Crown Point falls on road 58-41 to Lake Central Indians

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-14-2008

Friday, 12-12-2008 -  Boys Basketball, Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) at ST. JOHN, IN

CROWN POINT (41) Michael Albrecht 1-0-2, CJ Mantel 0-2-2, Michael Lipton 5-3-14, Nate Akers 2-2-6, Brady Schuster 3-2-8, Chris Lakich 2-2-6, Nik Pusara 1-0-2, Tony Patrick 0-1-1, Scooter Jacobus 0-0-0, Jared Smoot 0-0-0, Jordan Jurasevich 0-0-0, Kyle Qualizza 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  14 (12-16) 41.

LAKE CENTRAL (58) Zack Felton 6-2-16, Loai Issa 4-3-12, Kyle Scheffel 2-0-6, Kyle Kaluza 1-0-3, Eric Summers 6-4-16, Bo Dempsey 1-0-3, David Samardzija 1-0-2, Keith Thompson 0-0-0, Justin Nesbitt 0-0-0, Ben Sporman 0-0-0, Kurt Kudrecki 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21 (9-17)  58.

FREE THROWS:  CP (12-16, 75%) Tony Patrick 1-4, CJ Mantel 2-2, Michael Lipton 3-3, Chris Lakich 2-2, Nate Akers 2-3, Brady Schuster 2-2. LC (9-17, 52.9%) Issa 3-5, Summers 4-8, Felton 2-2, Samardzija 0-2.

REBOUNDS:  CP (20) Lakich 5, Akers 4, Albrecht 3, Pusara 2, Smoot, Qualizza, Patrick, Mantel, Schuster, Smoot. LC (21) Summers 5, Felton 4, Issa 4,  Samardzija 3, Kaluza 2, Scheffel, Sporman, Dempsey.

ASSISTS:  CP (10) Albrecht 4, Schuster 2, Jacubus 2, Lipton, Jurasevich;  LC (16) Issa 3, Kaluza 3, Felton 3, Dempsey 2, Scheffel; 2, Summers 2, Thompson.

STEALS: CP (1) Albrecht;  LC (7) Kaluza 3, Issa 2, Scheffel, Felton.

3-GOALS:  CP (1) Michael Lipton; LC (7) Kyle Scheffel 2, Zack Felton 2, Loai Issa, Kyle Kaluza, Bo Dempsey.

Tuesday, 12-09-2008 -  Boys Basketball, Non-conference at CROWN POINT, IN

MORTON (48) Roosevelt Jones 2-1-5,  Davante Carey 1-0-3, Greg Flores 2-0-6, Shevin Williams 5-0-10, Darious Taylor 2-0-4, Rodney Hudson 5-2-13, Brandon Valentine 1-0-2, Vasha Davis 1-0-2, Wade Smith 1-1-3, Corey Phillips 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 20 (4-11) 48.

CROWN POINT (69) Michael Albrecht 3-1-7, CJ Mantel 4-1-11, Nate Akers 5-4-14, Chris Lakich 2-0-4, Nik Pusara 2-2-7, Michael Lipton 6-2-16, Scooter Jacobus 2-3-7, Brady Schuster 1-0-2, Jared Smoot 0-1-1, Kyle Qualizza 0-0-0, Tony Patrick 0-0-0, Evan Langbehn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25 (14-25) 69.

FREE THROWS:  MORTON (4-11, 36.3%) Jones 1-2, Smith 1-2, Valentine 0-3, Davis 0-1, Hudson 2-3;  CROWN POINT (14-25, 56.0%) Akers 4-6, Pusara 2-2, Jacobus 3-4, Albrecht 1-2, Mantel 1-1, Smoot 1-2, Lakich 0-2, Lipton 2-4, Schuster 0-2.

FIELD GOALS:  MORTON  - 20-52, 38.4% - Shevin Williams 5-12, Rodney Hudson 5-8;  CROWN POINT - 25-60, 41.6% - Michael Lipton 6-12, Nate Akers 5-8.

3-GOALS:  MORTON (4) Greg Flores 2, Rodney Hudson,  Davantae Carey;  CROWN POINT (5) Michael Lipton 2, CJ Mantel 2, Nik Pusara.

ST. JOHN (12-12-2008) The odd thing was that even though Crown Point was 3-0 on the young season and Lake Central was 0-2, no one was surprised that Lake Central won the two schools' Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) match up, albeit the score, 58-41 was a tad lopsided.

LC had lost close games to undefeated Valparaiso (4-0) and Gary West Side (4-0), while CP had beaten three teams they should have defeated.  Plus, the experience difference between these two teams was one-sided.  The margin of victory was a little extreme, but this Friday night DAC early-season neighborhood game would have been an eye-opener had winless Lake Central not won.

"I don't know about that," said LC coach Dave Milausnic, who seemed relieved to get his first win.  "The Crown Point-Lake Central game is always a big rivalry.  I'm extremely pleased.  Tonight's a night we played well."

CP coach Clint Swan was disappointed in the final score, but the veteran coach was not shocked that LC sank seven three-point baskets.

"No, I wasn't," he said, after a long stay in the locker room to talk with his squad.  "I really wasn't.  We knew they could do that.  We didn't get on them defensively and they got off to a good start.  They have a very good team and they are experienced and that's a big advantage."

LC (1-2, 1-1 DAC) never trailed, leading 5-0 and 10-4.  The Indians sank four three-point goals in the first period as CP could not get any consistent offense until 6-foot-4 senior Brady Schuster came off the bench to post some of his eight first half points.

The Bulldogs oddly had more success against LC shooters in the second period when they went to a 2-3 zone defense, but the Indians mounted a 10-2 run behind 6-foot-3 veteran senior wing Zack Felton to take a 28-17 lead in the final minutes of the first half.

The second half was not close as CP could not mount any offense until senior guard Michael Lipton scored 12 fourth quarter points.  LC junior guard Loai Issa and seniors Kyle Kaluza and Kyle Scheffel helped defend the perimeter to the extent that no CP guard scored a point in the third quarter.

When CP was forced to extend the defense and play more man-to-man later in the game, LC got the ball to 6-foot-8 senior Eric Summers, a three-year starter, who finished with 16 points, as did Felton.

Lake Central matches up very well with the Bulldogs and the Indians' strong guards and small forwards clearly caused CP problems.

"Kyle's Scheffel's defense has grown by leaps and bounds," said Milausnic.  "He's a different player than he was a year ago.  He's getting rebounds and he's getting stops.  I think our kids are buying into the defensive end.  Our offense is going to get better as the season goes along."

Milausnic knows that by the time his boys see CP again in a month (Jan. 16) that the Bulldogs, who have four first time starters, will be more settled and ready to take on tough DAC teams.

"Crown Point's got a lot of talent on that team," said Milausnic, "and they're going to win a lot of games."

Hopefully, he's right, but you don't know that in the DAC, which has 14 league games.  Other than Michael Lipton (13.2 ppg.), the Bulldogs don't appear to have any one-on-one offensive threats, at least not the kind who can score double figures right now in a big school league.  But there's a long way to go and a lot of time left for rookies to develop.

For Lake Central, it's about now.  The Indians are loaded with experienced seniors and this needs to be the year they challenge for the DAC and Sectional championships.

"Lipton is a heckuva player," said Kaluza, who was LC's main ball handler all night.  "I played against him in AAU ball.  We needed a win.  We really had to win this one."

"We can't throw 6-8, 6-8 and 6-6 at you across the front," said Milausnic.  "But we can throw 6-foot-3 guys at you on the outside.  Zack Felton had an outstanding game tonight at both ends of the floor.  He's scored 16 in every game so far.  He's been a rock of consistency for us so far.  And he's doing it shooting 50% from the field.  1-2 is not 3-0, but tonight's tonight and we played well."

And 3-0 isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

DOG NOTES:  Crown Point finally had a good night from the foul line, sinking 12 of 16 (75%) free shots.  In the first three Bulldog games, CP had connected on only 30 of 56 (53.4%) from the line.

The Bulldogs were 6-0 in nonconference games last season and 8-6 in Duneland Conference games.  The last nonconference regular season game that CP lost was a 75-48 loss to 2007 state champion East Chicago on Jan. 20, 2007.

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