Wildcats
defeat River Forest 63-48 to finish regular season at .500, ready to host Sectional tournamentWildcats
defeat River Forest 63-48 to finish regular season at .500, ready to host Sectional tournamentA USA-365.com Special Report
by Mark Smith
02-25-2008
| Team/Record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| RIVER FOREST (3-17) | 13 | 15 | 6 | 14 | 48 |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (10-10) | 11 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 64 |
Friday, February 22, 2008 - Non-conference boys basketball at CEDAR LAKE, IN
RIVER FOREST (48) Ryan Smith 3-7-13, Brandon Stack 5-0-13, Phil Podrecca 2-2-6, Richard Perez 4-0-8, Michael Kosinski 4-0-8, Jack Zambrana 0-0-0, Justin Fiscus 0-0-0, Nate Parker 0--0-0, Joey Rodriguez 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18 (9-14) 48.
HANOVER CENTRAL (64) Andrew DeYoung 5-3-13, Charlie Huffnagle 3-0-7, Tim Kubiak 4-0-8, Jordan Rizo 5-8-20, Jerrod Howard 2-0-4, Zach Rish 3-1-7, Andy Cripe 1-0-2, Vince Warren 0-0-0, Aaron Jackson 0-0-0, Ryan Longoria 0-0-0, Ryan Mitchell 0-0-0, Derrick DeSt. Jean 0-0-0. TOTALS: 23 (14-21) 64.
FREE THROWS: RIVER FOREST (9-14, 64.2%) Smith 7-8, Zambrana 0-1, Podrecca 2-3, Perez 0-2; HANOVER (14-21, 66.7%) DeYoung 3-3, Huffnagle 0-1, Rizo 8-10, Mantel 2-2, De St.Jean 0-2, Rush 1-2, Cripe 0-1.
REBOUNDS: RF (15) Stack 4, Parker 3, Podrecca 2, Kosinski 2, Fiscus 2, Smith, Rodriguez; HANOVER (30) Rizo 10, Howard 5, Mantel 4, DeYoung 4, Kubiak 3, De St. Jean 3, Rush.
ASSISTS: RF (8) Smith 5, Zambrana, Stack, Fiscus; HANOVER (15) Huffnagle 5, Mantel 2, Howard 2, Kubak 2, DeYoung, Rush, Jackson, Rizo.
TURNOVERS: RF (5-4-7-0) 16; HANOVER (5-5-4-8) 22
FOULED OUT: RF (1) Jack Zambrana (4th Q) 0:15 left; HANOVER (1) Jarrod Howard (4th Q) 0:49 left.
CEDAR LAKE, IN (02-22-2008) - Hanover played 20 games. They ended up 10-10 and they decided nothing. Improved? A little. It's HC's first .500 regular season in five years. Disappointing? More than a little. They lost six games by six points or less.
Does it matter? Not really. In a rare, all chips on the table, one night only spectacular, the entire Hanover Central varsity basketball season will come down to one game, the championship of the first ever Hanover Central Sectional next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
HC's 63-48 victory Friday over the same River Forest team they will see in
the HC Sectional semifinals was distinctly unimpressive as everybody seemed
to be waiting for the post-season.
There's no need to hype this one. If Hanover beats River Forest again
next Friday, and HC could hardly play as badly as they did this Friday, they
will go for the sectional championship with, at least, five landmarks on the
line.
1.) Hanover hasn't won a sectional title in 22 years.
2.) Hanover hasn't finished with a winning record since 2003. If they
reach the title game, they'll be 11-10
3.) Hanover has not won so much as one state playoff game since 2002.
4.) Hanover hasn't beaten potential sectional finals foe Wheeler in 10
years, and as far as anybody can tell, they've never even met Bishop Noll.
5.) In the 40-year history of the Cedar Lake high school, HC has never
played a boys varsity basketball game for a post-season title on their home
floor.
So the fact that Hanover played poorly for much of their 63-48 win last
Friday is a little insignificant. River Forest, which had only nine varsity
players dressed, led 15-11 and 20-18 in the second quarter as 5-foot-9 guard
Ryan Smith had six points and five assists before the break.
RF
junior forward Mike Kisinski scored four second quarter baskets as the
Wildcats committed 10 first half turnovers.
In the third period Hanover junior Jordan Rizo scored 12 of his game-high 20 points as some improved intensity by the home team helped River Forest into seven third quarter turnovers. Hanover committed 22 turnovers in the game against a team that could not press them, but again, you sensed that the HC boys knew they'd win and their minds weren't totally into this game.
"DY (Andrew DeYoung) comes out in the second quarter and scores nine points," said HC coach Rod Bollenbacher, "and he was a little insignificant for the rest of the game. He can single-handedly take control of the game."
I would guess that since the state tourney draw has come out, Hanover has been focused on March 1, when they, barring an apocalyptic upset by RF in Friday's semifinals, will play for their first sectional championship since before any of the present players were even born.
On the Sagarin computer ratings, Hanover Central would be a 14-point
underdog against Bishop Noll and Wheeler is rated nine points better.
But it's only one game and Hanover gets it at home. Since the new
2,200-seat Hanover field house opened up three years ago, this weekend will
see the tall, bright gym's largest crowds.
"We've scouted Wheeler and Noll," said Bollenbacher, who finished up his
rookie regular season. "We've got tapes. It's going to be a challenge
for us (coaches) because we won't know who we're playing until very late
Friday. It's going to be a long night Friday. It will be exciting.
But we can't overlook River Forest."
"Anything can happen in Indiana on Saturday night," he said. "I know we'll
be fired up. We probably overlooked River Forest tonight, but that
won't happen next week. Next Friday and Saturday, I know you'll see a
different team. When I first took over, I told the boys to look up at
the banner. There's only one. They want to put another one up
there."
CAT NOTES: The schedule for the first-ever Hanover Central
Sectional begins with the Bishop Noll-Lake Station quarterfinal at 7:00 p.m.
The winner of that game will meet Wheeler (16-5) on Friday, Feb. 29 at 7:30
p.m. River Forest and Hanover get a quarterfinal bye and they meet in
the first semifinal on Friday, Feb. 29 at 6:00 p.m. The Hanover Central
Class 2A Sectional championship game is set for Saturday, March 1 at 7:30
p.m.
Bishop Noll (16-4) finished the regular season with a 94-82 win over
arch-rival Andrean. Wheeler (16-5) finished the regular season with a
59-52 win over Hobart. Jarrod Howard scored a career-best 21 points in
a 58-52 overtime victory at LaCrosse on Feb. 20.
"He told me, 'Coach I scored 21 points and I didn't even try,'" Bollenbacher said. "'I just let the defense make mistakes.' That's so true. You don't have to force things. You just run the offense and they'll give you a chance to score."
Aaron Jackson was the only Hanover player who played very little Friday.
"He's been a little sick and he's got a bad foot," said Rod Bollenbacher. "So we held him out. He'll be ready."
All Hanover winter sports seniors including girls basketball players and wrestlers were introduced to the crowd before the game in front of a surprisingly small crowd.
"We still have to prove ourselves," said Bollenbacher. "We haven't had a winning season since 2002? We're 10-10 and we should be 15-5. The game Saturday (the sectional championship) could change a lot of things for us."
PREVIEW: BISHOP NOLL (16-4) at HANOVER CENTRAL (10-10)
Hanover (2A) Sectional Championship
CEDAR LAKE, IN (3-1-2008) I'm going to fast forward this situation. There are five teams in Class 2A Sectional 33. Lake Station has had a wonderful comeback season, the first .500 season is 15 years, but they've already lost twice to Bishop Noll and the sectional quarterfinals will see a third loss.
Wheeler (16-5) is very skilled, but very young. They split with Bishop
Noll during the regular season, but Noll was without top scorer Jason Chorba
(20.4 ppg.) in the loss. Noll will win the third meeting Friday
night. Hanover Central will beat River Forest because, when motivated, they
are a vastly superior team. If what should happen happens, the first
ever Hanover Central sectional will conclude with, what I believe is the
first-ever meeting of Bishop Noll and Hanover Central.
There are a several things I do not know about this game. First: The
opponent. Obviously, there is a chance that ninth-ranked Bishop Noll
will not reach the final game. I'm projecting them there because of
their schedule. Noll has lost to Calumet (16-5), North Montgomery
(16-5), East Chicago (17-3) and Wheeler (16-5). But Noll has faced eight 3A
teams and four 4A schools. Wheeler has played 12 games against teams 2A or
smaller. Hanover has played 13. That's why Noll is the favorite.
How does Hanover play Chorba, a high-tech offensive player who can be the difference in any game? You have to have more than one idea. First, I'd call on Andrew DeYoung, not known as a defensive player but a 6-foot-3 Division I caliber athlete, to prevent Chorba from beating them. Deny the 6-foot-4 Noll star the ball and attempt to play 4 on 4. You don't want to full court press Noll because 6-foot-2 senior Eric Schooler is a good ball-handler and you don't want to speed up a team that has been over 70 points nine times in 20 games.
I'd trap Noll when they cross halfcourt. Wheeler reportedly had some success with that. I'd also play a zone or a box-and-one against Chorba and dare Noll, which averages 70 points a game, to shoot in a gym they are not familiar with.
In the Hanover games I seen, they need to have the post player shoot the ball. It's too easy to chase Charlie Huffnagle and Jordan Rizo around the perimeter because HC gets little out of the post. I'd start Jerrod Howard in the middle after his 21 point game against LaCrosse. Howard can draw defenders and make them foul him. Later, I'd slide Rizo (16 ppg.) and DeYoung into the post and make Noll stop them, too. Eventually Huffnagle and Kevin Mantel are going to be open on the perimeter. If the Cats simply start bombing away from outside, even if they are successful, they'll probably lose a high-scoring game.
In championship games, the home team often goes for that 3-point kill early and they get themselves in a hole. Hanover has to remember that a long possession is a successful possession because Noll wants to run. The Wildcats also want to work on the game-ending delay offense. Obviously, with six losses by six points or less, Hanover has not been good in the fourth quarter. To spend lots of time working on the game-ending delay not only helps HC perfect it, it also hints that the coaching staff truly believes the Wildcats will be ahead late in the game to use that delay.
Honestly, I'd consider holding the ball the final minute of each quarter simply to annoy Bishop Noll, which wants to run, and to hit that quarter-ending shot and lift the crowd I hope will be in attendance.
That's the final point. I don't know if the Hanover community has bought into this team all year. The crowds have been somewhat small in all the games I've seen. I can guarantee this weekend when their team is playing. Hanover players can't be too proud to ask friends and neighbors to come and see if they can win this thing.
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