Hanover
upsets Gary Roosevelt 51-46 in boys basketballHanover
upsets Gary Roosevelt 51-46 in boys basketballA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
12-08-2009
| Team /Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (1-0) | 8 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 51 |
| Gary Roosevelt (0-2) | 11 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 46 |
Friday, November 27, 2009 - HC season- opener at Gary Genesis Center in GARY, IN
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| Aaron Jackson (45) shooting over Thomas Pierce from the baseline in the second quarter against Roosevelt. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
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| Luis Norman (14) moves without the ball in the first half of the HC-Roosevelt game at the Gary Genesis Center. |
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| HC coach Rod Bollenbacher talks to the team in the late going as Roosevelt mounts a rally. |
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| Nick Bollenbacker dribbles past Roosevelt's Derrick Payton in the Gary Genesis Center the day after Thanksgiving. |
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| The scoreboard at the Genesis Center shows that HC has the lead in the final minutes. |
HANOVER (51) Aaron Jackson 2-1-5, Luis Norman 2-3-7, Derek DeSt.Jean 4-0-8, Nick Bollenbacher 3-5-13, Cam Brady 1-0-3, Ryan Mitchell 0-1-1, Zach Rush 2-9-14. TOTALS: 14 (19-25, 79.1%) 51.
STEALS: HC (6)
Nick Bollenbacher 2, Zach Rush; ROOSEVELT?(10) Michael Walker 5, Lionel
Moore 3, Derrick Payton, Jaccori Danzy.
3-GOALS: HC (3) Nick Bolenbacher 2, Zach Rush; ROOSEVELT(1)
Derrick Payton.
FOULED OUT: ROOSEVELT?(1) Thomas Pierce (4th Q) 3:14 left.
If Hanover has ever previously faced Gary Roosevelt, I can't find when it happened. But they met last weekend and it may signal a fork in the road for Hanover Central basketball.
Not only did Hanover acknowledge that they need to play schools like two-time state champion Gary Roosevelt, which in the 1980s and 90s was the quintessential basketball school in Lake County. But the Wildcats beat them. Hanover pulled ahead in the third quarter and upset Roosevelt in Gary 51-46, probably the biggest HC victory in this decade.
“This is huge for us,” said Rod
Bollenbacher, who jumped at the chance to play Roosevelt. “We don't see a
team like this. They are so fast. But we were able to control the
tempo.”
“We need to play them. In two years (when the IHSAA realigns again by
enrollment), Hanover will be a 3A school and we’ll be playing them in the
sectional. We have to get used to playing teams like this.”
They did play. And while I’m sure Roosevelt overlooked Hanover and didn't
have as big a stake in this game as the Wildcats did, those are excuses.
Hanover scored the final nine points of the third quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 34-28 lead and a 5-2 run starting the fourth quarter gave the visitors a 39-30 lead with 4:21 to go in the game.
Roosevelt’s trademark 2-1-2 and
2-2-1 presses, which caused 23 HC turnovers, harassed the Wildcats' guards Zach
Rush, Nick Bollenbacher and Luis Norman throughout the fourth period. But
HC foul shooting held up and they didn't let a late lead slip away as they did
several time the last few seasons.
“We just want to get rid of the old Hanover style of basketball,” said Zach
Rush, who was 6-of-8 from the foul line in the final period.
"Where you play a zone and everybody pushes you around. We’re here to be strong.”
“We changed defenses a lot. We couldn't show them the same thing every time down the floor.”
The Panthers (0-2), who lost the season opener on Nov. 24, 53-39 to Andrean, had a size advantage on HC with three 6-foot-5 forwards in Thomas Pierce, Lionel Moore and Jordan Grant.
But the Panthers had almost no outside shooting, while Hanover cashed in three, three-point shots and 19 of 24 from the foul line. Roosevelt was the superior team athletically, but they could not shoot and did not get to the foul line.
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