CP Boys split non-conference games: Beat Griffith 59-40 and lose to EC 60-55
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 at Griffith, IN

CROWN POINT (59)  Chad Pruzin 2-0-6, Chris Thomas 4-6-14, Brian Sparks 10-3-28, Kyle Robbins 3-0-6, Kyle Ernest 0-2-2, Jordan Ham 1-0-3, Chachi Albrecht 0-0-0, Aaron Miller, Ryan Brown 0-0-0, Joel Heavner 0-0-0, Mike Harris 0-0-0, Jimmy Little 0-0-0.    TOTALS:  20-11-59

FTS: 11-17, 64. 7 %
TURNOVERS: 14
REBOUNDS: Kyle Robbins 11
ASSISTS: Chad Pruzin 4
STEALS: Aaron Miller 3
FOULED OUT: NONE
3-POINT GOALS (8)  Brain Sparks 5, Chad Pruzin 2, Jordan Ham.

GRIFFITH  (40)  Nate Fentress 4-0-9, Brad McFarlane 3-2-9, Cliff Wilson 2-0-5, Jason Leal 1-1-3, Steve DeJesus 1-2-5, Shawn Mathis 1-2-5, Jason Malo 2-0-4, Todd Polgar 0-0-0, Rich Lahman 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 14-7-40.

FTS: 7-11, 63.6 percent
TURNOVERS: 21
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (5) Nate Fentress, Brad McFarlane, Cliff Wilson, Steve DeJesus, Shawn Mathis.

CROWN POINT (12-14-2002)  After a 19-point win at Griffith Friday night (Dec. 13), CP's veteran coach Tom Johnson said, "Let's wait and see what we do tomorrow night."
  
"It's tough," he said, speaking to the patience of Griffith contrasted with the up-tempo athleticism of EC.  "Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, everything we worked on all week, we'll have to forget it. It's a good warm-up for the sectional where you'll have to see two different kinds of teams in 24 hours. We won't celebrate until tomorrow's game is over."

While it's unlikely that CP celebrates winning nonconference games at all, that was a pretty good call.

CP can beat Griffith by 19 points on Griffith's home floor and it didn't mean much.  It would only have been a big story if they'd lost.  And while Saturday's 60-55 loss to East Chicago changes the won-loss record, it's all written off to experience in front of Friday's (Dec. 20) Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) opener with Portage.

Saturday night at home,  Crown Point may have worn out.  Leading 45-42 going to the final eight minutes, Crown Point made only 3-of-16 from the field in the fourth quarter.  The Bulldogs made 12 turnovers in the second half and hit only one of their last nine three-point shots.  While only four EC players scored in the game, the better team probably won.  Especially since EC leading scorer Tremaine Cooley missed the game due to a leg injury.

There was a sadness to the Griffith-Crown Point game Friday night.  Crown Point won easily 59-40 but there wasn't any celebrating. There was no tragedy. Nobody died.

But here's 6-foot-10 Kenny Harris, this dominant basketball player, sitting on the Griffith bench while his new team was losing.  Harris, who transferred from Bishop Noll last summer, has not yet been given any eligibility by the IHSAA and can only be a very large assistant coach.

"I'm sure it bothers him," said winning coach Tom Johnson. "But I really can't say I know how it feels because I've never been through anything like that."

Does Griffith (1-1) win if Harris plays? Probably. Could they beat Crown Point without him?  Honestly?  No.  They could have shot a little better. They could have made it a little closer.

But, quietly (many area polls had Griffith rated ahead of CP even though everyone around here knows Harris isn't playing right now), CP has assembled their best team in several years and the Panthers (as presently constituted) couldn't beat Crown Point if they played them five more times.

The Panthers jumped to a 15-11 first quarter lead behind nine points from 6-3 football star Brad McFarlane but Griffith didn't show a lot their usual Jack Gabor-coached patience and it was only a matter of time before one of CP's shooters got hot.

It was 6-2 senior Brian Sparks, who rang up nine of his game-high 28 points in the second quarter inside a 13-2 Bulldog run. Crown Point pushed the ball up the sidelines and reversed it for wide open three-point shots. They have one of the top distance shooting teams in this part of the state (they have for the last two or three years) and, on most nights, they hit the oppositions with a couple of big runs.

Griffith was not able to counter because defenders Aaron Miller and Mike Harris held Panther star Cliff Wilson to just 2-of-9 shooting and five points. Without Kenny Harris, the Panthers don't really have any other good offensive players.

"I thought the defense was the key to the game," said Johnson. "Aaron Miller and Mike Harris stayed with Wilson. That was our best defensive game of the year and that had been a problem for us.  Fentress got going in the first quarter (all nine of his points) but we made some adjustments and controlled him. Kyle Robbins (11 rebounds) did a nice job on the boards. You know you're not going to score a lot of points on a team that Jack (Gabor) coaches. You're just never going to do that. So, we had to play good defense tonight."

The Bulldogs tipped and stole many passes, overplaying the ball against the slower Panthers.  Johnson talked about how that strategy would have to be altered the next night against the faster but less shot-proficient East Chicago Cardinals.

Crown Point can't be defined by how they play against schools half their size and they know it.  Wins over Gavit, Clark, Griffith or losses to East Chicago mean nothing when the teams they have to beat are Valparaiso and Merrillville.

So, like Kenny Harris, CP is still waiting to really get in the game.


DOG NOTES:  The Griffith game was a sellout in the 2,000-seat Panther gym but probably not because of the two teams. There was a junior cheerleader routine at half-time and about 100 small girls in cheerleader costumes sat in the upper deck during the first half, waiting for their moment. About 100 extra parents came for that show and left after half-time.

Griffith is in the middle of a two-year renovation and the gym is somewhat dark and cold.  Reportedly, they will get new lighting and a new gym floor by next season. Kenny Harris sat on the bench for the Panthers, talking to teammates and coaches. Regardless of court rulings, the first-team all-stater, a top-100 player nationally, can't play until January at the earliest.

The 13 three-point baskets over the weekend gave the distance shooting Dogs 45 in five games.

The pairings for the Highland Holiday Tournament have been announced and, to no one's surprise for the second consecutive year, Highland (1-3) drew Kankakee Valley (1-3) while Crown Point (4-2) was matched against 4A top-10 Munster (6-0).
Forgive Highland for the obvious slotting advantage to the home team. The idea of the holiday tournament, a dying breed of hoop date, is to make money. Ask yourself, does Highland high school make more money if the Trojans get a semifinal game they should win and a berth in the tourney finals?

Or if they lose on opening night (as they certainly would against Munster or CP) and play the 6 p.m. 3rd place game the second night (Dec. 28), leaving an almost empty building for the 8 p.m. Munster-CP title game?  You need to draw the home school fans to have a holiday tourney.  It should be no big deal to CP.  Again, they aren't defined by winning or losing against non-DAC schools.  With the controversial double round-robin (14 games) format the DAC is going to next year, CP will not be playing in any holiday tournament after this season.

Other than Portage (1-4), all DAC teams were .500 or better after the week of Dec. 14.

For the Record: 2003 CROWN POINT (5-2)

DAC Games in CAPS
Start times are JV starting times
11-27-2002 - 74-46  at Gavit (0-1)
11-30-2002 - 86-85 Lake Central (2-0)
12-6-2002 - 76-41 at Clark (2-3)
12-7-2002 - 56-54 (West Lafayette) Harrison  (1-3)
12-13-2002 - 59-40 at Griffith (1-1)
12-14-2002 -  55-60 East Chicago (2-4)
12-20-2002 (F) PORTAGE (1-4) 6 p.m.

Highland Holiday Tournament
12-27-2002:  vs. Munster (6-0)   6 p.m.
12-28-2002:  3rd place or Championship - 8 p.m.

1-3-2003 (F) Calumet (1-3) (6 p.m.)
1-11-2003 (S) at MERRILLVILLE (2-1) (6 p.m.)
1-17-2003 (F) VALPARAISO (3-1) (6 p.m.)
1-18-2003 (S) at South Bend Adams (6 p.m.)
1-25-2003 (S) at MICHIGAN CITY (6 p.m.)
1-31-2003 (F) at CHESTERTON (3-0) (6 p.m.)
2-1-2003 (S) at Munster (6-0) (6 p.m.)
2-7-2003 (F) LaPORTE (2-1) (6 p.m.)
2-13-2003 (Th) at Hobart (3-1) (6 p.m.)
2-21-2003 (F) GARY ROOSEVELT (4-0) (6 p.m.)
2-28-2003 (F) LOWELL (1-3) (6 p.m.)
Valparaiso (4A) Sectional
3-4-2003 (Tu) quarterfinals (6 p.m.)
3-7-2003 (F) semifinals (6 p.m.)
3-8-2003 (S) championship (6 p.m.)