Lowell boys deal Wildcats 6th-straight loss, 52-30

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
1-2-2006

Friday, 12-30-2005  boys basketball at Lowell, IN

HANOVER CENTRAL (30)  Charlie Huffnagle 2-1-3, Eric Gross 3-5-10, Andrew DeYoung 2-0-4, Michael Wendlinger 0-1-1, Mark Myszkowski 2-0-4, Jordan Rizo 0-3-3, Jerrod Howard 1-0-2, Tim Kubiak 0-0-0, Joe McClymont 0-0-0, Matt Kozlowski 0-0-0, Aaron Watson 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 10 (10-22) 30.

LOWELL (52)  Robert Cusic 1-0-2, Nate Korth 3-0-7, Kyle Metz 3-0-6, Joe Kerwin 3-3-10, Aaron Corns 1-1-3, Mike Weiand 2-3-7, Jeff Clemens 3-1-7, Ryan Lindemer 2-0-4, Ted Macis 0-2-2, Eli Macis 2-0-4, Josh Kuiper 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 20 (10-21) 52.

FOUL SHOTS:  HC (10-21, 47.6%) Huffnagle 1-2, Gross 5-8, Rizo 3-4, Wendlinger 1-4, Watson 0-2, Howard 0-1;  LOWELL (10-20, 50.0%) Cusic 0-2, Weiand 3-5, Kerwin 3-4, Clemens 1-2, Metz 0-2, Ted Macis 2-4, Corns 1-1.

3-GOALS: HC (0)  LOWELL (2) Nate Korth, Joe Kerwin.

LOWELL (12-30-2005) - Hanover Central had swung on down to the hard-times side of town as the holidays came to an end. So as the two teams met in the final game of the year, Lowell may be HC's neighbor, but they sure didn't do them a favor.  The Cats walked into Lowell with a five-game losing streak and they walked out with six straight losses after Lowell eased on down the road 52-30.

It was not a well-played game.  It was not an interesting game.  But it was Lowell's fourth consecutive win after an 0-3 start and while the Devils may have felt a drop of sympathy for their South Lake County brothers, I'm sure they got over it before they left the building.

"They dictate the way we play," said Lowell coach Mike Magley.  "They always play us this way and we seem to play the way anybody wants to play.  That's something we have to work on.  To play the way we want to play."

It was 18-11 at the half and that's not the way anybody wants to play.  HC's unusual 3-2 defense influenced the Devils take some bad shots after they built up an early 14-4 lead, but Lowell paid special attention to HC's 6-4 forward Eric Gross (16 ppg.) and the Cats could not get scoring else where.  Lowell's 6-3 forward Joe Kerwin scored seven of his team-high 10 points in the first half, but they weren't getting much done at the offensive end.

"I knew it was going to be a tough game," Magley said charitably.  "They played hard.  Dave (HC coach Dave Uran) always gets his team ready and they play hard.  We saw them on film and they're going to do what they do.  We saw them at the Wheeler Tournament.  They came close to beating Wheeler and it took Hammond four quarters to put them away."

Truthfully, it took three quarters for Lowell (4-3) to put HC away.  Jeff Clemens, who spent some of the night defending against Gross, scored all seven of his points in the third quarter as a 12-4 Red Devil run blew the lead up to 30-15.

Hanover was discouragingly inept on offense.  With Gross held to 11 points, no one else could find the basket.  Uran spent almost 30 minutes in the locker room talking to his team afterwards trying to change his team's direction going into the second half of the year.  HC's most important games are all still ahead of them, including a match up with arch-rival Boone Grove Friday (1-6-2005) in Cedar Lake.  Hanover's 48-41 loss to Wheeler was actually encouraging in the Wheeler Invitational semifinals.  Wheeler and Boone are the Class 2A Sectional 33 favorites and two sectional victories could erase any number of regular season losses.

Lowell is looking at a schedule that always gets dramatically tougher after the first of the year.  The Red Devils open 2006 play at Hammond high Friday night and face Munster on Jan. 14.

"That's a winnable game for us," Magley said of Hammond. "If we play the way we can, if we do our jobs and not run around.  They'll come out and press us in a 1-2-2 half court. They will be athletic."

"They rely on getting the ball inside and getting it up on the rim and rebounding.  It's always an interesting game when Hammond and Lowell play."

DEVIL NOTES:  Lowell's starting lineup has not been stable all season. Jeff Clemens and Josh Kuiper both came off the bench Friday night.   HC's 6-2 forward Steven Goff did not play at all against Lowell.  Freshman Tim Kubiak made his varsity debut late in the game.  Three freshman, including 6-1 Jordan Rizo and 6-2 Jerrod Howard appeared in the varsity game for Hanover.

Hanover lost 65-46 to Hammond in the Wheeler Invitational semifinals despite 15 by Eric Gross. The Cats shot just 17 of 38 from the field. Hanover lost six in a row before the first of the year last season, but they beat Lowell in a similar style game 43-29.  HC lost nine in a row in 2002 and they were 0-20 in 2000.  Lowell was 5-0 in the 2004 season, but finished at 8-13.

Lowell coach Mike Magley is still using 10-11 players in an early season mode and that does not include 6-4 senior Austin Hamm, who is out until late this month.

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Revised: January 04, 2006 .