Gelon sparks Bulldogs to quick start and 53-38 win over Munster

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-21-2015

Team /Record	1	2	3	4	Final
Munster (1-5)	2	17	11	8	38
CROWN POINT (2-2)	13	14	13	13	53

Friday, December 18, 2015 - Non-Conference game at CROWN POINT, Ind.

The CP student section watches Dominic Tomich (12) shoot over Munster's Luke Hackett (20) in last Friday's nonconference game at CP. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Munster coach Mike Hackett (left) and Crown Point coach Clint Swan talk before the annual Munster-CP game last Friday.

Munster's Pete Kounelis (3) drives last Crown Point's Zach Stewart (15) last Friday at Crown Point. CP topped Munster 53-38 in the final CP home game before Christmas.

Crown Point's Grant Gelon (30) shoots over Munster's Luke Hackett (20). Gelon scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half.

Munster coach Mike Hackett watches CP's Dominic Tomich (12) drive around Cristian Cruz (30) last Friday in Crown Point. CP led 11-0 in the first quarter.

Crown Point's Kenny Decker (35) guards Cris Cruz (30) in CP's nonconference game with Munster last Friday. Cruz led Munster with 16 points.

CP's Grant Gelon (30) gets close coverage from Connor Manous of Munster last Friday. Gelon sank five three-point shots in a 53-38 victory.

Crown Point's cheerleaders put the holiday hex on Connor Manous (5) as he tries to get away from Grant Gelon (30) last Friday at Crown Point. CP won the final home game before Christmas.

CP senior Blake Bonin (1) slips past Munster freshman Tevon Morris (10) last week in Crown Point. Crown Point never trailed, winning 53-38.

Crown Point junior Andrew Kenneally joins his teammates signing autographs after the 53-38 win over Munster. Autograph night is a basketball tradition at CP. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Copyright © 2015 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved. Revised: December 23, 2015 .

MUNSTER (38) Connor Manous 1-0-2, Jake Strbjak 1-0-2, Cristan Cruz 5-2-16, Luke Hackett 3-8-15, Tevon Morris 0-02-2, Tommy Maloney 1-0-2, Antoine Van Dyke 0-0-0, Pete Kounelis 0-0-0. TOTALS: 10 (13-15) 38.

CROWN POINT (53) Blake Bonin 2-2-67, John Sakalerios 4-3-11, Dominic Tomich 3-0-8, Sasha Stefanovic 2-0-4, Grant Gelon 6-0-17, Andrew Kenneally 1-1-3, Leo Zdanowicz 0-3-3, Kenny Decker 0-0-0, Zach Stewart 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (9-12) 53.

FREE THROWS: MUNSTER (13-15, 86.7%) Hackett 8-8, Cruz 2-2, Morris 2-2, Maloney 1-2, Strbjak 0-1. CROWN POINT (9-12, 75%) Zdanowicz 3-3, Bonin 2-2, Sakaleros 3-54, Kenneally 1-2.

REBOUNDS: MUNSTER (11) Hackett 9, Strbjak 2, VanDyke 2
CROWN POINT (19) Sakaleros 6, Stefanovic 6, Zdanowicz 4, Bonin 3, Decker, Stewart.

ASSISTS: MUNSTER (3) Connor Manous, Jake Strbjak, Pete Kounalis CROWN POINT (12) Blake Bonin 7, Dominic Tomich 2, Sasha Stefanovic 2, Tommy Sanborn.

3-GOALS: MUNSTER (5) Cristan Cruz 4, Luke Hackett; CROWN POINT (7) Grant Gelon 5, Dominic Tomich 2, Blake Bonin.

FOULED OUT: Munster (1) Jake Strbjak (4th Q) 1:52 left

Could be different if they meet again in March, but Munster wasn’t ready to win at Crown Point yet this season, falling behind 11-0 and losing 53-38 in a holiday season match Friday.

In front of about 1,000 friends of the programs at CP, senior Grant Gelon got loose for four three-point shots in the first nine minutes as the Bulldogs jumped ahead 16-2.

“We just told them,” said coach Clint Swan, after an efficient second half. “You guys looked like a mature team. Especially on the last possession that ended up with John (Sakaleros’) and-one. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“Blake (Bonin) was very good tonight. Sometimes he acts like he’s older than me out here. He’s the captain of the ship. But I thought the reason we got this win tonight was Grant Gelon. He was strong at both ends of the floor and he galvanized us early on.”

Two years ago, Crown Point’s first five games were Hanover Central, LaPorte, Morton, Lake Central and Valparaiso. Not bad.

This year the first five were Lafayette Jefferson, Penn, Warren Central, Munster and Pike. It doesn't matter how the games come out. This is better.

“I have not watched one frame of film on Pike,” sad Swan after the 15-point win. “We poured all of our effort into Munster. We'll rely on our assistant coaches. They’ll take care of that. I’m a little jealous of our players getting to play against a team like Pike. I was jealous them against Warren Central and I’ll be jealous of them against Noblesville (on Dec. 28). To get the opportunities to play this type of talent is great. To me, that’s why you play at Crown Point high school.”

For almost a decade, CP had to play 14 league games in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC). The Bulldogs spent so much time playing Chesterton, the CP players thought they were related to some of the Trojans. But since the DAC went to a 7-game league schedule three years ago, all eight DAC schools have improved their basketball schedules significantly.

“Bill Zych is the head coach of Pike high school,” explained Swan. “He was my coach (when Swan played) at Rensselaer. We took care of this last spring. We had to pick up a game over the summer. Grant committed (to play at Indiana University) and two days later we were asked to play (in the Southport tournament) against Warren Central.”

“Then the draw for the Noblesville tournament came out and we drew Lawrence North. I wasn't about to say ‘no’ to any of it. They have good players and good teams.”

“We’re all benefitting. Merrillville plays Southport. Chesterton is going to Noblesville with us. Lake Central is traveling all around playing teams. Michigan City is playing Lalumiere. This is why we wanted to get out of it (the 14-game slate).”

DOG NOTES: Crown Point lost at Pike 86-60 Saturday night in Indianapolis in a game where the schedule defeated them as much as the opponent.

Andrew Kenneally and Sasha Stefanovic scored 16 for the Bulldogs.

That the Bulldogs took the 140-mile trip to Indianapolis and lost to the seventh-ranked Pike Red Devils (6-2) isn't as important going forward as the fact that they got the chance to play a team of that caliber.

CP has now faced 4A No. 6 Pike and 4A No. 10 (Lafayette) Jefferson in the first three weeks of the season.

At the eight-team Noblesville Tournament on Dec. 29, CP drew perennial power Lawrence North.

Munster lost for the fourth game in a row for the first time since 2007. The Mustangs broke the streak with a 54-53 win over Penn Saturday.

They host arch-rival Lake Central Tuesday (Dec. 22).