Hanover Central boys fall to Hebron 49-46; Lady Cats beat Lady Hawks 45-41 in boys/girls double-header

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-03-2007

Friday, 11-30-2007 -  Boys / Girls basketball double-header (Game 2) at HEBRON, IN

HANOVER (46)  Andrew DeYoung 3-2-8, Charlie Huffnagle 4-3-12, Jordan Rizo 5-4-16, Jerrod Howard 1-2-4, Zach Rush 1-2-4, Aaron Jackson 0-2-2, Tim Kubiak 0-0-0, Kevin Mantel 0-0-0, Vince Warren 0-0-0, Andy Cripe 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  14 (15-25) 46.

HEBRON (49)  Nick Eason 4-1-11, Andrew Shrum 2-4-8, Eric Elliott 5-3-17, JD Ziegler 2-0-4, Justin Brindley 0-2-2, Adam Spurr 0-2-2, Rob Hedge 1-1-3, David Ortiz 0-2-2.  TOTALS:  14 (15-29) 49.

FREE THROWS:  HANOVER (15-25, 60%)  DeYoung 2-4, Huffnagle 3-3, Rizo 4-6, Mantel 0-2, Rush 2-4, Howard 2-4, Jackson 2-2.
HEBRON (15-29, 51.7%) Brindley 2-4, Spurr 2-4, Shrum 4-8, Corak 0-1, Elliott 3-6; Hedge 1-4, Ortiz 2-2.

REBOUNDS:  HANOVER (33) DeYoung 10, Howard 10, Rizo 8, Huffnagle 2, Warren, Cripe, Jackson;
HEBRON (34) Corak 9, Schrum 6, Brindley 4, Spurr 4, Ziegler 3, Hedge 3, Elliott 3, Eason 2.

STEALS:  HANOVER (8) Huffnagle 3, Rush 2, DeYoung, Howard, Warren;
HEBRON (8) Corak 3, Elliott, Eason, Brindley, Hedge, Shrum.

ASSISTS:  HANOVER (8)  Huffnagle 3, Mantel 2, Rizo, Howard, Rush;
HEBRON (6)  Schrum 3, Elliott 2, Corak.

BLOCKED SHOTS:  HANOVER (2) Howard. Kubiak;
HEBRON (5) Spurr 3, Hedge 2.

3-GOALS:  HANOVER (3) Jordan Rizo 2, Charlie Huffnagle;
HEBRON (6) Eric Elliott 4, Nick Eason 2.

FOULED OUT:  HANOVER (2) Kevin Mantel (4th Q) 5:46 left; Charlie Huffnagle (OT) 0:31 left;
HEBRON (1) Nick Eason (4th Q) :22 left.

Friday, 11-30-2007 -  Boys / Girls basketball double-header (Game 1) at HEBRON, IN

HANOVER (46)  Danielle Graham 3-3-9, Chrissy Homolka 2-0-5, Shannon Kiraly 1-1-3, Jordan Kramer 5-9-23, Megan Parks 0-1-1, Tori Dahlin 1-0-2, Lindsay Martinez 1-0-2, Anna Plassman 0-0-0, Abby Schweitzer 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  13 (14-20) 45.

HEBRON (41)  Kelly Kraker 2-0-4, Julie Huettner 4-3-12, Molly Marshall 4-2-10, Kelli Matheny 4-2-10, Liz Bennett 1-0-2, Rebekah Seidler 1-0-2, Stacy Blank 0-1-1, Christina Cook 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  16 (8-12) 41.

FREE THROWS:  HANOVER (14-18, 77.7%)  Parks 1-2, Graham 2-2, Dahlin 0-1, Kiraly 1-1, Kramer 9-12;
HEBRON (8-12, 66.7%)  Blank 1-2, Huettner 3-3, Matheny 2-2, Marshall 2-4, Bennett 0-1.

REBOUNDS:  HANOVER (30) Parks 8, Graham 6, Kiraly 6, Homolka 4, Dahlin 3, Plassman 3;
HEBRON (30) Marshall 16, Huettner 4, Matheny 3, Kraker 2, Blank 2; Bennett 2, Cook.

STEALS:  HANOVER(16) Homolka 5, Graham 4, Parks;
HEBRON (10) Matheny 3, Kraker 2, Huettner 2,

ASSISTS:  HANOVER (4) Kramer 3, Graham;
HEBRON (8) Marshall 3, Kraker 3, Blank 2.

3-GOALS:  HANOVER (5) Jordan Kramer 4, Chrissy Homolka;
HEBRON (1) Julie Huettner.

HEBRON, IN (11-30-2007) -  Not everybody loves the boy-girl high school basketball double-headers that moms and dads and small schools seem to get a kick out of.  But when Hanover Central rolled the big yellow bus over to Hebron for four full hours of co-ed action Friday night, nobody can say they didn't get their money's worth.  Hanover girls rallied from a six-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Hebron 45-41 before the Hawks boys used a turnover-packed, but inspired effort to give new coach Brenda Drook her first win, a 49-46 overtime victory over Hanover that extended deep into a late November Friday night.

The Hebron boys victory, their first of the season, sparked by back-to-back conventional three-point plays by senior Andrew Shrum at the start of overtime, was an upset after Hanover, led by new HC coach and former Hebron assistant Rod Bollenbacher, had defeated Class 4A Munster six days earlier.  But this battle of Class 2A Porter County Conference (PCC) rivals has always been unpredictable, especially when they get together for the Homecoming (neither school has football) event at the start of the season.

"We needed this game," said Drook, a 12-year coach in the Hebron system.  "Our confidence would have been very shaky.  They wanted it so bad because Rod was here and three of the guys had played AAU ball with him.  He was a volunteer assistant here.  He had (Nick) Eason, Shrum and (Eric) Elliott on a team with some of the Hanover boys the last couple of years.  So, he knew them inside and out.  I was worried about that."

Worry was an emotion for Hanover as well after Hebron jumped to leads of 6-0 and 14-3 in the first period.  The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 PCC) shot the ball poorly all night in the bright, shiny new two-year-old Hebron gym.  Starters Tom Kubiak and Kevin Mantel did not score and Andrew DeYoung did not score a basket in the first half.

The Hawks (1-2, 1-0 PCC) surged to a 26-15 lead when Eric Elliott hit back-to-back three-point shots early in the third quarter to give Hebron a 26-15 edge.  Hanover backup center Jerrod Howard and freshman guard Jacob Rush ignited an 11-0 run that tied the game when Rush scored in the final seconds of the third period.

The final minute of the fourth quarter saw three turnovers by each side, two in the final 10 seconds.  DeYoung was called for a 5-second inbound violation with 13 seconds left in a 39-39 tie.  Hebron's inbounds pass was wild and Shrum saved it to a Hanover player who lost the ball with two seconds left.

In the four-minute overtime, HC was quickly down 45-39 but they closed within 47-46 on a basket by DeYoung with 37 seconds to play.  Shrum was fouled with 31 seconds left, but he could only make one of the foul shots.  Howard fumbled away a potential game-tying shot and HC had to foul Justin Brindley, who also could only make one of two foul shots with 21 seconds to go.

On the game's final play with the score 49-46, DeYoung had the ball knocked away from him, but he regained it on the right wing.  Perhaps forgetting that he had regained the right to dribble after he recovered the ball, the HC senior passed off to Rush, who threw up a desperation shot that was not close.  This was not a game HC expected to lose.

"We've got to learn how to win," said Bollenbacher.  "We just can't execute.  We couldn't get the ball inbounds.  We can't make shots.  We're getting shots blocked when we could head fake.  Those six seniors really played for them.  We don't quite have that yet."

"You've got to execute.  We've got to get more out of the post position."

Hanover forced 28 turnovers, but ended up with only 14 field goals.  It's hard to get that little out of that many takeaways.

"I don't think we got a transition basket all night and we got 28 turnovers," said Bollenbacher.  "We have to make some evaluations before our next game with Washington Township."

The only evaluation Hanover Central's girls need to make before next Saturday afternoon's 1:30 p.m. home game with LaCrosse (0-5) is on junior Lindsay Martinez' nose, which keeps getting whacked every time she's in the game.

With Martinez on the bench with a bloody nose (it's probably broken) after a first period collision, Hanover trailed Hebron (2-6) 38-32 with 3:45 to play.  But junior guard Jordan Kramer and forward Danielle Graham scored consecutive baskets inside a 7-0 run to pull the Lady Cats (5-1, 1-0 PCC) into a 39-38 lead with 3:12 to play.  Two free throws by Kramer were then neutralized when Hebron's Julie Huettner sank a three-point basket to tie the game with 1:04 left.

At that point, Hebron fouled Kramer and the Hanover leading scorer hit two more free throws for a 43-41 lead with 33 seconds left.  After a Hebron turnover, Kramer sank two more foul shots with12 seconds left to ice the game.  The Hawks may have been fooled into fouling the HC guard.  Kramer missed three of first four first half foul shots, but she was 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter.

"Really," asked Lady Cats coach Doug Nelson, "who would I rather have at the foul line?  We came out and expected victory.  A conference win on the road is important.  I don't care what level you're playing at.  A conference win on the road is very big."

Even when you have to play the 'warm-up' game.  Count Nelson as someone who isn't a big fan of the boy/girl double-headers.

"I would be if we got to play at 7:30 p.m.," he said.  "It's hard to get right off the bus, warm up and play at 6:00 p.m. when that's not what you're used to.  But it's a good atmosphere.  I told the girls that in the second half there's going to be a lot of people here.  You're going to get a chance to play in front of a fairly big crowd.  Let's see what you can do."

CAT NOTES:  Brenda Drook is not thrilled with the boy/girl double-headers either.

"No, we'd have had a big crowd tonight for homecoming anyway," she said.  "The girls coaches don't like it either.  They'd like to play at 7:30 (in the boy/girl double-headers, the girls play at 6:0 p.m.) but we tried that when Jerry Bechtold (Hebron's state finals girls coach) was here.  It doesn't work.  Half the people (fans) get up and walk out after the boys game.  The kids see that and they feel bad."

It's easy to get confused as to where the many PCC tournaments will be held.

"Morgan boys host the boys South County (Boone, Hebron, Morgan and Kouts) tournament," Drook explains.  "The girls South County tournament, we host.  Boone hosts the first round of PCC boys but then it (the finals are) back at Valpo high school like it used to be a long time ago.  We host the PCC next year (2009)."

Looking ahead to the first annual Hanover Central Holiday Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 28 and 29, HC folks have surely noticed that Griffith (6-1) has a chance to be 11-1 when they get to Cedar Lake.  All five of the teams they play between now and then, including Munster (3-4), all have losing records.  Gavit (3-4) and Beecher, Illinois are the other teams in the four-team tourney, Hanover's debut as a Holiday Tournament host.

Hanover's 62-57 loss on Nov. 27 to Calumet (5-2) prevented them from staying unbeaten, but games against LaCrosse (0-5 and 6-78 in the last 5 years) and North Newton (2-5) in the next 10 days must be taken seriously with high-profile games at Crown Point (Dec. 15) and against 3A Andrean (Dec. 22).

Hanover's Jordan Rizo scored seven in the fourth quarter and became the target of the Hebron defense.

"We tried to push him out farther," said Drook, "and wherever the screen was, we had the screener's man switch off on him so he did not get the ball without anyone on him.  We just wanted to make him shoot from further and further away.  We're playing the right defense.  We just need to get better on offense.  Now, they'll come back pumped up for practice."

Hanover's quick start is very encouraging.  With only one player (5-9 sophomore reserve Abby Schweitzer) the Lady Cats may be the shortest varsity girls team in the state of Indiana.  They are, without question, the shortest team, players 1 through 11 in NW Indiana.

"You keep saying that," said Nelson.  "You keep reminding me.  We had a chance to go 8-0.  Now, I think we can be 7-1 and 7-1 is not bad."

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Revised: December 03, 2007 .