Crown Point Bulldogs defeat Griffith 71-61 in pre-holiday match-up

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-24-2008

Tuesday, 12-23-2008 -  Boys basketball non-conference game at GRIFFITH, IN

CROWN POINT (71) Michael Lipton 8-6-24, Brady Schuster 3-0-7, Nate Akers 5-4-14, Nik Pusara 4-0-8, CJ Mantel 3-2-11, Chris Lakich 2-0-4, Scooter Jacobus 1-0-3, Jared Smoot 0-0-0, Michael Albrecht 0-0-0, Dejan Stefanovic 0-0-0, Kyle Qualizza 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  26 (12-19) 71.

GRIFFITH (61) Jacob Evanich 2-6-10, Brian Brilmyer 6-5-20, Peter Sepulveda 5-0-13, Nick Traust 3-0-7, Kyle Terpstra 1-4-6, Calvin Bonewits 0-1-1, Greg Joyce 1-0-2, Tyrell Tinnin 0-2-2.  TOTALS:  18 (18-23) 61.

FREE THROWS:  CP (12-19, 63.2%) Lipton 6-9, Akers 4-7, Mantel 2-2, Schuster 0-1;  GRIFFITH (18-23, 78.3%) Evanich 6-6, Terpstra 4-5, Tinnin 2-2, Brilmyer 5-7, Bonewits 1-2, Sepulveda 0-1.

REBOUNDS:  CP (25) Akers 8, Pusara 6, Lakich 4, Lipton 3, Smoot 2, Jacobus, Qualizza;  GRIFFITH (22) Terpstra 7, Evanich 4, Brilmyer 3, Sepulveda 2, Joyce 2, Tinner, Traust.

ASSISTS:  CP (14) Albrecht 4, Lipton 3, Pusara 3, Mantel 3, Schuster; GRIFFITH (9) Tinner 3, Traust 2, Terpstra 2, Bonewits, Brilmyer.

STEALS:  CP (4) Schuster 2, Lipton 2;  GRIFFITH (4) Terpstra 2, Brilmyer, Tinner.

FOULED OUT:  CP (1)  Akers (4th Q) 1:52 left.

3-GOALS:  CP (7) CJ Mantel 3, Michael Lipton 2, Scooter Jacobus, Brady Schuster;   GRIFFITH (7) Peter Sepulveda 3, Brian Brilmyer 3, Nick Traust.

GRIFFITH (12-23-2008) It's coming along.  You can see it.  This was Crown Point's sixth game and while the 71-61 win at Griffith two nights before Christmas improved the Bulldogs' record to 5-2, this was the first night you saw the whole package offensively.

Because the sectional champion Bulldogs were so successful last year, there is the expectation that this almost all-new group would do well as well.  Those are heavy expectations.
But at Griffith, CP had the post play, the wing shooters, the bench and the all-around scoring leader all firing at the same time.  Griffith, which began the night undefeated after four games, also played a strong game on offense, but they didn't stop the Bulldogs very often.

"They wear on you down the stretch," said Panther coach Justin Fronek, a CP graduate.  "We didn't have enough players to start with them down the stretch."

CP (5-2) has now rebounded from large losses to Valparaiso and Lake Central to win twice by double digits.  They should be pleased with this start.

"I'm happy with this," CP senior Miachel Lipton said.  "5-2 going into the break Like coach said.  Nobody thought we'd be 5-2.  The two games we lost, we just played badly. Valparaiso.  They're good, obviously.  But we didn't play against them.  I don't think they'll get any better than that.  I think we have a chance to beat them."

"Lake Central?  We didn't have our whole team in there most of the game," recalled Lipton.  "I sat out (due to fouls) the whole first half."

Lipton and 6-foot-9 center Nate Akers had a combined 26 points in the first half.  Senior Nikola Pusara scored eight in the second half and senior CJ Mantel posted eight in the fourth quarter.  And the capacity for more CP offense is clearly there.  The Bulldogs were only 26 of 58 (46.4%) from the floor against Griffith and only 12 of 19 from the foul line.

Griffith, which has only two seniors, shows good size with 6-foot-6 junior Brian Brilmeyer, 6-foot-5 Kyle Terpstra and 6-foot-4 Calvin Bonewits.  Brilmeyer and 6-foot-1 guard Peter Sepulveda combined for six three-pointers as the Panthers (4-1) shot better from distance (7 of 18) than they did overall (7 of 24 in the second half) against the physically stronger Bulldogs.

That strength was displayed by Lipton, the soccer player and football placekicker who took a lot of hits but kept going through several Panther defenders.

"He was the instigator," said CP coach Clint Swan.  "He was on the attack.  He made plays happen and he got guys on their heels.  When he can do that and make his outside shot, he's pretty good."

"I finally made some shots," Lipton said on the way to the bus home.  "We're getting better.  We've got a of of guys who are playing for the first time."

"We played a good 26 minutes," said Fronek.  "But they had the advantage going down the stretch.  We didn't get away with things we got away with against Morton and Highland and Clark.  A loss always teaches more than a win.  It's easier for kids to learn from a loss.  Most of our juniors have played on the varsity since they were freshman.  We are a young team compared to them (CP), but we actually have a lot of experienced players."

That's an important point for both sides.  The victory was significant because Griffith, while half the size of Crown Point as a high school, was home with a very experienced squad.  CP starts four seniors and sophomore Michael (Spike) Albrecht, but they only have one player on the entire roster (Lipton) who had ever started any games before this season.

Lipton, the 6-foot-2 guard, scored a season-high 24 points in 29 minutes of play.  Senior center Nate Akers scored 14 points with nine rebounds in 18 minutes and Mantel came off the bench to work with both in a type of 'triangle attack', scoring 11, including three three-point shots, also in 18 minutes.

You could clearly see Lipton, who was driving the baseline and shooting effectively, on the wing with Akers, at 6-foot-9, setting up in the low post.  When the defense sent an extra defender to help out on either, it left Mantel, a long range threat, open at the top of the foul circle.

"When we run our offense correctly," said CP coach Clint Swan.  "Those kind of things present themselves.  That's what should happen."

"I understand that when you do see the big guy down there (close to the basket) with the ball, you want to help," said Fronek.  "But two guys we never should have left are Lipton and Mantel.  One or two possessions always come back to haunt you."

"Lipton played a great game.  He made a lot of big plays," added Fronek.  "I don't know the statistics, but I thought we did a better job in the second half.  But we wore down."

This was a crowd-pleasing game played in front of a small, snowy night crowd.  The Panthers led 7-2 before three-pointers by Lipton and Brady Schuster sparked a 13-4 run.  Panther guard Tyrell Tinner came off the bench and contributed three second quarter assists to a 10-4 run for a 27-24 Griffith lead.  But Akers got good position and posted six points in a 12-6 run that finished the first half with Crown Point ahead 36-33.

The Panthers sank 7-of-8 foul shots to stay in the game in the third quarter as seniors Nikola Pusara and Brady Schuster led a 13-6 spree for a 49-43 CP advantage.

CP's 52-45 lead disappeared early in the final quarter on a 7-0 run, which ended when Brilmeyer hit a three-point jump shot off the left wing with 6:03 to play.

But baskets by Lipton, Pusara and Akers pushed the Bulldogs back to a 59-52 edge and the Panthers never got close after that.  The biggest lead was 71-60 in the final minute of a well-played game (only 21 turnovers combined) by both sides.

"I thought our spacing was very good tonight and our bigs (big forwards) were active," said Swan.  "That creates a lot." 

DOG NOTES:  The Dec. 30 Crown Point game with Merrillville is a boys-girls double-header with the girls varsity game beginning at 6:00 p.m.  The girls junior varsity game will start at 3 p.m. and the boys JV squads will meet at 4:30 p.m.

In his last three games, Akers has made 16 of 23 shots (69.1%) from the field and 10 of 13 from the line.

CP coach Clint Swan wants 6-foot-9 center Nate Akers to try to be determined to score.

"When he gets the ball, he needs to think 'shot' first," said the coach.  "In the first half tonight he thought 'pass' first.  You can see it in his eyes.  When he gets the ball his eyes are going to the left and to the right and if nobody's open, then he tries to score.  We need him to get to thinking, 'I'm going to score' and then if no shot is open, then he looks to pass off.  That's the mode we need him in.  It's his first year on the varsity and he'll get there."

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