Bulldogs jump to quick lead, hold on to beat Valparaiso 60-46

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-12-2007

Tuesday, 12-11-2007 - Duneland Athletic Conference game in CROWN POINT, IN

VALPARAISO (46)  Matt Hittinger 4-2-10, Trent Reddington 2-6-11, Hayden Humes 3-2-8, Bard Karp 1-0-2, Andy Martin 3-1-7, Scott Ostojic 2-1-5, Eric Jackson 1-0-2, John Berning 0-1-1, Peter Ferarri 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  16 (11-13) 46.

CROWN POINT (60)  Stephen Albrecht 7-4-20, Kyle Hanaway 4-4-12, Aleks Alavanja 4-1-9, Zach Cecich 6-1-13, Jacob Burkholder 1-0-2, Michael Lipton 0-0-0, Ben Derks 1-0-2, Billy Cox 1-0-2, CJ Mantel 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  24 (10-12) 60.

FREE THROWS:  VALPO (11-13, 84.6%) Hittinger 2-2, Redington 6-6, Humes 2-2, Berning 1-2, Jackson 0-1;  CP (10-12, 83.3%) Albrecht 4-4, Hanaway 4-4, Cecich 1-3, Alavanja 1-1.

REBOUNDS: VALPO (16) Hittinger 7, Humes 3, Jackson 2, Karp, Martin, Berning, Ostojic;
CP (23) Cecich 9, Alavanja 5, Albrecht 4, Derks 2, Burkholder, Cox, Lipton.

ASSISTS:  VALPO (8) Humes 3, Hittinger 2, Redington 2, Martin;  CP (13) Hanaway 7, Cecich 2, Alavanja 2, Lipton 2.

STEALS:  VALPO (2) Eric Jackson 2; CP (3) Kyle Hanaway 3.

3-GOALS:  VALPO (3) Trent Redington, Andy Martin, Scott Ostojic;  CP (2) Stephen Albrecht 2.

CROWN POINT, IN (12-11-2007) - The Crown Point Bulldogs are developing a very positive habit of jumping off to a big lead early in basketball games.  And Tuesday night against Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) rival Valparaiso, the Bulldogs held onto that lead.  After leading 16-4 and losing 52-47 to Lake Central on Friday, leading 18-7 and beating Valparaiso 60-46 the next Tuesday was especially heartwarming for coach Clint Swan.

"The only thing about the Friday night that I liked," he said, "was the way they took it.  They were very hurt to lose that one.  They came back strong to start well tonight.  I thought we got great minutes out of our bench in the first half.  I thought our intensity was good."

When you lead 18-7 your intensity looks really good, but when the green-clad visitors closed to within 24-18 in the second quarter, 35-28 in the third period and 43-34 to start the fourth quarter, CP always responded, usually with Kyle Hanaway pushing the ball up the floor quickly and Stephen Albrecht or Zach Cecich converting at the other end.

"Physically, we were overmatched tonight," said new Valparaiso coach Chris Benedict.  "We tried to keep the ball out of the paint, but we didn't do a very good job of it, especially early.  And I've watched them play a few times and not a lot of people keep him (Hanaway) from getting the ball.  We dug ourselves too big a hole."

CP led 8-2 and 18-7 with the Bulldogs all senior starting lineup being very aggressive against Valpo's starters, which included two juniors and two sophomores.  When Scott Ostojic came off the bench to score five points and slow the Bulldogs advance, CP rallied again with the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Cecich grabbing rebounds inside and Albrecht and Aleks Alavanja converting them into baskets.

Valparaiso has only one player taller than 6-foot-3 and that forward, 6-foot-7 Hayden Humes, is more of a perimeter player than a low-post force.  Crown Point (3-1, 2-1 DAC) didn't exactly dominate the boards, but they gave up an unofficial six offensive rebounds all night.  The Vikings were much more patient in the second half and they showed the slowdown style that Benedict used in his last coaching stint at Columbia City.  But that style works a lot better when you don't fall down by double figures in the first quarter.

"We did the same thing against South Bend Clay (a 52-46 OT loss at Clay)," Benedict reported.  "We didn't score on our first five possessions."

Crown Point needs to get better offensively.  They try to have quick possessions and transition and that should mean more than 60 points against an inexperienced foe.  But they comfortably held a lead for 32 minutes.  All winning teams have to be very confident that a double-figure lead means a win.

"I don't want to say we folded," said Swan of the LC game, "but we panicked.  Tonight we didn't."

DOG NOTES:  Coach Clint Swan says that he has been familiar with new Valparaiso coach Chris Benedict, who is known for a patient, patterned offensive strategy, from his days downstate.

"I coached against him when I coached at Frankfort," said Swan.  "I've met him at clinics in the summer.  Watching his teams play makes me think I don't know anything about the game.  Valpo's got a good one.  It's good to have a good guy at a good place.  But we were hoping they'd hire somebody who's not so good."

Crown Point made a point of getting substitutes into the game Tuesday night.  Junior guard Michael Lipton played a career-high 20 minutes and back-up center Jacob Burkholder logged 15 minutes on the floor.  Guards Billy Cox and CJ Mantel made three minute cameo appearances.  The bench is crucial to any CP success this season because they have few breaks in the schedule.  For example, there is no Christmas break for CP boys basketball, which will ride the bus for the holidays.  The Bulldogs play at Portage on Dec. 21, at Merrillville on Dec 28, at Valparaiso University against 2A No. 1 Winchester on New Year's Day and they then host undefeated Chesterton on Jan. 4.

If seeking high percentage shots is smart basketball, CP was smarter Tuesday night.  Of 43 shots from the field only eight were three-point attempts.

The "My Man Mitch" 'T-shirts that Crown Point wore before the home opener in honor of disabled senior player Mitch Robinson were not a fund-raiser or something for purchase.

"No," said Swan.  "It was just something they wanted to do that was important to them.  The players did that themselves."

Copyright © 2007 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved.
Revised: December 15, 2007 .