Lake Central starts slow, but upends Bulldogs 52-47 in CP's home opener

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-09-2007

Friday, 12-7-2007 - Duneland Athletic Conference game in CROWN POINT, IN

LAKE CENTRAL (52)  Kyle Scheffel 3-0-9, Keith Thompson 3-2-8, Nick Garibay 3-0-6, Zak Felton 3-0-7, Ryan Schweitzer 2-1-5, Kirk Thompson 1-0-2, Kyle Kaluza 1-0-3, Eric Summers 6-0-12, Anthony Washington 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 22 (2-2) 52.

CROWN POINT (47)  Ben Derks 4-0-10, Aleks Alavanja 2-3-7, Zach Cecich 4-1-9, Jacob Burkholder 1-0-2, Kyle Hanaway 1-1-3, Stephen Albrecht 5-5-16, Michael Lipton 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 17 (10-19) 47.

FREE THROWS:  LC (2-2, 100%)  Keith Thompson 2-2;  CP (10-19, 52. 6%)  Albrecht 5-6, Alavanja 3-8, Hanaway 1-2 Cecich 1-2, Derks 0-1.

REBOUNDS:  LC (20) Keith Thompson 5, Felton 4, Garibay 3, Schweitzer 3, Summers 3, Kaluza 2, Kirk Thompson;  CP (18) Alavanja 6, Cecich 4, Burkholder 3, Derks 3, Albrecht, Hanaway.

ASSISTS:  LC (17) Summers 7, Schweitzer 3, Felton 2, Scheffel 2, Kaluza, Garibay, Kirk Thompson;  CP (11) Hanaway 7, Derks 3, Albrecht.

STEALS: LC (2) Garibay 2, Scheffel, Kaluza, Summers;  CP (5) Derks 2, Burkholder, Alavanja, Cecich.

3-GOALS:  LC (6) Kyle Scheffel 3, Kye Kaluza, Zak Felton, Ryan Schweitzer;  CP (3) Ben Derks 2, Stephen Albrecht.

CROWN POINT, IN (12-07-2007) - The good news is that Crown Point won't have to worry about other teams being psyched up by their high state ranking.  That's about the only good news from a Crown Point standpoint following the home opener against Lake Central.  I predict that two months from now, Crown Point boys will still be asking themselves how they lost this game.  When the other team gets just two free throws all night and you still get beat, like Lake Central upset Crown Point 52-47 Friday night, you may go away without an explanation.  Or an excuse.

"You've got to give credit to Lake Central," said coach Clint Swan after his team fell for the first time.  "They hit some shots they didn't hit in the first two games.  Eric Summers played a great game.  He's very mobile and he caused us problems.  We've got to go back to the drawing board."

Not quite.  The story on this game will be told after CP's Tuesday night game against Valparaiso (3-1).  One game is one game.  Two games is a trend.  But The Bulldogs did not have any answer for a big, mobile post player and that issue will come up again in the next three months.  Summers, LC's 6-foot-8 junior, scored 12 points, but added seven assists, four in the second half, as LC (1-2) built a solid second half lead and held off the highly regarded home team.

"Eric is a phenomenal passer," said LC coach Dave Milausnic.  "He averaged about 3-1/2 assists for us last year.  That was the difference tonight.  They made an effort to double him."

CP got confused defensively in the late going.  After Summers proved he could hit the open man, the Bulldogs still ran a double team defender at him, leading to three back door (diagonal passes toward the basket across the foul lane) uncontested layups by Keith Thompson in the fourth period when the Bulldogs were trying to rally from a 40-31 deficit.  CP used baskets by Zach Cecich and Ben Derks to pull within 49-45 with 1:07 left and 50-47 in the final 30 seconds.  The Bulldogs' Stephen Albrecht missed two contested three-point shots and sophomore Keith Thompson was fouled, sinking LC's only two free throws of the game.

Summers' eight points and four assists in the second half were key to the Indians' win, along with Thompson, who scored all eight of his points in the final period.

That, and the defense played on Albrecht, largely by Thompson, decided the game.  Both boys are 6-foot-3 and athletic and, with the pace of the game, the Bulldogs could not get Albrecht, who averaged 19 points last season, more than 13 shots, including several that were under pressure.  Albrecht, who scored 29 in the season-opening 84-64 win over LaPorte on Nov. 30, sank just 5-of-13 including just 1-of-7 from three-point range.

Keith's a nice player," said Milausnic.  "He might end up with four points.  We switched off with the Thompson brothers (6-3 senior Kirk Thompson and 6-foot sophomore Keith Thompson) against Stephen Albrecht.  He's going to have his games where he hits 25 points no matter what you do against him.  But Keith is active.  He's one of my favorites.  Just a sophomore."

Lake Central walked the ball up the floor to slow the pace of the game and it worked for them.  CP only got 39 shots front the field so 43% shooting (17 of 39, 43.6%) was not significant.  The Bulldogs made only seven turnovers, but they never picked up the pace the way they should have been able to with all senior guards.

Back-to-back baskets by Zach Cecich gave the Bulldogs a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter.  But Kyle Scheffel came off the bench and sank three-three-point baskets to give LC a 22-21 halftime lead.

Lake Central lost twice, 38-27 to Valparaiso and 41-36 to Gary West Side.  The 52 points for LC was almost as good as the win.

"Our scoring?," said Milausnic.  "What's happening with us now is that we're asking players who have been role players to now get 10 points a game.  We're asking them to do something they haven't been asked to do."

You could argue that CP, leading 17-6, took this game somewhat lightly considering LC's winless status.  But a crowd of about 1,000 and CP's familiarity with the LC players (CP and LC boys play with and against each other from age -10 on up) makes that unlikely.

"I dont think we were looking ahead or anything like that," said Clint Swan, who was one of many on the home side who were significantly surprised by the outcome. "They knew LC had played good competition.  They're just better than us right now."

CP NOTES:  CP players wore T-shirts that said 'My Man Mitch' in pregame warm-ups, a salute to teammate Mitch Robinson, who was crippled in a trampoline accident over the summer. Robinson, a 6-foot-4 forward, would have been the ninth senior on the varsity this year.  He attended the game in a wheelchair sitting at the northwest corner of the gym.

Lake Central didn't get any help from the referees on the night.  CP got 19 foul shots to only two for LC.

CP's 6-foot-8 senior Jacob Burkholder, playing his first varsity home game, had two points and three rebounds. Burkholder missed most of the past two seasons with back problems.

The slow pace of the game probably contributed to the few CP substitutions as the Bulldogs used only seven players.  Burkholder and 6-foot-2 guard Michael Lipton were the only CP subs and Lipton played less than three minutes.  LC used nine players.

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Revised: December 12, 2007 .