Crown Point captures first Sectional title in decade with 80-58 win over Hobart

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
03-05-2008

Monday, 03-03-2008 - Michigan City Sectional Championship game at MICHIGAN CITY, IN

HOBART (58)  Bobby James 8-4-20, Devon Key 7-11-25, Nick Taddei 4-2-10, Nate Pope 1-1-3, Greg Glover 0-0-0, Brett Pizzuto 0-0-0, Timmy Schultz 0-0-0, Derek Caruso 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  20 (17-26) 58

CROWN POINT (80)  Stephen Albrecht 5-2-14, Ben Derks 3-0-7, Kyle Hanaway 5-1-11, Michael Lipton 2-1-6, Jake Burkholder 3-0-6, Nate Akers 3-1-7, Aleks Alavanja 3-1-7, Zach Cecich 5-1-11, Derrick Garletts 1-0-2, Billy Cox 3-0-7, Brady Schuster 1-0-2.  TOTALS:  34 (7-11) 80.

FREE THROWS:  HOBART (17-26, 65.4%) James 4-10, Key 11-14, Taddei 2-2;  CP (7-11, 63.6%) Albrecht 2-3, Cecich 1-2, Alavanja 1-2, Lipton 1-2, Derks 1-1, Akers 1-1.

REBOUNDS:  HOBART (22) James 6, Pope 4, Key 4, Taddei 3, Pizzuto 2, Caruso, Pope, James;  CP (45) Burkholder 11, Alavanja 9, Cecich 8, Albrecht 4, Hanaway 3, Lipton 3, Cox 2, Garletts 2, Derks, Akers, Schuster.

ASSISTS:  HOBART (9) Key 4, Glover 2, James, Pope, Pizzuto;  CP (22) Hanaway 10, Albrecht 3, Cecich 2, Alavanja 2, Lipton 2, Cox, Burkholder, Garletts.

STEALS:  HOBART (6) Key 3, James, Pope, Taddei;  CP (6) Cox 2, Pusara, Albrecht, Lipton,  Burkholder.

BLOCKED SHOTS:  HOBART (0): CP (6) Burkholder 3, Alavanja 2, Cecich.

3-GOALS:  HOBART (1) Nate Pope; CP (5) Stephen Albrecht 2, Billy Cox, Kyle Hanaway, Michael Lipton.

MICHIGAN CITY, IN (3-03-2008)  The feeling in the post-game celebration on the court at Michigan City late Monday night wasn't so much about the game.  Crown Point figured to be about 20 points better than Hobart and they were.  It wasn't about the next opponent, defending 4A state champion East Chicago (19-3), who gets a rematch with Crown Point Saturday in the second game of the 4A Michigan City Regional after the opener, which pits Warsaw (14-8) against Riley (20-5).

It was about the achievement.  Winning the first eight-team Class 4A Sectional 2 featuring virtually the entire Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC).  When CP buried Hobart 80-58, it simultaneously won the school's first sectional in 10 years and showed how tough the DAC is.  The third place team beat the sectional hosts (Michigan City), the DAC champ (Chesterton) and a team that had won two consecutive overtime games (Hobart) to win Crown Point's first sectional title in 10 years.

"It was tough," said CP senior Aleks Alavanja.  "We played some of these teams twice already.  They're all good teams.  We have a tough road to the championship and I'm just glad that in my senior year we finally made it."

"That's why I'm so proud of this," said coach Clint Swan, who won a sectional with Andrean in 2000 with all-stater and 2000-point career scorer Shane Power.  "Nobody can say you backed into this.  All the tough teams and so far from home."

'Had been' is the relative phrase.  Crown Point (17-6), with no practices between their dramatic 59-57 win over eighth-ranked Chesterton in the semifinals and the championship game with Hobart (14-9), spotted the Brickies a 3-0 lead and then simply overwhelmed them with skill and size.  Senior guard Kyle Hanaway passed out seven first half assists and 6-foot-8 senior center Jake Burkholder grabbed six first half rebounds and blocked three second quarter shots as the Bulldogs constructed a 39-21 advantage with 2:25 left in the half.

"It's hard not to get emotional watching these guys cut down the nets," said Clint Swan.  "I know how hard they've worked.  Look at Jake Burkholder there.  I know what he's had to go through with injuries and to see him cutting down the nets is a great feeling."

Burkholder, whose insertion into the lineup at East Chicago in January sparked a 10-1 winning run that climaxed in the 8,000-seat, 36-year-old Michigan City gym where the Bulldogs won the seventh sectional title in the 98 years of Indiana's state tourney.

"I thought we really established ourselves in the first half," said Swan.  "And the key to that was Kyle Hanaway.  He controlled the game from beginning to end."

Hanaway worked with a new starting lineup that included not only leading scorer Stephen Albrecht but a third 6-foot-2 guard in Michael Lipton, who tallied 23 in the quarterfinals against Michigan City.  With three big guards around the 6-foot-8 Burkholder and 6-foot-3, 235-pound Zach Cecich, CP dominated, shooting 52% from the floor and outrebounding the smaller Brickies 22-6 in the first half and 45-22 for the game.

"I wanted us to not just win the boards but dominate them," said Swan.  "And we did.  Our big guys did a great job and our guards rebounded well."

This was such a satisfying night for the Bulldogs because everyone on the roster who could play (junior backup guard CJ Mantel broke his hand in a non-basketball accident and is out for the year) got on the floor in front of the traveling CP student section which dressed up in funny costumes and painted their faces to support their classmates.

Ten years ago when the Bulldogs beat Merrillville to win the sectional, most of the Bulldogs were too young to recall the championship games.

"I remember being at the games," said senior Billy Cox.  "But I don't remember anything about them."

Derrick Garletts did remember the names of Kurt Klepsch, Damean Clinton and Jon Moskovich. "That was a long time ago."

Garletts, a 6-foot-5 forward, is like three or four others on the CP bench that would be significant contributors at other schools, but sit most of the game for CP.  But he'll be ready this Saturday.

"I'm caught between positions," Garletts understands.  "I'm too big to be a guard and too small to play up front.  It's working, so I'm OK with it.  But last time we played EC, I got a about 25 minutes and I thought I did pretty well."

"We've got a deep bench.  We've got 10 guys.  I don't know what happened to Michael Lipton.  All of a sudden he just came out and really wanted to play some ball.  He's ready to shoot the ball.  23 points (in the quarterfinals against Michigan City).  That was amazing."

"We welcome the challenge," said Swan.  "Our kids haven't backed down from anyone or anything this year and they won't do that Saturday.  The student section was great tonight and I hope they all come back Saturday."

SECTIONAL NOTES:  Crown Point senior Mitch Robinson, who was injured in a pre-season non-basketball accident and had to miss the season, was at the game to watch his teammates win the sectional title.  The student section chanted "My Man Mitch, My Man Mitch" in the final minutes and Robinson walked out on the floor after the final buzzer to pose with his team.

In Crown Point's 75-69 win at East Chicago in January, Zach Cecich grabbed 13 rebounds against EC's Kawaan Short, who also grabbed 13 rebounds.

"Kawaan Short is a big man," said Cecich, "and I do mean man.  I love playing against them."

Assistant coach Brian Elston says that East Chicago is as talented a foe as anybody CP can face.

"They had trouble with our big lineup last time," he recalled.  "Last time they hit some '3s' early and they stayed out there.  But they want to play us again and they've got a lot on the bench, too.  We're playing at noon.  We were hoping it would be about 8:30 in the morning."

Derrick Garletts may play for Division III Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.

"It's an expensive school," said Garletts.  "I'm trying to get them to give me a little more (scholarship) money.  I think they will.  It's about two hours from here.  It's nice.  I really like the campus."