Gross leads Wildcat boys with 37-points in season-opening win over Lake Station, 67-48

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
11-24-2005

Tuesday, 11-22-2005  at Cedar Lake, IN

LAKE STATION (48)  Kyle Cicillian 3-4-10, Dimitri Tsahas 1-0-3, Ryan Todd 3-1-9, John Unrue 6-0-12,  2-1-5, Kahled Ibrahim 3-0-7, John Couture 0-0-0, Robert Richardson 0-0-0, Dennis Holland 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 18-8-48.

HANOVER CENTRAL (67)  Steven Goff 3-2-8, Mark Myszkowski 1--2, Mike Wendlinger 2-1-5, Andrew DeYoung 1-2-4, Eric Gross 15-5-37, Jordan Rizo 2-0-4, Mark Kozlowski 1-2-4, Aaron Watson 0-1-1, Joe McClymont 1-0-2, Matt Allen 0-0-0, Anthony Adams 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 26-13-67.

FREE THROWS:  Lake Station (8-14, 57.1%)  Shockley 1-2, Cicillian 4-4, Todd 1-2, Couture 2-2, Unrue 0-4;  HANOVER (13-24, 54.1%) Gross 5-6, Goff 2-6, DeYoung 2-4, Kozlowski 2-4, Watson 1-2,  Wendlinger 1-2.   

REBOUNDS:  Lake Station (13)  Cicillian 5, Shockley 5, Ibrahim, Frizzel, Unrue;
HANOVER (24) Gross 9, Goff 4, Wendlinger 5, DeYoung 2, Rizo 3, Adams .

ASSISTS:  Lake Station (9) Cicillian 4, Todd 3, Tsahas, Shockley;  HANOVER (12) Myszkowski 6, Gross 2, DeYoung 2, Watson, Rizo.

STEALS:  Lake Station (6) Cicillian 2, Tsahas 2, Todd, Richardson;  HANOVER (8) Myszkowski 3, DeYoung 2, Rizo, McClymont, Gross

CEDAR LAKE (11-22-2005) - "Well, I guess we can't keep him a secret," said Hanover Central coach Dave Uran.

Probably not, especially with a half dozen coaches of future Porter County Conference (PCC) and non conference opponents in the stands.  'Him' is 6-4 senior forward Eric Gross who began the 2005-2006 season with a headline.  A career-high 37 points.  Hanover pulled away in the second half to beat Lake Station 67-48 in front of about 500 fans.

Gross, a slim perimeter player who averaged all of 8.6 points per game last year, displayed a soft jump shot and good open-court speed to score almost at will against the short-handed Eagles in a good opener for the home team.

"It was a quiet 37," said Uran, who had watched his entire team struggle to score 50 points many nights in the last four years.  "We took him out with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Gross scored 17 points in the first half as HC led just 30-28.  Then, the perimeter player (he is a natural small forward or wing guard) added 19 more as the Wildcats pulled away to win the home opener decisively.

Starting the second half, Gross hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to make the score 34-28.  Senior forward Stephen Goff took a fast break pass from Gross for a layup.  After Lake Station's 6-4 junior John Unrue hit a turn-around 10-footer, HC senior Mark Myszkowski stole the ball and scored to make it 38-30.

Myszkowski, who had an unofficial six assists, then flipped a quick inbounds pass to Gross for an easy shot and when Goff scored again on a foul line jump shot it was 42-30 with 3:10 left in the third period.

"Mark's going to be a good leader for us,' said Uran.  "He wants everybody to score.  He's got his eyes on our assist record.  He says he's going to break it.  We had some guys who missed some layups or he'd have a few more."

It wasn't a perfect game for Hanover.  The Cats made just 13 of 24 from the line and Eagles sophomore reserve forward Kahled Abrahim scored seven quick points in the final quarter.  But Hanover has struggled with Lake Station in season openers and sectional games of the recent past.  The 19-point margin of victory hints this season may be different for HC.

"We didn't have a very good practice last night," admitted Uran.  "We'll get better once our guys accept their roles.  I think they saw some success at that tonight.  We let them hang around but we had more depth and we were in better shape than they were."

Lake Station senior Kyle Cicillian was a competitive force with 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists before he fouled out with 3:23 to play.  Unrue picked up his fourth foul with 3:02 left in the third quarter and he fouled out with 3:45 to play.  You wont know what Lake Station has until Unrue plays a full game.

Hanover's trade-mark 3-2 zone defense almost requires tall perimeter players and with Gross and 6-foot-2 newcomer Andrew DeYoung out front, plus 6-3 Michael Wendlinger and 6-3 Stephen Goff underneath, the Wildcats should be improved this season over a school-best 52 ppg allowed last year.

"With the short two weeks to prepare, the first three days are tryouts," Uran reported.  "We had maybe ten good practices, Saturdays included. "I think we've got other weapons (other than Gross).  I think we've got some other guys who can score.  I think we're going to be all right."

CAT NOTES:  Hanover Central sophomore point guard Charlie Huffnagle, who played in 19 games as a freshman last season, has a broken hand and he'll be out until January.  Hanover has six varsity players 6-foot-2 or taller, which is a big team from a Porter County Conference (PCC) standpoint.  That's not including Jordan Rizo, who is 6-1 and 200 pounds. 

"He didn't play like a freshman out there," said Uran of Rizo, who had four points and three rebounds.  "He'll be able to help us."  

Rizo's older brother Steve played for Hanover four years ago.

Lake Station, which only has 300 students, was 15-112 in the first five years of this decade but they have very high hopes for this season, even though those hopes will now be delayed somewhat.  

"We have a transfer from Mishawaka," said coach Mike Hepp.  "Chris Davis.  About 6-foot-3.  He's the real deal.  But he broke his hand. He'll be back in January.  But it just happened yesterday and I think it affected the boys tonight.  We'd worked with him since the start of practice.  John (6-4, 215-pound junior John Unrue) and Chris had worked real well together.  When John was called for his fourth foul tonight, they ran off six or seven points in a row and that was it for us."

Hanover Central's day as a small basketball team are pretty much over.  Eric Gross is 6-4 and reserve Anthony Adams is a slim 6-6.  Mike Wendlinger is 6-3 and Rizo is already 6-1 and 200 pounds.  Sophomore guard Andrew DeYong is already 6-2 as is freshman Jerrod Howard. Freshman center Tim Kubiak is already 6-5 and 185 pounds. 

Hanover is on the road Saturday night at Calumet and they play on Dec. 2 at Hebron as part of a boys-girls double-header.  It is not certain whether the boys play at 6 p.m. or at 8 p.m.

Hanover's final home games are Feb. 17 and Feb. 24 and the new 2,400-seat HC gym should be ready by that time.  The floor and the baskets have already been installed. The lights are on.  But there are no stands as of yet.  The gym probably won't be ready for homecoming but should be open for business by the first of February.  Visitors to Hanover these days who walk down the hall into the construction zone are a little surprised at the size of the new fieldhouse, which isn't obvious from the parking lot.  Girls softball could play a regulation game inside the field house without the ball hitting the ceiling or the wall at the opposite end. 

"This is unbelievable," said  Hepp, who looked at the new construction after the game.  "I don't know where they got the money for this. But they know the people (population) are moving out this way."

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Revised: November 28, 2005 .