Hanover beats Kouts 68-67 on road in double overtime to retain 'kup'

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
02-20-2006

Friday, 02-16-2007  - Porter County Conference (PCC) boys basketball at Kouts 

HANOVER CENTRAL (68)  Charlie Huffnagle 5-1-14, Josh Styx 3-0-6, Andrew DeYoung 3-4-10, Jerrod Howard 4-0-8, Aaron Jackson 2-3-7, Scott Krager 5-0-10, Matt Kozlowski 2-0-5, Tim Kubiak 3-0-6, Eric Mantel 0-2-2, Adam Schwalm 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 27 (10-15) 68.

KOUTS (67)  Jon Hand 3-4-13, Brad Parks 2-7-11, Alex Otto 5-4-14, Adam Marlett 8-4-20, Ben Osborne 0-4-4, Abe Osborne 1-2-5.  TOTALS: 19 (25-44) 67.

FREE THROWS:  HANOVER (10-15, 66.7%) Huffnagle 1-2, DeYoung 4-5,  Howard 0-1, Jackson 3-4, Mantel 2-2, Kozlowski 0-1.   KOUTS (25-44, 56.8%) Hand 4-8,  Parks 7-10, Marlett 4-9, Otto 4-8, Ben Osborne 4-6, Abe Osborne 2-3.

REBOUNDS:  HANOVER (27) Krager 5, Kubiak 5, Styx 4,  DeYoung 5, Howard 5, Jackson 2,  Mantel;  KOUTS (37) Otto 12, Marlett 9, Parks 7,  Hand 3, Abe Osborne 2, Ben Osborne 4.

STEALS:  HANOVER (7) Krager 3, Kozlowski 2, Howard, DeYoung;  KOUTS (5) Otto 2, Abe Osborne 2, Hand.

ASSISTS:  HANOVER (7) Krager 4, Styx, Mantel, Jackson; KOUTS (9) Parks 4, Otto 2, Hand 2, Abe Osborne

3-GOALS:  HANOVER (4) Charlie Huffnagle 3, Matt Kozlowski;  KOUTS (4) Jon Hand 3, Abe Osborne.

FOULED OUT:  Aaron Jackson (HC) 5:17 left - 4th Q;  Andrew DeYoung (HC) 2:58 - 4th Q; Jerrod Howard (HC) 2:40 - 1st OT;  Charlie Huffnagle (HC) :07 - 2nd OT;   Alex Otto (Kouts) 1:49 - 1st OT.

KOUTS (2-16-207) -  I'm starting to buy into this 'Kup' thing.  There was nothing to play for late Friday on a 10-degree February night in east Porter County, but the 'Kup', the Porter County Conference (PCC) sponsored 50-year-old, traveling trophy.  Hanover, which rarely touches the Kup, had possession of it and Kouts, which had lost back-to-back overtime games, wanted to grab it in the 2007 home finale.

Over two hours after the opening tip, with 500 fans on their feet, Hanover senior Matt Kozlowski hit a 20-foot three-point shot off the left wing to give the Wildcats, a hard-fought 69-68 win over Kouts, and possession of that Kup for at least three more days.

"I just told the kids not even to dress," said HC coach Dave Uran.  "Just get on the bus and let's get out of town because we just stole one."

This wasn't a great game.  You wouldn't even call it a well-played game.  But when Kozlwoski's game-winning shot went in, Hanover celebrated like they'd won the Super Bowl and the HC senior grabbed the blue and white painted Keg and ran into the HC locker room.

"These kids could have quit," said Uran, who had his team hold the ball for 2 1/2 minutes in the second overtime because three of his starting players had fouled out.

"They had plenty of chances to quit.  We were down seven in that first overtime.  I'm really proud of them."

For those of you who are not familiar with real down home Indiana basketball, the PCC 'Kup' is a traveling trophy, an old wooden key that can only be obtained by defeating the PCC team that holds it in basketball.  Hanover won the Kup for the first time in two years when they beat PCC leader  Morgan Township 46-44 on Jan. 26.  But it looked like they'd give it to Kouts when the Cats trailed 57-50 with 1:50 left in the first overtime.  It was 59-52 when Charlie Huffnagle hit consecutive three-point shots to cut the lead to 59-58 with 1:07 left.

By this time, forward Andrew DeYoung, center Jerrod Howard and forward Aaron Jackson had all fouled out.  Kouts made just one of four free throws in the next two posession to keep HC in the game and Josh Styx hit a short shot to tie the game 60-60 with 17 seconds to play.  Kouts sophomore Abe Osborne sank two foul shots for a 62-60 lead with 14 seconds to go.  HC went for the win with Huffnagle firing a three-point attempt, even though he was double-teamed.

The ball missed the rim, but 6-foot-5 sophomore Tim Kubiak grabbed the 'air ball' and laid it in the basket to tie the game with one second left.

Hanover held the ball for 2:40 of the four minute second overtime before Huffnagle was fouled and split two foul shots.  Sophomore forward Adam Marlett grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for a 64-63 Kouts lead with 34 seconds to go and 6-foot-4 Brad Parks scored on an inbounds pass to up the lead to 66-63 with just 20 seconds to go.  Again Huffnagle missed a fade away three point shot and again, Kubiak was alone on the weak side to catch his teammate's air ball and score an easy two-pointer to cut the lead to 66-65 with 11 seconds to play.

When Huffnagle fouled Kouts guard Jon Hand, Huffnagle became the fourth Hanover player to foul out.  This, for a team that is playing without 6-foot-1 sophomore starting forward Jordan Rizo, who has a severely sprained ankle and is out until the playoffs.  But Hand sank only one of two free throws and rushed the ball up the floor.  Kozlowski, who has come off the bench throughout his senior year, launched a high-arching shot from in front of the Hanover bench.  It was good all the way.

"We decided we'd come down and it was a two-point game," said Uran.  "Mantel was going to be the shooter.  Huffnagle was going to come off a double screen.  But they left Matt all alone.  I told him to shoot it."

"The big thing was, he didn't think about it.  This is the one night where he was the hero.  He's a good shooter.  When it left his hand, it was good. I knew it was in.  It looked good when he shot it."

Kouts would have won had they done better than 25-of-44 from the foul line.  Kouts' lone senior, 6-foot-1 Alex Otto, was double-teamed most of the night and still scored 14.  Junior shooter Jon hand was covered as well, but soph forward Adam Marlett scored 20 and beat the Wildcats on the boards.

Hanover would have won in regulation had they connected on more than seven first half field goal attempts.  The Cats still rushed their shots as if they couldn't really believe they were getting open looks at the basket.  Uran said as much.

"Early on if we'd have taken advantage of our opportunities, we'd have opened up a lead," he said.  "Jackson gave us a helluva game.  DeYoung gave up a lot of effort.  We told him that it's February.  It's now or never.  He's one of our best athletes."

Hanover has gone to a running-pressing style that accentuates the depth they have.  The Cats used 11 players Friday, not counting Rizo.  The most improvement visibly may have been made by senior Scott Krager, who had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists at Kouts.  He made some excellent passes.  Charlie Huffnagle, who won the three-point shooting contest at the Region Rumble' in Hammond in early January, is now on the wing where he can get more shots.  Huffnagle sank four three-pointers, while DeYoung scored 10 and looked active.  Lead guard Kevin Mantel handled the ball later in the game.

"We're trying to go a bit more up tempo," said Uran. "We do have some athletes.  We're going to run and press.  If we play Wheeler, we don't want to get into a half court game with them.  We don't want to run with Noll but Boone maybe.  Lake Station.  We've got two more games.  One at home.  One on the road.  We're just trying to get back to the .500 mark."

But even Uran knew the real reason for the entertaining life-or-death late season struggle between two sub. 500 teams.

"It was for the keg," he smiled.  "One more win and we can retire it (who ever has it at the end of the year keeps it until next season).  They want to keep it.  I'm proud of our guys.  The energy level stayed the same when we were behind.  I'm proud we came back."

CAT NOTES:  Has anyone ever heard of a high school team losing three consecutive home games in overtime?  Kouts lost 75-72 in overtime to Knox on Feb. 3.  They lost 62-57 in overtime to Morgan Township on Feb. 8 and they lost 68-67 in two overtimes to Hanover Friday.  Kouts is 3-16, but they've lost four overtime games this season.

HC coach Dave Uran thought the Hanover fans behind him would not understand when he asked his boys to hold the ball with the score tied 62-62 at the start of the second overtime.  Kouts had used just six players all night, but the crowd did seem to understand that, with three Hanover players fouled out and regular starter Jordan Rizo unavailable, it made no sense to continue to run up and down the floor.

Rizo, HC's 6-foot-1 sophomore low post forward, said he hopes to be back for the start of the post-season.  He stepped on a teammate's foot in practice and was on crutches at Kouts.  It would help if the Wildcats received a first round bye at the five team Wheeler Class 2A sectional and didn't have to play until March 2.

The Cats could pull an upset at the sectional, but the bright light is shining on their extended future which could put 6-foot-5 Tim Kubiak and 6-foot-3 Eric Jackson in the middle with present day sophs Jordan Rizo and Jerrod Howard sharing the 'big' forward slot.  Soph lead guard Kevin Mantel will have Charlie Huffnagle and Andrew DeYoung on the wing next year as seniors.

Dave Uran confirmed that he has indeed filed to run for mayor of Crown Point.  He wanted to discuss it after the season ends, but his name will be on the ballot this spring.

Hanover started freshman Adam Schalm, a 5-foot-7 guard.  He played only about four minutes.  Charlie Huffnagle is 59-of-81 (71.9%) from the line.  Rizo is 41-of-57 (71.9%) and averages 7.8 rebounds per game.

State Wrestling Championship Match Results

103 lbs. Camden Eppert (36-1), Anderson Highland (10) def. Brandon Wright (46-6), Indianapolis Cathedral (9), dec. 6-3.

112 lbs. Josh Harper (39-0), Mishawaka (10) def. Christopher Quiroga (47-2), Lawrence North (10), dec. 7-4.

119 lbs. Matthew Fields (40-1), Whiteland (12) def. Taylor March (42-0), East Noble (10), dec. 3-0.

125 lbs. Reece Freeman (44-0), Bloomington South (12) def. Thomas Churchard (46-2), Valparaiso (11), dec. 8-4.

130 lbs. Eric Galka (48-0), Hobart (11) def. Andy St. Germain (44-4), Chesterton (12), dec. 9-7.

135 lbs. Caleb Schmitt (47-1), Castle (12) def. David Zimmer (45-1), Angola (12), 3-2 Ultimate Tiebreaker.

140 lbs. Eric McGill (43-3), Munster (12) def. Brennan Cosgrove (45-4), Hobart (11), dec. 6-5.

145 lbs. Jamal Lawrence (45-0), Merrillville (12) def. Nick Dewig (45-1), Evansville Mater Dei (12), dec. 3-2.

152 lbs. Andrew Howe (48-0), Hanover Central (11) def. Chris Dean (45-2), Northview (12), Technical Fall, 26-9, 6:00.

160 lbs. Cooper Samuels (35-1), Floyd Central (11) def. Phillip Oudhuis (41-2), New Prairie (12), Fall, 1:22.

171 lbs. Matt Powless (51-0), Evansville Memorial (12) def. Frank Troiano (50-2), Indianapolis Cathedral (12), dec. 6-3.

189 lbs. Ian Hinton (48-0), Mishawaka (12) def. Chad Friend (40-1), Leo (12) dec. 10-5.

215 lbs. George Malone (46-0), South Bend Riley (11) def. Luke Watkins (16-1), North Central (Indianapolis) (12), dec 3-1.

285 lbs. Chico Adams (53-0), Perry Meridian (11) def. Derek Traversa (37-2), Glenn (12), Fall 2:50.

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Revised: February 21, 2007 .