Special Report  by Mark Smith
06-10-2020

Team /Record 1 2 3 4 Final
CROWN POINT (12-12) 5 17 15 15 52
CHESTERTON (23-2) 8 24 18 13 63

Friday, March 6, 2020 - Class 4A, Sectional 2 Semifinal at VALPARAISO, Ind.

Chesterton coach Marc Urban (left) talks it over with CP coach Clint Swan before the March 6 sectional semifinal at Valparaiso. (All photos by Mark Smith)
CP's Ty Smith watches as teammate Jake Oostman (42) blocks a layup by Chesterton guard Travis Grayson (2).
CP's Ben Uran (31) tries to back Chesterton's Alex Schmidt (33) in to the foul lane.
When the ball goes out of bounds, it's your duty to go get it. What you do with it, as this Chesterton cheerleader finds out, is another question.
CP's Ty Smith (12) gets bumped by Sean Elliott (15) as he looks to get down the base line.
Chesterton's Travis Grayson and Jake Wadding have front row seats for teammate Luke Lombardi (3) harassing CP's Drew Adzia in the sectional semifinals at Valparaiso.
Crown Point junior Felix Meeks (35) gave the Bulldogs' quality minutes off the bench in the sectional semifinals game against Chesterton.
Chesterton senior Jake Wadding (23) blocks out Crown Point's Ben Uran in a free throw situation in the third quarter of the Class 4A Sectional 2 playoff game at Valparaiso.
Not every official's call went Crown Point's way in the semifinals as the body language of a couple of CP's cheerleaders suggest.
CP's Jake Oostman (42) aids a Crown Point rally with a steal and breakaway layup in CP's battle with Chesterton at Valparaiso.
Two future Valpo Vikings roam the sidelines in between the sectional semifinals on March 6 in Porter County.
Valparaiso's Barak Coolman celebrated his 200th career coaching victory in a semifinal victory over Portage. Valpo would go on to win the 4A Sectional 2 championship. (All photos by Mark Smith)
 

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Revised: June 10, 2020 .

CHESTERTON (63) Jake Warren 3-3-9, Jake Wadding 3-2-8, Sean Elliott 5-1-15, Travis Grayson 8-2-19, Alex Schmidt 3-2-9, Chris Mullen 0-1-1, Karsen Cardenas 1-0-2, Luke Lombardini 0-0-0, Malcolm Harper 0-0-0, Tyler Vanderwoude 0-2-2. TOTALS: 22 (13-17) 63.

CROWN POINT (52) Ty Smith 9-3-22, Drew Adzia 1-0-3, Luke Hanlon 0-0-0, David Brown 1-0-2, Jake Oostman 3-3-9, Miles Lubbers 2-0-5, Ben Uran 2-1-5, Darren Roach 0-0-0, Dylan Matusak 1-0-3, Felix Meeks 1-1-3. TOTALS: 20 (8-16) 52.

FREE THROWS: CHESTERTON (13-17, 76.5%) Grayson 2-2, Wadding 2-4, Mullen 1-2, Warren 3-4, Elliott 1-1, Vanderwoude 2-2, Schmidt 2-2; CROWN POINT (8-16, 50%) Smith 3-4, Oostman 3-4, Uran 1-4, Meeks 1-4.

3-GOALS: CHESTERTON (6-10, 60%) Sean Elliott 3, Alex Schmidt, Jake Wadding, Travis Grayson. CROWN POINT (4-11, 36.4%) Drew Adzia, Ty Smith, Dylan Matusak, Miles Lubbers.

FOULED OUT: None.

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VALPARAISO (03-06-2020) I thought CP had an outside chance against eighth-ranked Chesterton in the Class 4A Sectional 2 semifinals at Valparaiso.

In the earlier, regular season meeting in Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) play, the Trojans had led CP 21-5 after one quarter on the way to a 61-42 victory.

So when the Chesterton led the playoff game just 8-5 after a rocky first eight minutes, I thought this sectional elimination game might end up differently.

It didn't. The Trojans’ superior shooting eventually led Chesterton to a 63-52 victory.

Chesterton (23-2) hits 6-of-10 from three point range and 13 of 17 from the foul line to run with the lead for the final three quarters.

Crown Point (12-12) might have rallied, but 43% field goal shooting (just 4 of 12 on 3s) and 50% foul shooting (8 of 16) limited any serious rally chances.

CP made a run. The Trojans’ led 38-22 early in the third quarter after a 6-0 start to the third period. But CP mounted a 10-2 rally to close the gap to 10 before a controversial four point play from senior Sean Elliott pushed the rally to the side.

Junior Travis Grayson was the key to the Trojans win, as he was in Chesterton’s earlier win over the Bulldogs on Jan. 24. It was a combination of Grayson scoring 19 to lead the Trojans and the sophomore guard limiting shots for CP’s top distance scorer Drew Adzia, who scored only three points on just five shots.

“I thought Travis picked his spots when to be aggressive and when to just be the point guard,” said Chesterton coach Marc Urban.

“When he does that, we’re really good.”

Without good shooting, CP scored only 22 in the first half and just 52 for the game. CP (12-12) did mount a late rally only to have it derailed on a questionable call.

Chesterton’s Sean Elliott appeared to be fouled by CP in the left corner before he could attempt a three-point shot with the Trojans leading 40-32 late in the third quarter. The officials ruled that Elliott, who was 4-of-5 on the charity stripe attempts for the night, was fouled in the act of shooting and his three point basket and free throw ended a 10-2 CP run. The game was not close after that.

It would have been a major upset for CP to win over The Trojans, who won the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) with a 7-0 league sweep.

“I thought we gave everything we had,” said CP coach Clint Swan. “They were the better team.”

DOG NOTES: Valparaiso (17-8) won the 4A Sectional 2 championship with an upset 53-52 win over Chesterton on March 7. It was the 53rd sectional boys basketball championship in Valpo school history.

Trailing all the way in the sectional semifinal game, Crown Point shot 43.5% (20 of 46) from the field, a percentage that mirrored their 24-game season percentage of 42.5%.

CP’s struggles from the foul line (8 of 16, 50%) reflected their season-long free shot woes. In 24 games, CP was 243 of 392 on free throws for 62% and even that percentage was misleading. Sophomore Drew Adzia was 45 of 49 (91.8%) so the rest of the team was 198 of 343 (57.7%).

Ty Smith, Drew Adzia and David Brown started all 24 games for CP (12-12) and all three are scheduled to return next season.

CROWN POINT
2019-20 SEASON
Coach: Clint Swan
Won 12, Lost 12
OA 56.0, DA 55.0
Nov. 27   Bowman Academy L 51 60    
Dec. 7   Penn W 71 67    
Dec. 10 at East Chicago Central W 65 59    
Dec. 14 at Warsaw L 38 50    
Dec. 20   Munster L 28 41    
Dec. 27 at Noblesville L 43 48   tny
Dec. 27 N New Albany W 62 54   tny
Dec. 28 N Chesterton L 35 44   tny
Jan. 3   Kankakee Valley W 88 45    
Jan. 4 at West Lafayette W 61 50    
Jan. 10 at Michigan City W 70 68    
Jan. 17   Merrillville L 48 54    
Jan. 18 at Griffith W 58 42    
Jan. 24   Chesterton L 41 61    
Jan. 31 at LaPorte W 68 65    
Feb. 1   South Bend Washington L 59 61    
Feb. 6   Portage W 68 49    
Feb. 11   Andrean W 72 56    
Feb. 18 at Valparaiso L 54 61    
Feb. 21   Lake Central W 53 52    
Feb. 22   McCutcheon L 49 64    
Feb. 25 at Hammond Morton W 67 54    
Feb. 28 at Lowell L 44 53    
Mar. 6 N Chesterton L 52 63   sect

CHESTERTON
2019-20 SEASON
Coach: Marc Urban
Won 23, Lost 3
OA 62.3, DA 49.0
Nov. 30   Andrean W 61 48    
Dec. 4 at Hammond Morton W 66 50    
Dec. 7 at Lowell W 64 40    
Dec. 14 at Elkhart Memorial W 65 49    
Dec. 17   East Chicago Central W 57 30    
Dec. 20 at Gary 21st Century W 50 48    
Dec. 21 N South Bend Washington W 59 45    
Dec. 27 N Fort Wayne Blackhawk L 56 67   tny
Dec. 27 N Andrean W 60 49   tny
Dec. 28 N Crown Point W 44 35   tny
Jan. 7 at Hammond Noll W 76 54    
Jan. 11 at Merrillville W 56 53    
Jan. 14   Hobart W 78 37    
Jan. 17   LaPorte W 67 44    
Jan. 24 at Crown Point W 61 41    
Jan. 25   South Bend Adams W 68 56    
Jan. 31 at Lake Central W 65 57    
Feb. 6   Michigan City W 74 68 OT  
Feb. 11 at Munster L 45 46    
Feb. 14 at Portage W 94 49    
Feb. 18   Hammond W 57 53    
Feb. 21   Valparaiso W 54 51    
Feb. 28   Gary West W 67 53    
Mar. 3 N Lowell W 60 47   sect
Mar. 6 N Crown Point W 63 52   sect
Mar. 7 at Valparaiso L 52 53   sect