Bulldogs take Cardinals to OT before falling 62-56 at East Chicago in Boys Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-02-2012

CP's Dejan Stefanovic (24) dribbles by Hyrone Edwards (3) is the Bulldogs New Year's Eve game in the Barrato Center. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Alex Nickla (10) and coach Clint Swan lead the cheers as CP rallies to send the New Year's Eve game at East Chicago into overtime.

EC freshman guard Hyrone Edwards (3) breaks away for a first half layup. Edwards scored 10 in EC's 62-56 overtime win over Crown Point.

EC coach Abe Brown watched his team survive, losing a 13-point lead, but still win in the Region Rumble.

CP's Tommy Bardeson (21) tries to lay it up over EC's Anfernee Brown (20) in Saturday's two-hour overtime battle in East Chicago. Zach Plesac (24) had three assists in the second half during the Bulldogs rally. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Anfernee Brown (20), below, looks to move past CP's Tommy Bardeson in the second quarter of EC's overtime victory Saturday. Brown, the 6-fot-1 junior son of coach Abe Brown, collected 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

CP's Zak Bostian (25), above, keeps an eye on EC's Hyrone Edwards (3) in the Region Rumble on New Years' Eve in East Chicago. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Braxton Rice connects from the foul line. The CP junior scored all six of his points in the second half as CP rallied to send the EC game into overtime.

CROWN POINT (56) Brett Barclay 6-0-12, Zach Plesac 2-2-6, Tommy Bardeson 3-5-12, Braxton Rice 2-1-6, Dejan Stefanovic 4-1-9, Zak Bostian 2-2-6, Sean Kelly 1-1-3, Nick Jeffers 1-0-2, Alex Nickla 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21 (11-18) 56.

EAST CHICAGO (62) Josh Ochoa 2-3-7, Jeremiah Ochoa 1-0-2, Hyrone Edwards 3-2-10, Lee Epps 3-2-8, Anfernee Brown 6-3-15, Everette Coleman 6-2-14, Anthony Sells 0-2-2, Tre'Quan Burnett 2-0-4. TOTALS: 23 (14-25) 64.

FREE THROWS: CP (11-18, 61.1%) Bardeson 5-8, Zak Bostian 2-2, Plesac 2-3, Rice 1-2, Kelly 1-2, Stefanovic 0-1; EC (14-25, 56%) Josh Ochoa 3-4, Edwards 2-2, Epps 2-5, Brown 3-5, Coleman 2-6, Sells 2-2, Burnett 0-1.

REBOUNDS: CP (26) Barclay 7, Bardeson 5, Rice 4, Kelly 4, Bostian 3, Stefanovic 2, Jeffirs; EAST CHICAGO (40) Epps 10, Brown 7, Coleman 7, Josh Ochoa 4, Jeremiah Ochoa 4, Edwards 4, Burnett 3, Sells.

ASSISTS: CP (10) Bardeson 4, Plesac 2, Stefanovic 2, Bostian. Kelly; EAST CHICAGO (6) Brown 4, Edwards 2.

STEALS: CP (10) Bostian 3, Bardeson 2, Barclay 2, Plesac, Kelly, Rice; EAST CHICAGO (10) Edwards 5, Epps 2, Coleman 2, Josh Ochoa.

FOULED OUT: CP (1) Sean Kelly (OT) 0:26 left.

3-GOALS: CP (3) Tommy Bardeson, Braxton Rice, Dejan Stefanovic; EAST CHICAGO (2) Hyrone Edwards 2.

EAST CHICAGO, IN (12-31-2011) There's no point in telling a coach that their team played very well in a loss. They can't hear it. But if a team can improve in a close loss on the road, then the Bulldogs appeared to gain a lot of ground in the final week of December.

For the second time in three days, Crown Point was very, very good in the second half of a game they did not win. After erasing a 14-point deficit in a 64-56 loss at Merrillville, the Bulldogs fell down 13 points at East Chicago in the opening game of the 'Region Rumble' basketball showcase.

But Crown Point (2-6) again used a long-armed half court trapping defense to rally, this time sending the game into overtime before the Cardinals pulled it out 62-56.

"We've got to figure out how not to drop behind by 14 and 13 points." said Swan. "We're so inconsistent. We have to figure out how to play the way we do in the second half from the start of the game."

The biggest plus in the game was senior guard Dejan Stefanovic who, playing the point extensively for the first time in his CP varsity career, led the Bulldogs comeback. The 6-foot-1 senior, who has had several injury problems since being a starter early in his CPHS career, calmed a CP offense that made 13 first half turnovers and led a 19-6 run that tied the game.

"Dan played great," said Swan. "More than anything else, he settled us down. We were able to run the offense. We played inside out and we offset their speed."

CP's leading scorer, 6-foot-5 junior Tommy Bardeson (15.1 ppg.) was just 3-of-18 from the floor with five turnovers against the Cardinals' man-to-man defense. Bardeson was benched and Stefanovic took over as the lead guard in the second half, but in the final minute with CP down three, Swan reinserted Bardeson and he made the pass that allowed Stefanovic to sink a three-point shot tying the game 48-48. It's a little indicative of CP's new team. They may still be looking for permanent roles.

"We're asking a lot of Tom right now to play the point against Lake Central, Merrillville and East Chicago," said Swan. "They (EC) were very ready to play. We had to adjust to their speed and I think it surprised us at the start. Seems like whenever our backs are against the wall, we begin playing like we should have from the start. That's just something we have to get over."

East Chicago (5-3) jumped to leads of 17-6 and 29-19 behind 6-foot-7 center Lee Epps who had four points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in the first half. Coach Abe Brown's son Anfernee Brown and EC's football quarterback Everette Coleman scored back to back dribble-drive baskets to boost EC to a 57-52 lead in the final 90 seconds of the four-minute overtime.

"I'm very proud of our comebacks," continued Swan. "Especially on the road against two programs (EC & Merrillville) like this."

Crown Point is a friend to the "Region Rumble" tournament. This was the fifth time that either the boys or girls have appeared in the 13-year basketball showcase.

"I was very willing to switch the game here," said the sixth year CP coach. ""It's great for our kids to get this exposure."

RUMBLE NOTES: Bowman Academy topped Cathedral 49-46 in the second half of the New Years' Eve double-header at East Chicago's Barrato Center.

It isn't impossible that the Bulldogs appear in the "Rumble" again next holiday season since they return all five of the boys who started last Saturday. The EC-CP game is a regularly scheduled game on both teams' schedules. It was moved to the "Rumble" when another school backed out.

Crown Point appeared in the "Region Rumble" two years in a row in 2007 and 2008 against Washington and Winchester.

The crowd at East Chicago was about 1,500 at the end of the CP-EC game, but it was slightly larger by the time Bowman and Cathedral began.

Crown Point has six players 6-foot-5 or taller. Some are guards, some are forwards and 6-foot-5 Nick Jeffirs is a back to the basket center. It's not obvious which one belongs where in every situation.

"That's something they're going to have to figure out on their own," admitted Swan. "They have to make the mismatches work."

Crown Point played very hard. Senior Zak Bostian who picked up six points, three rebounds and three steals in a hustling second half, said he played himself almost into exhaustion.

"They are very quick," said Bostian. "They're quicker off the dribble than Merrillville is."

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Revised: January 04, 2012 .