Wildcats dominate Devils 74-49 in boys basketball

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-18-2010

LOWELL (49)  Joe Bell 1-2-5, Ray Skamay 4-2-12, Craig Austgen 2-0-4, Austin Richie 11-1-28, David Stang 0-0-0, Joe McIntosh 0-00, Austin Magley 0-0-0, Jason Parker 0-0-0, Kyle Richwalksi 0-0-0, Cole Midgett 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 18 (5-9) 49.

HANOVER (74) Aaron Jackson 2-1-5, Nick Bollenbacher 10-0-23, Derek DeSt. Jean 8-4-20, Zach Rush 7-6-21, Luis Norman 3-0-6, Ryan Mitchell 0-1-1, Cameron Brady 0-0-0, Billy McQuade 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 29 (12-16) 75.

FREE THROWS:  LOWELL (5-9, 55.5%) Skamay 2-2, Bell 2-4, Richie 1-3; HANOVER (12-16, 75%) Jackson 1-2, De St. Jean 4-6, Rush 6-6, Mitchell 1-2.

REBOUNDS:  LOWELL (23) Bell 5, Skamay 4, Richie 3, Stang 2, McIntosh 3, Midgett 2, Austgen 2, Magley, Parker; HANOVER (29) De St. Jean 8, Jackson 7, Norman 5, Rush 4, Brady 3, Mitchell, McQuade.

ASSISTS:  LOWELL (7) Parker 2, Richie, Skamay, Magley, Austgen, Bell; HANOVER (13) Rush 3, Norman 2, Brady 2, Jackson 2, Bollenbacher 2, De St. Jean 2.

FOULED OUT:  LOWELL (1) Joe Bell (4th Q) 3:28 left.

TECHNICAL FOUL:  LOWELL bench (4th Q) 1;29 left.

3-GOALS:  LOWELL (8) Austin Richie 5, Ray Skamay 2, Joe Bell; HANOVER (3) Nick Bollenbacher 3.

CEDAR LAKE, IN (01-15-2010)  Lowell has to play the way they did in the second half of last Friday's non-conference game with neighbor Hanover Central.
Hanover just has to keep playing the way they did all game Friday.

Playing for the second time in two nights, Lowell fell behind by 23 point to the Wildcats' solid starting five before finding some second half intensity to pull to within 56-44 with 4:07 to play. But so far, it's been Hanover's year.  The Cats ran away again in the final minutes to a 74-49 victory, Hanover's eighth consecutive win.

The focus of Friday's game was Lowell junior guard Austin Richie, who averaged 26 points over his first nine games and scored 50 at Hammond on Jan. 5.  Hanover with assorted defenders including guards Luis Norman, Zach Rush and Nick Bollenbacher held Richie to just five points in the first half on 2-of-8 shooting.  The Lowell scoring leader did sink five three-point baskets in the fourth quarter as the Devils closed the gap in front of a crowd of about 750.  But Hanover closed the game, outscoring Lowell 18-5 to beat the Devils for the first time in three seasons.

"We knew they depend a lot on their guards," said Hanover junior forward Derek De St. Jean, who scored a career-high 20 points.

"He (Richie) was coming off a 50-point game.  We knew he'd shoot a lot.  We just had to be ready for it.  At the other end we knew we could pound it in on them.  Me and (Aaron) Jackson.  We're both 6-foot-4.  We communicated.  He gave me the ball.  Easy lay up."

Hanover played Richie very aggressively, 'marking' him all over the floor.  They played too aggressively, according to the Lowell bench, which drew a technical foul in the fourth quarter, which highlighted Hanover's late run to the 25-point margin.

"I loved playing against him," said Zach Rush, who scored 20.  "There's something about him which set me off.  It's something I like to do.  His dad (Lowell principal Adrian Richie) was the interim principal here for one summer.  So we practiced with Austin.  We got to know him a little."

"But now that he's gone, we don't like him.  He's my grade.  There's a lot of good players in our class as far as the area goes.  He's one of the top ones."

The intensity the Wildcats (9-1) showed in this make-up game (from Nov. 25) was what separated the two teams.  Lowell, which had lost a tough road game 71-62 the night before at Griffith, started slowly and could never get out of the early hole.

This was a typical 'region' game (the kind they don't allow downstate) where hand-checking and a little grabbing was OK in the 'no harm, no foul' tradition.  Hanover staying out of foul trouble was a key to the defense on Richie.

"We were getting really physical out there," De St. Jean said.  "There weren't many fouls.  You'd get the elbow up.  There wasn't much called.  Griffith -- they were physical with their football team.  We just kind of took it.  Tonight, they 'punched' us.  We punched them back.  We were fortunate that we got most of the calls."

"We're 9-1.  Our best start ever," said Rush.  "But we aren't favored (to win the PCC tournament) in any of the papers.  Boone's the favorite.  South Central's the 'dark horse'.  But we know our potential.  Other teams might sleep on us.  We'll take advantage of that."

CAT/DEVIL NOTES:  Hanover's 9-1 start is believed to be the best in school history, although no one has actually looked at all 42 years of varsity basketball to confirm that.  HC has not had many winning seasons in boys basketball and old yearbooks show that in peak years 1986 (sectional title) and 1987 (PCC title), that Hanover did not go 9-1 in either season. The 1987 Hanover Central team was 18-4 and that stands as the schools best-ever record.  The 1987 PCC title is the last one the school has won and it featured Mike Holobawski (who is now the junior varsity coach at Crown Point), who averaged 24.6 points per game.

Lowell had a new starting lineup which featured 6-foot-9 junior David Stang plus Joe Bell, Austin Richie, Ray Skamay and Jason Parker.  Skamay had his best game so far with 12 points and two steals.  Stang was effective on defense early, but drew two quick fouls and played little after Lowell fell 20 points behind.

Hanover's Nick Bollenbacher came up through the athletic system at Hebron before his family moved to the Hanover district.  He realizes that it's a twist of fate that he's at Hanover at all.

"When I was coming up, we didn't have a lot of players," Nick said after Friday's game.  I didn't have a whole lot of people I could pass to.  Here, we've got Zach and we've got Lou (Louis Norman).  It's great.  We can really be a team."

Hanover has not won the PCC tournament since 1987 and they haven't beaten Boone since 1995.  Junior Derek De St. Jean assures you he's heard of all the things his school hasn't done for a generation.

"We're well aware of that," he said.  "I've heard the stories.  We have to come out firing next week.  It starts with LaCrosse.  We just have to be ready for whoever it is we play.  Whether it's Boone or Morgan."

Hanover opened this season with Gary Roosevelt at the Genesis Center, but they have not solidified plans for the first game next season.  What about 1A No. 1 Bowman Academy, which has trouble finding Northwest Indiana teams to play?

"We played them three times this summer," smiled HC coach Rod Bollenbacher.  "They graduate some kids but they'll have (all state soph (DeJuan) Marerro back."

Bollenbacher has other ideas, however.

"I want to take the team downstate," he said.  "Maybe to Indianapolis to get them some experience playing there."

2010 LOWELL (3-7)
Coach Mike Magley, 69-112 (9th year) 10-10 (2007), 9-13 (2008), 9-15 (2009)
Dec. 8 (L) 67-82 at Gavit (5-5)
Dec. 12 (L) 57-86 at Bishop Noll (9-1)
Dec. 15 (W) 55-53 Calumet (4-6)
Dec. 18 (L) 37-42 Hobart (2-10)
Dec. 22 (W) 52-40 North Newton (1-10)
Dec. 23 (L) 39-49 Gary West Side (5-5)

Jan. 5 (L) 72-81 at Hammond (6-4)
Jan. 9 (W) 48-43 Highland (1-9)
Jan. 14 (L) 62-71 at Griffith (7-3)
Jan. 15 (L) 49-74 at Hanover Central (9-1)
Jan. 19 (Tues) Lake Central (7-4)
Jan. 23 (Sat.) at Kankakee Valley
Jan. 29 (Fri) Munster
Jan. 30 (Sat.) at Merrillville
Feb. 2 (Tues) at Hebron
Feb. 5 (Fri) at Andrean
Feb. 11 (Thurs) at Boone Grove
Feb. 20 (Sat.) Crown Point
Feb. 23 (Tues) Wheeler
Feb. 26 (Sat.) at Morton

Munster (4A) Sectional
March 1 (Tues) quarterfinals
March 4 (F) semifinals
March 5 (S) finals

Valparaiso (4A) Regional
March 12 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
March 12 (S) regional final game (p.m.)