Lowell boys beat North Newton 65-42 to even record at .500

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
12-24-2005

Friday, 12-23-2005  boys basketball at Crown Point, IN

NORTH NEWTON (42) Joel Hanger 3-0-, Kevin Wiseman 2-0-4, JT Hooks 6-7-19, Reid Scheidt 4-0-9,  Matt Arflin 1-0-2,  Jacob Whisker 0-0-0, Phil Jacobson 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 16-7-42

LOWELL (65)  Mike Weiand 2-3-7, Kyle Metz 3-5-12, Nate Korth 3-0-6,  Ryan Lindemer 2-0-4, Jeff Clemens 8-2-20, Josh Kuiper 3-1-7, Aaron Corns 2-0-4, Ted Macis 1-0-3, Eli Macis 1-0-2, Robert Cusic 0-0-0, Ben Drawbaugh 0-0-0, Joe Kerwin 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 24-11-65.

FREE THROWS:  North Newton (7-11, 63.6%)  Hooks 7-11;  Lowell (11-13, 84.6%) Weiand 3-4, Metz 5-6, Clemens 2-2, Cusic 1-1.

3-GOALS:  NORTH NEWTON (3)  Joel Hanger 2, Reid Scheidt;  Jeff Clemens 2, Nate Korth 2, Kyle Metz, Ted Macis.,

Tuesday, 12-20-2005   Lake Athletic Conference game at Hammond

LOWELL (54)  Mike Weiand 4-1-12, Kyle Metz 2-0-6, Nate Korth 0-0-0, Ryan Lindemer 2-0-4, Jeff Clemens 10-1-21, Josh Kuiper 1-2-4, Aaron Corns 0-0-0, Robert Cusic 0-0-0, Ben Drawbaugh 0-0-0, Joe Kerwin 3-0-7.  TOTALS: 22 (4-7) 54

FREE THROWS:  Lowell (4-7, 57.1%) Weiand 1-2, Clemens 1-3, Kuiper 2-2;  GAVIT (8-13, 61.5%) Sanders 4-5, McNeal 3-4 Hubbard 1-4.

3-GOALS:  GAVIT (1)  Antonio McNeal;  LOWELL (6)  Mike Weiand 3, Kyle Metz 2, Joe Kerwin.

LOWELL (12-24-2005) - I realize that North Newton was shorthanded.  Gavit is 2-5 and Lake Station's best player hasn't played all year.  But wait a minute.  Lowell was 2-19 last year.  They were not very good and that's being kind.

So, when the Devils whip out a three-game winning streak before Christmas, including a 23-point win over neighbor North Newton (a team they lost to last year), nobody's going to care exactly who they beat to get back to the .500 mark.

"We had a rough start," admitted coach Mike Magley after watching his side's 65-42 victory last Friday night. "And that was our goal.  We talked as a team and cleared the air.  We set some goal and our goal was to get to .500 by Christmas.  We'll take it and we hope to make strides every day."

Senior forward Jeff Clemens had his second consecutive 20-point game.  Junior forward Mike Weiand had his third consecutive double-figure game and the Red Devils acted like they knew they would win, an attitude Lowell is trying to adopt.

"There were some shots we took that weren't good shots tonight, but because they went in, they're good shots," said Magley.  "What we're doing is that whatever five guys we get out there they don't look confused.  We were 2-19 last year so it takes time."

After a 66-23 win over Lake Station and a 54-47 win at Gavit,  Lowell played a 12-12 first quarter against a North Newton squad that was without Ryan and Rich Scheidt, two of the Spartans three 6-foot-2 basketball-playing triplets.

The Devils began to pull away in the second quarter when junior Josh Kuiper came off the bench and passed out four assists.  Seniors Kyle Metz and Jeff Clemens combined for 15 second quarter points as the Devils took a 35-26 halftime lead.  In the third quarter the Devils continued to expand the lead using a 9-0 run to go up 49-35 with 1:20 left in the third quarter.  The reserves, including Lowell 5-10 sophomore twins Eli and Ted Macis, continued to increase the lead until the final horn in a game that was more run-and-gun than physical.

That may change this coming Friday (Dec.30) when the Devils face neighbor Hanover Central, a team that could be in the same situation that Lowell was in when they were 0-3.  Hanover won twice to start the year but was 2-3 heading into Tuesday night's Wheeler Holiday Tournament semifinal against the host school.

"Hanover Central's coming in," said Magley, "and this is their big (nonconference) game.  They're going to be gunning for us.  They're going to do a lot of half-court traps.  That's their style.  It's up to us to handle it.  I saw him (HC coach Dave Uran) over there in the stands laughing at me when we took a bad shot.  They'll be ready for us.  They know what we do and we know them."

DEVIL NOTES:  One of the reasons for optimism for Lowell is that they no longer have shooting guards masquerading as point guards like many high school teams do.  Junior Josh Kuiper and sophomore Robert Cusic appear to be natural lead guards.

Lowell is working on balance where scorers like Jeff Clemens and Kyle Metz can have the freedom to take their opportunities with Cusic and Kuiper running the offense.  After two 20-point games for Clemens, it may be happening, but tougher competition will tell the real story.

"The lead guards are supposed to be (Josh) Kuiper and (Robert) Cusic," said Lowell coach Mike Magley. "We want Jeff (Clemens) out on the wing where he can beat his guy down the floor and score. We're still working on getting together.  We're just hoping to improve every game."

Lowell has lost 6-foot-4 senior Austin Hamm to an ankle injury.

"He may start practicing within a week," said Magley.  "I'm not sure when he'll be back.  But we've got a lot of players and somebody else will just have to step up."

Magley says he does not necessarily intend to whittle that down to an eight-man rotation.

"We'll keep using whoever it takes to get the job done," he said.  "Our leading scorer might be a different guy every night."

North Newton's Ryan and Rich Scheidt were dropped from the squad after disagreements with coach Bob Gonscy.  The Scheidts also had disciplinary problems during the football season.

Lowell won five games in a row at the start of the 2003-2004 season and still finished at 8-13. The Devils are trying to break a streak of 12 consecutive losing seasons in boys basketball since the 1993 Red Devil sectional championship team.