Red Devils can't keep pace with Mustangs, fall 85-55

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-31-2012

MUNSTER (85) Mike Schlotman 3-0-8, Mark Strbjak 1-1-3, Scott Jerge 1-2-5, Nate Bubash 10-3-24, Danilo Zekovic 5-5-17, Luke Wuchenich 1-2-5, Craig Dedelow 3-0-7, Drew Hackett 4-1-10, Pat McCarthy 2-2-6, Cory Gryzbowski 0-0-0. TOTALS: 30 (16-24) 85.

LOWELL (55) Danny DeBoer 3-0-7, Zach Van Hook 5-0-12, Nick Kijurna 1-0-2, Kyle Richwalski 8-2-18, Nick Willison 4-0-12, Aaron Hamm 0-1-1, Spencer Kersey 0-1-1, Billy Barker 1-0-2, Dan Willoughby 0-0-0, Brandon Bullitt 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22 (4-9) 55.

FREE THROWS: MUNSTER (16-24, 66.7%) Zekovic 5-6, Bubash 3-4, McCarthy 2-3, Strbjak 1-4, Wuchenich 2-2, Jerge 2-2, Hackett 1-2, Schlotman 0-1. LOWELL (4-9, 44.4%) Richwalski 1-3, Magley 1-2, Hamm 1-2, Kersey 1-2.

REBOUNDS: MUNSTER (30) Bubash 8, Strbjak 6, Schlotman 4, Hackett 3, Gryzbowski 2, Zekovic 2, McCarthy, Dedelow 2, Jerge 2: LOWELL (20) Richwalski 8, VanHook 4, Kijurna 3, Barker, DeBoer, Magley, Hamm, Willison.

ASSISTS: MUNSTER (21) Schlotman 9, Zekovic 3, Dedelow 3, Strbjak 2, Bubash 2, Jerge, Hackett; LOWELL (13) Magley 4, Willison 3, DeBoer 3, Bullitt 2, Hamm.

3-GOALS: MUNSTER (9) Danilo Zekovic 2, Michael Schlotman 2, Craig Dedelow, Luke Wuchenich, Scott Jerge, Drew Hackett, Nate Bubash; LOWELL (7) Nick Willison 4, Zack Van Hook 2, Danny DeBoer.

LOWELL, IN (01-27-2012) Nobody can say that Lowell didn't give Munster a good, solid smack in the face early in the two schools' Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) game last Friday. But they didn't knock them out. Not close. And the Mustangs then saddled up and rode all over Lowell. Munster showed that there was most definitely NOT a new sheriff in town with a convincing 85-55 victory.

The Mustangs (11-2) have defeated Lowell 11 years in a row, but the Devils had won three in a row and Munster's new-look squad had only two seniors back off last year's 25-1 team. It didn't matter. Munster rolled out a new set of long and lean multi-position players who erased an early Red Devils' 19-10 lead and won by 30 points.

In front of a noisy crowd of about 1,000, the Devils started as fast as they have in any game this year. After Munster's 6-foot-6 center Nate Bubash scored to start the game, and 6-foot-6 foreign exchange students Danilo Zekovic tied the game 5-5, the Devils got three consecutive three-point shots from sophomore Zach Van Hook and (two from) senior Nick Willison to take a 14-5 edge. When Willison, a JV player last year, sank another three-pointer, Lowell led 19-10 with 3:05 left in the first quarter.

But Bubash and junior point guard Mike Schlotman rallied Munster in the fast-moving game. The Mustangs sank six first half three pointers (9 for the game and had 21 assists on the night. Munster's mobility and passing prowess was impressive. Leading 33-32, Munster got a three-point jump shot from Zekovic, a 6-foot-6 senior and a late breakaway lay up by Schlotman to take a 38-32 lead in a half where Lowell had played well.

"It's a 32-minute game," said Lowell coach Nate Richie. "At the end of the day, you have to make stops on the defensive end. We didn't do that to start the third quarter and it snowballed."

"I don't think they did anything defensively. They started to trap each pass the first few possessions of the third quarter but they didn't do anything different than that."

Munster scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 46-32 lead and it was 54-36 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.

"Sometimes you just have to weather the storm," said longtime Munster coach Mike Hackett. "We knew they were capable of shooting the ball and in the first quarter, we just gave them too much space. They'd made about five threes and we called a time out to get up on them."

When Munster made an effort to lock down the three-point line, senior Lowell center Kyle Richwalski got loose for some of his team-high 18 points.

"When you do that, you give up something," said Hackett. "The big guy got loose. You either take the big guy away or you take the 3s away."

Lowell (6-8) doesn't really play slowly. They don't have a time-consuming, patient attack. But the Devils did control the pace early with a weaving 'motion' attack that Munster matched up with by defenders switching on the perimeter. It's something they'll certainly revisit should they see Munster in 4A Sectional 1 in March.

But once the Mustang lead got above 10 points, patience was out the window. Even though Lowell hasn't defeated Munster in 12 years, the final score was a shock because Lowell shot 50% (22 of 44) from the field and 7-of-11 from three-point range. The Devils played fairly well and still lost by 30.

"That's what we said," said Richie, "who was very disappointed by the outcome. "If they don't make shots early it's a different game. They'd been struggling to score the last few games. But I guess when you get to Lowell, the basket gets big."

Munster starts four players 6-foot-3 or taller and that was a major problem as Lowell guards Danny DeBoer, Nick Willison and Austin Magley are all 5-foot-10 or smaller. That figured to be a factor in the game, but it wasn't immediately.

Lowell's 5-foot-8 Nick Willison hit three, three-point goals in the first quarter, stepping back from Munster's taller guards to shoot.

Hackett said that when the Devils were hitting NBA-level three-point shots early, he was not sympathetic or patient with his players.

"I'm not a big believer in saying 'Let them keep shooting. They'll stop making them,'" said Hackett. "I want to have a little say in it. Obviously, if they're making them, we're not close enough to them."

"They're very capable on offense. The big guy (Richwalski) can score. We held DeBoer in check, but Van Hook has been going crazy on some teams. I didn't know that 22 (Willison) could fill it up like that. When they got off to that hot start, I just felt we had to dig in our heels on defense. Once we got some stops, that led to easy offense for us."

Richie didn't think there was any where near 30 points difference between the two teams and he was clearly disappointed in the final score.

"I think our guards are quicker," offered Richie. "But I don't think we understood that we could use our quickness, break them down and get better shots than we got at the start of the second half. But they are a very tough match up."

DEVIL NOTES: Munster has now defeated Lowell 13 times in a row going back to a 59-53 Lowell win in Lowell on December 1, 2000. No school has a longer win streak over the Devils.

Lowell's Austin Magley was named an academic all-stater for the last football season. Magley played linebacker and fullback for the Devils.

Lowell shot 56.5% (12 of 23) in the first half from the field. Munster was 15 of 28 (53.6%) in the second half.

The idea that Munster, which was 25-1 last year and 22-4 the year before, is going to start losing soon seems unlikely. The 2012 team has just two seniors and Drew Hackett, the coach's freshman son (there is another basketball playing Hackett boy in eighth grade), is a very capable lead guard playing behind starter Mike Schlotman, who had nine assists in 24 minutes of playing time.

"I was very proud of the final four minutes tonight," said Mike Hackett. "We had a freshman and four sophomores out there and they played really well."

Junior center Nate Bubash is 6-foot-6 and center-sized, but he's difficult to categorize.

"Nate has really good feet and hands," said coach Hackett. "He can finish with either hand. He's a match up problem for guys who are bigger than he is. We just want to make sure they can pass, shoot and dribble. I tell the younger levels I don't want better plays, I want better players. I just want you to get better. Do you practice fundamentals or do you practice plays all day? I want them to practice fundamentals."

"We concentrate on just developing basketball players and when we get them (at the high school) we fill them in where we need them."

If the Mustangs look taller than they were last season, its because some of them are.

"Schlotman is 6-foot-3 now," said coach Hackett. "He was 6-foot-1 stretching it last year. My son is 6-foot and hopefully he doesn't stop growing. We hope he's going to develop into a very good player."

Munster and Andrean (12-1) figure to decide the Northwest Crossroads Conference title in late February.

"That's at our place," said Hackett. "It's the last conference game. It should be another sold out game. It'll be a big night."