A USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
12-22-2008
Team/Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
Michigan City (6-3, 4-2 DAC) | 9 | 17 | 10 | 20 | 56 |
CROWN POINT (7-5, 4-5 DAC) | 13 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 47 |
Saturday, 12-20-2008 - Girls Basketball, Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) at CROWN POINT, IN
MICHIGAN CITY (56) Bianca
McGee 3-5-12, Joslyn Edwards 8-0-17,
TaKenya Nixon 8-4-20,
Ashleigh Ellenwood 2-0-5, Kelsey
Pawloski 1-0-2, Essence Robinson
0-0-0, Angelique Moore 0-0-0,
Jazzmine Ellis 0-0-0, Maggie Gondeck
0-0-0, Sierra Richard 0-0-0.
TOTALS: 22 (9-11) 56.
CROWN POINT (47) Maegen
Maloney 1-2-5, Flori Garcia 2-0-4,
Alle Geisen 4-0-8, Sydnee Reeves
1-1-3, Daniela Tarailo 6-2-17, Zarah
Cecich 3-2-8, Kelly Gross 1-0-2,
Madeline Moore 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18
(7-13) 47.
FREE THROWS: MC (9-11, 81.8%)
McGee 5-6, Nixon 4-5; CP (7-13,
53.8%) Maloney 2-2, Tarailo 2-2,
Cecich 2-5, Reeves 1-4.
REBOUNDS: MC (23) McGee 7,
Nixon 4, Moore 3, Edwards 3,
Robinson 3, Ellenwood 2, Richard 2;
CP (18) Tarailo 7, Moore 3, Reeves
3, Cecich 2, Maloney 2, Geisen.
ASSISTS: MC (10) Nixon 7,
McGee 2, Ellenwood; CP (10) Tarailo
2, Garcia 2, Moore 2, Reeves, Gross,
Geisen, Cecich.
STEALS: MC (7) McGee 3, Moore
2, Nixon 2; CP (3) Tarailo 2,
Maloney.
3-GOALS: MC (3) Bianca McGee, Joslyn Edwards, Ashleigh Ellenwood;
CP (4) Daniela Tarailo 3, Maegen
Maloney.
Team/Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
Michigan City (3-3, 1-3 DAC) | 11 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 51 |
CROWN POINT (4-2, 2-2 DAC) | 19 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 69 |
Saturday,
12-20-2008 - Boys Basketball, Duneland Athletic
Conference (DAC) at CROWN POINT, IN
MICHIGAN CITY
(51) Darrell Hopkins 3-2-8,
Brandon Pawloski 2-3-8, Shereff
Knight 3-0-6, Carlos McCormack
1-1-3, Adam Harmon 4-3-12, DaQuavay
Sherrod 2-0-4, James Sanders 2-0-4,
Sam Bellamy 2-0-4, Jordan Callahan
1-0-2, Jordan Stelter 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19 (9-18) 51.
REBOUNDS: MC (20) Pawloski 8, Hopkins 5, Harmon 4, McCormick 2,
Sherrod; CP (41) Pusara 11,
Lakich 8, Schuster 5, Albrecht 4,
Akers 3, Smoot 3, Lipton 3, Mantel
2, Qualizza, Stefanovic.
CROWN POINT (69) Nate Akers
4-3-11, Nikola Pusara 4-6-14, Brady
Schuster 9-1-20, CJ Mantel 2-1-6,
Michael Albrecht 1-3-5, Michael
Lipton 1-1-3, Chris Lakich 3-0-6,
Jared Smoot 1-0-2, Kyle Qualizza
1-0-2, Scooter Jacobus 0-0-0, Dejan
Stefanovic 0-0-0.
TOTALS: 26 (15-21) 69.
FREE THROWS: MC (9-18, 50%)
Pawloski 3-4, Harmon 3-3, Hopkins
2-5, McCormick 1-2, Sherrod 0-2,
Sanders 0-2; CP (15-22, 68.2%)
Akers 3-3, Lakich 6-6, Albrecht 3-6,
Mantel 1-2, Lipton 1-2, Schuster
1-2, Qualizza 0-1.
ASSISTS: MC (10) Sherrod 4,
Knight 3, Harmon 3; CP (19) Lipton
7, Albrecht 3, Jacobus 2, Mantel 2,
Qualizza 2, Pusara, Lakich,
Schuster.
STEALS: MC (8) McCormick 3,
Harmon, Sherrod, Sanders, Pawloski,
Callahan; CP (5) Mantel 2,
Albrecht. Schuster, Qualizza.
FOULED OUT: MC (0) CP (2)
Brady Schuster (4th Q) 1:35 left,
Nik Pusara (4th Q) 0:40 left.
3-GOALS: MC (4) Adam Harmon,
Brandon Pawloski, Carlos McCormick,
Sam Bellamy; CP (2) CJ Mantel, Brady
Schuster.
CROWN POINT (12-20-2008) With everybody coming in off an early week loss and a Friday night postponement, it was hard to tell if the favored teams were still favored in a weather-delayed Michigan City-Crown Point boys/girls double-header Saturday night.
But after defending Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) champ Michigan City rallied past Crown Point's Lady Bulldogs 56-47, CP's boys broke a two-game losing streak with a solid 69-51 win over the Wolves boys in front of a slim crowd on a snowy winter night.
The Lady Bulldogs (9-3) led 39-36 after three periods, but lost for the third time in eight days after a 9-0 start. CP's boys jumped to a 6-0 lead and led all the way to right the ship after double digit losses to Lake Central and Valparaiso.
"It look like we might have a little bit of trouble playing on the road," admitted CP coach Clint Swan after his boys improved to 3-0 at home with perhaps their best all-around game of the year. "I like the way we held them to a low shooting percentage (19 of 53, 35.8%) and I was pleased with the way we came out tonight and immediately supplied our own energy. Hopefully now we can find a way to play well away from home."
Crown Point also has to hope that what they are seeing from 6-foot-9 senior center Nate Akers and 6-foot-4 guard Brady Schuster is a forecast of the second half of the season. Akers, who scored 17 in the 57-37 loss at league-leading Valparaiso on Dec. 16, scored 11 in just 16 minutes Saturday. Schuster, who like Akers, is a senior rookie playing extensively for the first time, scored 20 on 9-of-14 shooting.
CP led early in the second half 31-20, then 39-28 with 3:44 left in the third quarter and 52-36 with 5:36 left in the game. Michigan City's 6-foot-6 senior Darrell Hopkins and 6-foot-4, 250-pound Brandon Pawloski were not overmatched inside, but they were not nearly as efficient. Hopkins, a high-jumping player with potential, sank just 3-of-15 shots.
The Bulldogs' senior Nikola Pusara scored 14 with 11 rebounds and 6-foot-5 senior backup center Chris Lakich added six points and eight rebounds.
"That's huge," said Swan. "There were good shots at Valparaiso, too. We're trying to find the good in every game and make sure it outweighs the good in every practice."
CP's boys had just one returning
player this season so their 4-2
record after six games has to be
called a positive outcome. The
back-to-back losses must have had
them worried. Losing streaks tend to
feed on themselves on an
inexperienced team. It's like you're
never going to win again.
"We never thought like that," said
CJ Mantel, one of the Bulldogs' most
experience players who was ill and
did not play in the 20-point loss at
Valparaiso. "We didn't play well at
all. Valpo and Lake Central are good
teams."
"I think we have more upside than
those teams," said Mantel. "We have
a lot better that we can get than
they do."
The Lady Bulldogs' 56-47 loss
to Michigan City's girls was CP's
six consecutive loss to MC, but they
may have come away thinking that the
gap between the two schools is mush
less than it was the past five games
when the Wolves outscored CP's girls
294-181.
Michigan City all-state guard TaKenya Nixon posted 18 points and seven assists, but the Bulldogs had just 12 turnovers against the faster visitors, a significant improvement from the past three years.
"I didn't think their press bothered us," said Daniela Tarailo, who led CP with 17 points. "I didn't think we turned the ball over a lot. We just backed off them a little in the half court and I don't know why. I thought we had control of the game."
CP sophomore Alle Geisen scored three baskets in the third quarter as the Bulldogs slowed the pace of the game after Nixon had scored 14 in the first half. Michigan City, which was 42-8 the last two seasons, has not dominated anyone this year and they aren't sure what's wrong.
"I think our defense is fine," said rookie MC coach Terrence Allen. "I'm just trying to figure out how to get our offense going. I don't know what the problem is."
Nixon (17 ppg.) and 6-foot-1 junior
Jocelyn Edwards (13.8 ppg.) have
been consistent, but 5-foot-9 senior
Bianca McGee (10 ppg.), an all-DAC
player last year, has had hard times
this season.
"She's fine," said Allen. "Her
outside shots were just not falling
and I try to tell her that when that
happens, she's got to go to the
basket. Try to get the old-fashioned
three-point play instead of the long
'3'".
The Wolves went to a delay offense in
the fourth quarter and outscored CP
20-8. The score was 50-45 with 2:23
left as MC played 'keep away'
effectively while Nixon and McGee
were 6-of-6 from the line in the
final 90 seconds.
Crown Point dropped to 9-3 after a
9-0 start, but everyone knew that
no one was going to sweep through
the DAC this year.
"We knew it would get a lot tougher," Tarailo said after Saturday's game. "How many teams go undefeated? But I didn't think they were better than us. They hit us with a 1-2-2, but we reorganized and we relaxed. They're good. I played with TaKenya on her team over the summer. But I thought that other than her, we were better than them tonight."
CP-MC NOTES: The Crown Point / Michigan City double-header was postponed early Friday when Michigan City schools were closed by a fairly significant ice storm overnight Thursday. At most schools, all extra curricular activities are postponed if classes are postponed.
The Lady Bulldogs lost 56-49 to Valparaiso on Dec. 16 as the Vikings sank 23 of 30 from the foul like to overcome a 30-20 CP halftime lead. Sydnee Reeves had nine points and eight rebounds while soph forward Madeleine Moore added eight points against Valpo's 6-foot-4 Stefanie Lang, who scored 19 with nine rebounds.
CP coach Clint Swan said that center Nate Akers' recent production is more of his creation than a result of more 'touches' of the basketball.
"A lot of that was on him," said Swan of Akers' first few games. "He needed to do a better job to make himself available. Tonight he did a great job of looking one pass ahead and getting himself in position so when the guy on the wing does catch the ball, he's already there. He had that guy on his hip. His playing time is certainly affected by fouls. If we can keep him out there for 25 minutes one time, I'd like to see what he can do."
The boys/girls double-headers have become popular this season (MC has six, CP has five) but Saturday night double-headers are unlikely to catch on. Saturday's MC-CP boys game ended at almost 9:30 p.m.
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