Senior 'Cats lead Hanover Central to draw with Governors in regulation before losing 67-64 in OT
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003  in Cedar Lake

MORTON (67))   Adam Keilman 4-1-10, Terrance Murphy 7-0-14, Greg McGing 2-3-7, Devin Harper 9-3-22, Kevin Potchen 5-2-12, Darion Reed 1-0-2, Robert Dutton 0-0-0, Damico Perry 0-0-0.   TOTALS: 28-9-67.

FTS: 9-12, 75.0%  (Harper 3-4, Keilman 1-2, McGing 3-3, Potchen 2-3)
BLOCKED SHOTS - Devin Harper - 3
ASSISTS: Adam Keilman - 5
REBOUNDS: Terrance Murphy - 10
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (2) Keilman, Harper

HANOVER CENTRAL (64)  Brandon Hegg 3-5-12,  Jeff Johnson 5-0-13, Jon Radosevich 3-2-10, Eddie Roberts 1-6-8, Greg Shroka 1-0-2, Aleks Case 5-0-15,  Doug Bilinski 0-0-0, Owen Goff 1-0-2, Adam Miller 1-0-2, Jeremy Peterson 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 20-13-64
FTS: 13-20,  65.0 percent  (Hegg 5-7, Radosevich 2-4, Shroka 0-1, Roberts 6-8)
ASSISTS: Jeff Johnson - 5
BLOCKED SHOTS:  Eddie Roberts - 3
REBOUNDS: Jon Radosevich - 3
STEALS: Jon Radosevich - 3
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (11) Aleks Case 5, Jeff Johnson 3, Jon Radosevich 2, Brandon Hegg

CEDAR LAKE (2-25-2003) -  Sometimes you don't feel that bad about losing a game.  Not many times, I'll admit.  But the final home game Tuesday for Hanover Central was one of those times.

Hanover's seniors had their moments on 'Senior Night', the final home game for the Cats. HC sank 11 three-point baskets and gave the bigger boys from bigger Morton high a good battle, even carrying it into overtime with a last second shot.

But the visiting Governors (11-8) had a little too much inside and out, outlasting Hanover 67-64 to start the final week of the regular season.

Hanover senior Aleks Case sank his fifth three-point shot of the game, a 20-footer from the right corner to tie the game at 61-61 with two seconds to play, exciting a small but lively mid-week crowd of about 500 in the old Hanover gym.  But a key offensive rebound basket by 6-5 junior Terrance Murphy and some skilled Morton dribble stalling put the win on the bus back to Hammond.

"They shot the ball unbelievably," said Morton coach Russ Marcinek.  "How many threes did they have?  We knew it would be tough on the road.  It was 'Senior Night'.  On the road.  They were 12-7 coming in.  They're not a bad team.  It was a great game."

"Our seniors got us off to a good start tonight," said coach Dave Uran.  "The initial three or four minutes starting the second half, we've got to clean that up.  We've got to do something about that.  That's losing us games.  We've lost three in a row now."

After the 'Senior Night' ceremonies and an entertaining, high-scoring first half by both sides, Morton made a strong run at the top of the third quarter.  Junior Kevin Potchen tipped in a missed shot to start the second half and 6-3 sophomore Devin Harper, a future star, dropped in a three pointer off a feed from Potchen in the lane.  After a Hanover miss, Potchen scored on a fast break and Morton had their biggest lead of the night at 41-31.

"We knew we could score on their defense," said Marcinek, who played for Bishop Noll in the early 90s.  "We got some easy layups against their zone.  Of course, they got some on us, too."

Hanover quickly got into the penalty situation and four foul shots by Eddie Roberts helped close the lead to 45-41 with 2:41 left in the third period.  Football star Darion Reed, making his first attempt to play (after a November hip injury) since the first couple of weeks of the season, scored on a 10-foot jumper to end the third period with the Governors ahead 47-41.  Morton led 57-49 and 59-51 on jump shots by senior Adam Heilman.  But Hanover continued to rally behind Brandon Hegg, who sank five of six from the line in the final quarter.  In the final minute, Aleks Case tipped a pass to Greg Shroka, who ran away to score, closing the lead to 59-58.  Shroka was fouled but he missed the free throw.

Morton then made a fundamental error.  Keilman had the ball with 20 seconds to play and Hanover had only three team fouls.  If the Governors simply held the ball and got fouled, all Morton had to do was inbound the ball until time ran out.  Hanover couldn't send Morton to the foul line.

But Keilman fired a pass inside to Morton's 6-5 junior center Terrance Murphy for a layup and a 61-58 lead.  But Hanover Central then ran the ball up the floor, used top scorer  Jeff Johnson (14.1 ppg.) as a decoy and set up the 6-3 Case in the right corner.  The Hanover senior brought the house down with a game-tying three-point basket with two seconds to go.

"We tell them only to take a layup," said Marcinek.  "You can't turn down a layup when you've got it."

"That was the designed play," said Uran.  "We wanted to get Aleks that shot.  "That's his shot (from the corner).  He loves that shot.  Sometimes I have to yell at him to get him to shoot but he is such an unselfish player.  He'd rather pass off.  I hate to yell at him because he's such a nice kid.  But that's his shot.  He's got to take it."

"The thing we don't want Aleks to do is fall in love with that shot because he's got long arms and he's fairly quick.  He can go to the basket."

In overtime, Jeff Johnson's jump shot put HC ahead 63-61, but Harper fed Murphy for the tying basket.  Potchen split two free throws to put the Governors ahead and Murphy's offensive rebound of a Potchen miss made it 66-63.  Some fancy dribbling by Keilman and the fact that Hanover still was not in the penalty situation and couldn't send Morton to the foul line, led Morton to victory.

Brandon Hegg did get off a 40-footer at the buzzer but the ball could only hit the backboard.

"This was good preparation for the state tournament,"  said Uran, whose team will open against North Newton (10-9) Tuesday night (March 4) in the Boone Grove quarterfinals.

"I didn't want a bye," Uran said.  "I wanted to play Tuesday night at 6 p.m.  "Because if you can win that game, then you can sit back and wait for your opponent.  You get into the state tournament and your boys get a little confidence."

"Plus, Boone is a home away from home for us.  We've played four games there.  It's Jeff (Johnson's) favorite gym.  If we can get into a one game situation with Wheeler (17-2) in the semifinals, who knows what can happen?"

CAT NOTES:  Hanover Central sank a season-high 11 three-point shots.  Jeff Johnson fired in last season three-point shots at the end of the first two periods and Aleks Case hit the three-point game tying shot at the end of the final quarter.

"I thought we were playing good defense on them but they hit a lot of shots," said Morton coach Russ Marcinak.  "We controlled Johnson but how many 3s did '31' (Aleks Case) hit?  They've got some good shooters."

Both coaches commented on the defense that Adam Keilman played against Hanover's Jeff Johnson.  The 5-10 Morton football star fought through screens and used physical play to hold Johnson to 13 points.

"That's Lake County defense, smiled Uran.  "Those were Lake County referees.  We can't complain because we got some calls.  Jeff's going to have to get used to that because he's had a breakout year.  Everybody's going to play him that way next year."

Marcinek praised Devin Harper, the 6-4 sophomore wing player who score 22 with five rebounds and three blocked shots.

"He's a pretty good player for a sophomore," said the coach. "He's come a long way since the start of the year.  He'll be very good."

Uran had one complaint about seniors Aleks Case, Eddie Roberts, Jon Radosevich and Adam Miller.  That they were seniors. "I wish we had these guys a little longer," said Uran.  "Guys like Aleks and Eddie Roberts are just coming into their own now.  They're playing their best ball now.  But I talked to them about what legacy and tradition they're going to leave.  Worst case scenario, they'll leave a winning season and a winning record.  And we're hoping we can build on that."

HC Senior Jon Rodosevich - 10 points against Morton on 2/25.

This was the final game between Morton and Hanover for the foreseeable future.

"This has always been a good match," Marcinak said.  "It's gone on long before I got here.  But we're adding Chesterton to our schedule next year and we've got to change our Lake Conference schedule because of three new teams."

Darion Reed probably will not be 100% for the state tournament. The 6-4 football all-area player is obviously not fully recovered from his dislocated hip that he suffered in November.

"You saw him," said Marcinek.  "Do you think he can go?  He's not what he was.  It's too bad because he wants to play.  But, I don't know."

Hanover's JV improved to 12-5 with a 52-43 win over Morton Tuesday.  Hanover will finish with winning seasons on the JV, freshman and varsity levels.

2003 HANOVER CENTRAL (12-8)
Coach Dave Uran (1st year)
PCC games in CAPS, Home games in bold
11-26-2002:  60-34  at Lake Station (1-18)
11-29-2002:  49-38   Elmwood Park, Ill. (11-15)
12-6-2002:  49-38 vs. HEBRON (9-9)
12-13-2002:  52-61 at WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP  (8-10)
12-21-2002:  59-45 at Kankakee Valley (2-16)
12-28-2002:  41-40 Gavit (1-17)
1-3-2003:  44-48 Lowell  (10-11)
1-7-2003:  62-56 Whiting (7-12)
1-10-2003:  54-58  BOONE GROVE (4-6)
1-14-2003:  45-42 at Beecher, Ill. (6-10)

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament
1-23-2003:  77-70 (OT) Hebron (9-9)  quarterfinals
1-25-2003:  60-59 Morgan Township (12-7) semifinals
1-25-2003:  67-98 Wheeler (17-2) championship
1-31-2003:  60-78 MORGAN TOWNSHIP  (12-7)
2-1-2003:  61-58 at North Newton (9-9)
2-4-2003:  64-62 Clark  (5-14)
2-7-2003:  84-77 LaCROSSE  (10-8)
2-13-2003:  55-85 at Wheeler (17-2)
2-21-2003:  70-84 at KOUTS (16-3)
2-25-2003:  64-67 (OT) Morton (11-8)

2-28-2003:  (F) at River Forest (6-13) 6 p.m.

Boone Grove (2A) Sectional
3-4-2003:  (Tu) North Newton (9-9) 6 p.m.
3-7-2003:  (F) Wheeler (17-2) 7:30 p.m.
3-8-2003:  (S) Championship (7:30 p.m.)

Triton (2A) Regional
3-15-2003:  (S) Semifinals  (11 a.m.)
3-15-2003:  (S) Championship  (7 p.m.)

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .