CROWN POINT, IN (1-14-2005) - It's probably inaccurate to say that Friday's Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) match with Lake Central was a breakthrough game for Crown Point Friday night. LC was shorthanded and, frankly, isn't a great team when they are at full strength.

But Crown Point's 59-38 win over an LC team that had defeated them in December ended the first half of the season for the Bulldogs (5-5) with hope that they can achieve their significant potential in the final 10 games.

“We've been getting better since Christmas,' said CP's ninth year coach Tom Johnson. “The boys keep working hard and it was good to see them do well tonight. It was another really good defensive effort.”

True enough. The Bulldogs ran off a 15-5 stretch at the top of the third quarter to push an eight point halftime lead to 43-25. LC (6-6), playing without leading scorer Adam Short (who was at home sick), but with four senior starters, scored only three field goals and was outscored 21-9 in the third quarter.

“We'll have to see what this means where we play South Bend Adams tomorrow,” Johnson said cautiously. “If we lose to them, this doesn't mean much.”

The Bulldogs continued to drift towards positive territory Saturday night with a narrow 36-35 victory at South Bend Adams and put them over the .500 mark (6-5) since the first few weeks of the season.

The surprise on this night was sophomore guard Danny Bouchee, who scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the second half. The all-senior starting five of Mark Patrick, Chacahi Albrecht, Sam Henderson, Brian Maloney and Ryan Brown combined for 37 points without any of them scoring in double figures.

It was Bouchee, who stepped out of line.

“He's been kind of a secret,” said Johnson. “We know what he can do but the other teams don't. Or they didn't until now. Now everybody knows about him and it will be tougher for him.”

“We've got seven seniors and two sophomores who we've been blending in together and they have come together. We've been playing pretty well but we hadn't had a win like this.”

The Bulldogs actually don't play like this. In recent games, while their offense has continued to operate at about 75% efficiency (13 of 23 from the foul line is sub-par) CP has shown signs of becoming somewhat of a defensive force.

LC leading scorer Brett Summers (15.4 ppg.) was held to just six points, guard Dave Hoffmaster (11.8 ppg.) had 11 and forward Jon Maida (8.9 ppg.) fouled out with only one point.

Counting the win at Adams Saturday, the Bulldogs allowed just 200 points (40.0 per game) in a five-game span. There is no such five-game span of defensive high ground in recent Crown Point history.

“I really think our defense has been good all year,” Johnson said. “And we have been making better decisions offensively.”

In a slow-paced game early on, CP trailed Lake Central 5-0 before things began to go their way. A three-point play by Bouchee, a 6-1 sophomore, made it 16-7 in the first minute of the second quarter. LC's Dave Hoffmaster sank three three-point goals to keep the game close at the half. But a 15-5 run at the start of the third quarter was keyed by LC's inability to get a good shot against a 2-3 zone and a switching man-to-man defense.

On more than one second half possession, LC looked 30-45 seconds for a good shot even though they trailed by more than 10. To stop the 6-6 Summers, a four year varsity player, was the main focus.

“You have to key on Summers,” said Johnson. “He's been such a good shooter lately and he's turned into a good post-up player. He can turn 20 on any given night. We just wanted to mix up our defenses to keep him off balance.”

Crown Point needs to play well now because they are about to slide into the deep water in their schedule, with consecutive showdowns against powers East Chicago (6-4), Valparaiso (9-2), Munster (7-4) and Merrillville (8-2) following Friday's game (Jan. 21) at upset minded Michigan City (5-6).

Three of those games (Merrillville, Valpo and MC) are rematches of earlier CP losses and the Michigan City game especially was destructive to the Bulldogs well-being.

“We had a rough season last year and some confidence was shook again a little bit,” said Johnson. “We've had to work really hard to find roles for kids. We have two sophomores and seven seniors. We've found a good mix and what I'm really happy about is how we're playing at the defensive end.”

Wins only matter until you lose again. Losses only matter until you start winning. Next weekend will tell whether the Bulldog winning is only just beginning.

DOG NOTES: The crowd of just under 1,000 at Crown Point was again held down by the fact that the CP-LC girls game was held at exactly the same time six miles away at LC. The Lady Bulldogs (12-5) won 46-42. Five miles to the north, Merrillville was also at home , beating LaPorte 65-48. The Pirates improved to 9-2 on the year Saturday with a 72-55 victory over East Chicago.

Michigan City (6-6) upset Chesterton 67-63 Friday as the Trojans played without 6-11 Evan Schmidt and 5-9 starting guard Matt Maple.

Danny Bouchee had scored 17 points all season until Friday night when he led CP with 16. CP completed the first 10 games with 58 three-point baskets. Defensively, CP allowed just under 50 points game (49.9) through 10 game nights. Senior center Ryan Brown was shooting almost 70% from the floor (36-52, 69.9%) after nine games.

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CROWN POINT (6-5)

Coach: Tom Johnson, 108-79 in 9th year at school, 141-110 in 12th year overall

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT/ TIME	USA-365.com Broadcast Time
Nov. 27	at Griffith {3A}	W, 66-36
Dec. 3	LaPorte {4A}‡	W, 69-57	7:15 PM
Dec. 10	at Lake Central {4A}‡	L, 61-64
Dec. 14	at Valparaiso {4A}‡	L, 35-55
Dec. 17	Michigan City {4A}‡	L, 51-55	7:15 PM
Dec. 28	Merrillville {4A}‡	L, 53-67	7:15 PM
Dec. 30	at Hammond Gavit {3A}	W, 47-35
Jan. 4	Portage {4A}‡	W, 56-47	7:15 PM
Jan. 7	at Chesterton {4A}‡	L, 36-45
Jan. 14	Lake Central {4A}‡	W, 59-38	7:15 PM
Jan. 15	at South Bend Adams {4A}	W, 36-35
Jan. 21	at Michigan City {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 22	East Chicago Central {4A}	7:30 pm
Jan. 28	Valparaiso {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Jan. 29	at Munster {4A}	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Feb. 4	at Merrillville {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 10	at LaPorte {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 18	at Portage {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 19	Lowell {4A}	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Feb. 25	Chesterton {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
‡DUNELAND CONFERENCE GAME

Lake Central (6-6)

Coach: Dave Milausnic, 6-6 in 1st year at school

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Revised: January 16, 2005 .