GRIFFITH, IN (11-27-2004) - You don't get too excited after just one game.  But you also don't win by 30 on the road by accident.

There were a lot of factors contributing to Crown Point's season-opening 66-36 win at Griffith late Saturday. The Panthers (1-1) were short three players including starting guard Steve DeJesus. CP, with nine seniors returning from last year's team, was obviously the more experienced team. Plus, 6-6 Panther center Todd Polgar was held out of action in the second half by, what an official scorer would call, 'coach's decision.'

But make no mistake. This is going to be a peak year for Crown Point. They have all the depth they need and all the experience they're ever going to have in one group. If they can match it with the intensity they displayed, running up a 31-5 lead in the first quarter and a half Saturday, the Bulldogs will contend for Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) and sectional titles.

“The first 14 minutes or so reminded me of the teams I had my first six years here,” said ninth year coach Crown Point Tom Johnson. “We got after it at both ends of the floor. “We have some things to work on defensively. Our biggest problem tonight was our inability to find shooters. (Nate) Lehmann's a good shooter. Don't get me wrong. But he had four threes in the first half. We were giving him wide open looks. He got a couple in the second half where we were hanging on him. That's okay. We better get that straightened out with LaPorte coming up next.”

“Griffith had three people on the bench in street clothes but this was a good start. We have 10 people who I can use at any time and they can contribute.”

Crown Point, which beat Griffith 62-50 last year in Crown Point, gave up a three-point shot to Panther sophomore Nate Lehmann and then scored nine points in a row. After center Todd Polgar hit a 15-foot shot to cut the lead to 9-5, the Bulldogs scored the next 22 points over eight minutes, taking a 31-5 lead with 5:36 left in the first half.

A very intense defensive effort rattled inexperienced Griffith ball-handlers and CP confidently fed the post for layups and spun the ball quickly around the three-point arc for long range jumpers.

The game was out of control for Griffith early.

“We do a video scouting report for each player for each game,” said Griffith coach Jack Gabor. “I give them a printout of what to expect. So, after the game, I sat down my two guard and I asked them, 'Did Crown Point do anything you didn't expect?' They all said, 'No.' It was just a matter of them rushing us and us going 1000 miles an hour. Then we threw the ball away a few times and that's all it takes.”

The Bulldogs' intensity lagged after halftime but the first third of the game was as good as CP can play. The encouraging thing about the show was that both Bulldog post players, Ryan Brown and Brian Maloney drew two fouls battling Polgar in the first four minutes and had to sit down. Senior forward Sam Henderson recorded eight points and three assists in the first half before Sam's 6-2 twin brother Seth Henderson came off the bench to score seven points and grab two rebounds. Senior guard Chachi Albrecht repeatedly was fouled going to the basket and nine of his 12 first half points came on free throws.

Polgar may have inadvertently contributed to CP's big start. The 6-6 center did a lot of wrestling with Brown and Maloney, drawing the wrath of a small, but loud, group of CP students, who traveled to Griffith to watch the game. Polgar did a good job drawing fouls on Bulldog forwards but he got a little too much into the agitator role, drawing a technical foul and a benching from Gabor, who did not allow the senior to play in the second half. The sixth-year Griffith coach thought that Polgar had perhaps been watching too much Indiana Pacers' NBA basketball.

“We don't want Ron Artest out there,” said Gabor. “I tried to tell him that the game was out of reach in the second half and it wasn't officiated particularly well. I said, if I play you in the second half, you're going to draw another technical foul, get into a fight and be jawing with the kids in the stands. Then you're not playing (two technical fouls in one game is an automatic ejection which is an automatic one-game suspension) next week. We've got enough guys out already.”

Polgar is physical enough to make a impact for the Panthers once the team is at full strength and gets to playing consistently. But not if he's out of control.

“You've got to turn and walk away,” said Gabor, who said he'd get the big center 'straightened out'. “You don't think Michael Jordan had to turn and walk away. He had people all over him. He can be a big factor. But, as soon as there's a little pushing and shoving, he's getting frustrated. Crown Point is playing him physical and he's getting upset. That's the price of being 'the man'. You have to get used to it.

Crown Point doesn't get any special attention right now because of a 6-16 record last season. But that's clearly going to change.

“I hope so,” said senior Mike Smith. “The first quarter tonight was great. For everyone. We're pretty deep and we've played together forever. We want to get another shot at everybody in the DAC. LaPorte? Yeah, they embarrassed us a little last year.”

The Slicers handed CP a 78-48 defeat on Dec. 5, 2003 and, while it's a good bet that nobody will beat the Bulldogs by 30 this year, the double round robin 14-game DAC schedule plus a sectional that creates potential third meetings with as many as three DAC teams, also guarantees that CP won't win many by large margins, either.

“Obviously, we're not going to be able to come out and press LaPorte (CP's next foe) like that,” said Tom Johnson. “We don't want to play 84 feet with them. But we're pretty confident in our top 10. This was good.”

USA-365.com will broadcast the LaPorte at Crown Point boys basketball game on Internet Radio this Friday, Dec. 3, with the pregame show starting at 7:15 p.m., CST.

BULLDOG NOTES:  Forward Brian Maloney, who broke a foot during the football season, did make it back in time to start the basketball season. Maloney scored 12 points and appears to have changed his game, now featuring the ability to face the basket and play the forward position.

“He wasn't 100% tonight,” said coach Tom Johnson, who made a point of speaking about how much improvement Maloney made over the summer. “He's just much better than he was last year.”

Senior Ryan Brown appears stronger and more confident in the post. The 6-3, 215-pound Brown and the 6-5, 190-pound Maloney are now complimentary players instead of two players splitting the same position.

Sophomore Matt Ernest, the only non-senior in CP's top 10 players, made some surprisingly quick moves offensively to the basket but could not finish for more than one field goal. Ernest, the Bulldogs leading football wide receiver this fall, is a long-armed point guard who has lots of potential at both ends of the floor.

Griffith coach Jack Gabor tried to list the players he's missing.

“DeJesus, (Matt) Coddington and (Ben) Geffert plus Aaron Salczynski,” he listed. “So, we just had six legitimate varsity players. Then, when I made my decision (to bench Todd Polgar), we had five.”

DeJesus had a tremendous summer, but right now, we've got Brian Bell in there. Culp hasn't played in two years. He just was going another way. He's got skills but he has to make up for the two years he didn't play. Geffert, a 6-4 sophomore center, and 6-1 junior Matt Coddington both have back problems. Geffert could be back in December but more likely by January. Coddington is out indefinitely. DeJesus is serving a suspension and will be definitely back in two weeks.

“I'm glad everybody's written us off,” said Gabor. “There's a lot of teams that are way overrated. There's going to be a lot of changes in the top 10.”

Mike Smith, who played wide receiver, safety and kick returner for Crown Point during the fall football season, has shoulder problems that won't get better this season.

“I could get surgery but I won't until the season over. They say, it could heal by itself so hopefully that will happen.”.

Last season, Ryan Brown scored 20 and Todd Polgar countered with 16 as CP won 62-50 over the Panthers. Chachi Albrecht scored 17 in that game.

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CROWN POINT (1-0)

Coach Tom Johnson, 6-16 in 2003-2004

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT/ TIME	USA-365.com Broadcast Time
Nov. 27	at Griffith {3A}	W, 66-36
Dec. 3	LaPorte {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Dec. 10	at Lake Central {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Dec. 14	at Valparaiso {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Dec. 17	Michigan City {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Dec. 28	Merrillville {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Dec. 30	at Hammond Gavit {3A}	7:30 pm
Jan. 4	Portage {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Jan. 7	at Chesterton {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 14	Lake Central {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Jan. 15	at South Bend Adams {4A}	7:30 pm
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

Griffith (1-1)

Coach Jack Gabor, 11-12 in 2003-2004 

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Revised: November 28, 2004 .