Albrecht's 31 points paces Bulldogs to 67-52 DAC win over Lake Central at home in Boys Basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-15-2011

LAKE CENTRAL (52) Tyler Wideman 5-1-11, Taylor Lehnart 2-0-4, Alex Ratic 2-2-7, Ryan Burvan 0-2-2, Glenn Robinson 9-10-28, Tye Wilburn 0-0-0, Chris Moon 0-0-0, Zach Gentz 0-0-0, Danny Paschen 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (15-18) 52.

CROWN POINT (67) Michael Albrecht 7-12-31, Dejan Stefanovic 3-3-12, Sean Crary 5-2-14, Jared Smoot 3-2-8, Evan Langbehn 1-0-2, Braxton Rice 0-0-0, Zak Bostian 0-0-0, Billy Brown 0-0-0, Ronnie Plesac 0-0-0, Alex Nickla 0-0-0, Brett Haskell 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (19-24) 67.

FREE THROWS: LAKE CENTRAL (15-18, 87.5%) Robinson 10-11, Burvan 2-2, Ratic 2-3, Wideman 1-2; CROWN POINT (19-24, 79.2%) Albrecht 12-12, Stefanovic 3-4, Crary 2-4, Smoot 2-4.

REBOUNDS: LAKE CENTRAL (19) Robinson 6, Wideman 5, Ratic 4, Burvan 2, Wilburn, Paschen; CROWN POINT (24) Smoot 9, Albrecht 6, Stefanovic 3, Langbehn 3, Bostian 2, Crary.

ASSISTS: LAKE CENTRAL (7) Burvan 3 ,Wideman 2, Lehnert, Robinson' CROWN POINT (10) Albrecht 6, Stefanovic 3, Bostian.

STEALS: LAKE CENTRAL (8) Robinson 5, Burvan 2, Ratic; CROWN POINT (7) Albrecht 2, Smoot 2, Rice, Bostian, Crary.

BLOCKED SHOTS: LAKE CENTRAL (3) Robinson 2, Wideman; CROWN POINT (5) Smoot 5.

FOULED OUT: Alex Ratic (LC) 4th Q - 3:07 left.

3-GOALS: LAKE CENTRAL (1) Alex Ratic; CROWN POINT (10) Michael Albrecht 5, Dejan Stefanovic 3, Sean Crary 2.

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CROWN POINT, IN (01-14-2011) I don't know if Crown Point's basketball season so far can be defined by one game. Maybe two.

When you watched the two teams on the floor last Friday, it was clear Lake Central is bigger and faster overall, especially last Friday when CP had to go without injured starter Tommy Bardeson and backup forward Stephen Galik. But CP swept the season series from Lake Central this year with a decisive 67-52 win over the Indians.

A mid-winter crowd of about 1,000 saw CP's defense frustrate the younger Indians after the first quarter. On a night when star players Michael Albrecht of CP (31 points, six assists, 12 of 12 from the line) and Glenn Robinson of LC (28 points, six rebounds, five steals) played up to their all-state capability, it was CP's experience that created the final score.

"The big thing tonight was that we just needed to really play confidently," said CP senior Sean Crary, who scored 13. "Yeah, we were 8-2 before this game. But we had a few games where we could have played better. We just knew tonight we needed to have an attack mentality. I hit a shot and Dan (Dejan Stefanovic) hit a shot and for the rest of the game we were relaxed and ready to go."

In the early going, LC's Wideman scored three baskets inside against CP's 6-foot-10 senior Jared Smoot, much to the delight of the LC bench. But as the game went on, Smoot stayed out of foul trouble and continued contesting shots. Other than the 6-foot-5 Robinson, a spectacular 1-on-1 player, LC's offense dried up.

"Having Smoot in there at 6-foot-10 allows us to play such good ball pressure," added Crary. "If we get beat, he's there. We can lunge for steals. We still do a good job of staying in front of our men. But it's a lot better when you've got a 6-10 guy with a 7-3 wing span behind you, always ready to help out."

"I think our experience came forward tonight," said coach Clint Swan. "Especially on those critical possessions where we had to get to the free throw line. When we had to get a rebound. It wasn't necessarily a difference in talent. It was a difference in experience."

Lake Central relies on junior forward Glenn Robinson III, the son of the former Gary Roosevelt, Purdue and National Basketball Association star Glenn Robinson. CP doesn't have anybody like that.

"I respect anyone who's that good," said Crary, who shook Robinson's hand as he went to the bench in the final minute. "He's going to Michigan. I'm not going to say he's not good. I've got to respect that."

"I wish he was a year older," said Swan. "He's a special player. (LC freshman center) Tyler Wideman is a special player. They're well coached. "It's not a lot fun to think about playing them next year."

Crown Point won't see LC again this season unless both teams make the Michigan City Regional. But the outcome would probably be the same. LC, with no seniors on the roster, is much younger than CP, which has five senior regulars. And it's better for your most skilled, most experienced player to be your lead guard than it is for him to be a small forward.

Albrecht, the 6-foot-2 senior who averages 20.2 points per game, burned the LC defense with three first half three point goals as CP slowly built a 26-21 halftime lead. In the second half, the Bulldog star accelerated to the basket more and drew fouls, sinking 10 of 10 from the foul line. Albrecht's penetration also set up wing shots for Crary and Dejan Stefanovic.

"We can stand 'Spike' (Michael Albrecht) scoring 30," said LC coach Dave Milausnic. "But we can't have Crary and Stefanovic combining for 25 more."

LC players seemed to have little patience with their offense, the sign of a young team against a tough defense.

"This is probably the best defensive team that Clint has had in his seven years there," Milausnic said. "We were not focused on offense. But CP's a good team. Our guys are finding out what it's like to face senior-dominated teams every night."

Lake Central had swept CP for the last three years in the DAC round robin schedule, but they never got closer than nine points in the final quarter Friday. Robinson scored 20 of LC's 31 second half points, but that's actually what you want to have happen against LC. The Indians (5-6) have to resist the tendency to give the ball to their star and then watch him.

"I thought we were doing pretty well against him at halftime," said Crary, who admits he's not quite 6-foot-1 as he is listed in the CP game program. "But then he came at us in the second half. Yeah, I guarded him sometimes. But I'm 5-10 and he's 6-5. You can't come up (defensively) on him or he'll go by you and jump up over you."

LC is the future of the DAC, but right now, CP (9-2, 6-2 DAC) is exactly where they should be. To me, they have won the nine games they were supposed to win and lost the two (Valparaiso and Merrillville) they were 'supposed' to lose. Swan disagreed.

"I don't know about that," he said. "We don't get into that. We just take it game to game. Going back to the start of the year, I would think some people would say we weren't supposed to beat Lake Central twice."

"I don't think that's insulting," said Crary of the 9-2 expectations. "Valpo's had our number. And Merrillville, they're supposed to beat everybody this year. But they have to play us twice. They're struggling with some teams we're beating by 40. I don't think they want to play us three times. We only have to beat them once."

DOG NOTES: One of Crown Point's strengths is shooting. As a team, they shoot 33% (44 of 133) from three-point range and 77.4% (171 of 221) from the foul line, led by senior Michael Albrecht (74 of 85), who shoots 87% on free shots.

Crown Point's Sean Crary broke away for a dunk late in the game to the cheers (and maybe surprise) of the home crowd. He didn't exactly soar up near the top of the backboard, but the CP senior was able to push it down with his right hand.

"My first dunk ever in a game. I'd been wanting to do that since I was four years old. My teammates were encouraging me. Heat of the moment. I had a little fun. I didn't get up that high. I'm under six feet tall."

The upcoming weekend will be one of the toughest of the season for CP with a game on the road at Michigan City (5-5, 4-4 DAC) Friday night and a home game against East Chicago (8-3) Saturday. CP coach Clint Swan said that both 6-foot-7 junior Stephan Galik and 6-foot-4 sophomore Tommy Bardeson will be back.

"Hopefully we'll get them back sooner than later," said Swan. "WE were short. The JV only had seven guys. We had nine regulars."

Swan will go for his 200th career victory next Friday night in Michigan City. He is 199-111 in 14 years of coaching at Andrean, Frankfort and Crown Point, where he is 61-39.

 
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Revised: January 17, 2011 .