Short-handed Lowell boys nip Gavit 35-33 heading into Christmas break

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-24-2007

Thursday, 12-20-2007 -  Boys Basketball at HAMMOND, IN

LOWELL (35)  David Weiand 0-4-4, Robert Cusic 3-0-7, Joe Bell 0-2-2, Keith Greer 1-0-2, Nate Miller 4-6-16, Ted Macis 1-0-2, Ben Fox 1-0-2.  TOTALS:  10 (12-17) 35.

GAVIT (33)  Dion Hawkins 5-1-12, Royal Donald 5-1-11, LaQuan James 1-2-4, Victor James 1-0-2, Anthony Miniuk 2-0-4, Richard Taylor 0-0-0, Kendall Dawson 0-0-0, Darrell Reynolds 0-0-0.  14 (3-6) 33.

FREE THROWS:  LOWELL (12-17, 70.5%)  Weiand 4-5, Bell 2-2, Miller 6-8, Greer 0-2.
GAVIT (3-6, 50%) Hawkins 1-2, LaQuan James 2-4.

REBOUNDS:  LOWELL (21)  Weiand 5, Greer 4, Kerwin 4, Bell 3, Cusic 2, Miller 2, Macis.
GAVIT (15)  Hawkins 4, LaQuan James 3, Victor James 3, Reynolds 2, Dawson 2, Taylor.

ASSISTS:  LOWELL (6) Miller 2, Weiand 2, Kerwin, Cusic;  GAVIT (6)  Donald 5, LaQuan James.

STEALS:  LOWELL (4) Miller 2, Bell, Weiand;  GAVIT (7) Donald 3, LaQuan James 2, Hawkins, Jenkins.

TURNOVERS:  LOWELL (5-2-3-7) 17, GAVIT (5-4-2-2) 13.

3-GOALS:  LOWELL (3) Nate Miller 2, Robert Cusic;  GAVIT (2) Royal Donald, Dion Hawkins.

HAMMOND (12-20-2007) - Lowell had to win the two games before the Christmas break.  At one time this month, Lowell was down three seniors who were out of the lineup and unavailable.  The Red Devils were 1-3 ten days ago.  They were on the road all this week, but they were facing two teams with top-heavy losing records.  Two non-4A teams.  With what they know is ahead on the schedule, shorthanded or not, Lowell simply had to win the two games before the Christmas break.

After beating Hebron Tuesday night, the Devils fell behind Gavit 7-0.  Late in the game, Lowell lost a five-point lead.  But they had to win.  They had to make a play.

With the game tied 33-33 and 16 seconds left, Gavit called time out and gave the ball to quick senior guard Royal Donald and it looked like Lowell would either lose or go to overtime.  But they made a play.  Junior David Weiand stole the ball from Donald, got fouled and hit two free throws with three seconds to play, giving Lowell the 35-33 win they had to have.

"I thought everybody who came into the game played big roles for us," said Lowell coach Mike Magley.  "It wasn't a beautiful win, but it's a win.  We did a lot more things well in this game than we did in some other games."

We can be confident Lowell (3-3) will get better offensively.  They are expected to be at full strength for the first time next Friday when they host Hanover Central (4-2).  But they couldn't lose to Hebron (1-6) or Gavit (1-6) and remain very confident in the future.

To win the game, Lowell made a bold call.  Gavit had 10 team fouls.  Lowell had four.  The Devil bench instructed Weiand, a 6-foot-3 junior to try to steal the ball from Donald, who had 11 points and five assists on the night.  If you foul, there's no harm because the other team doesn't get free throws.  On the other hand, if you go for the steal, the offensive player can go by you and score the winning basket.

"We told him to do that," Magley said of Weiand's last-second risk-taking.  "We had fouls to give.  He made a big play."

Weiand lunged in on Donald's dribble and knocked the ball loose about 40 feet from the basket.  Donald, perhaps the quickest player on the floor, fouled when he dived in to try to regain the ball.

Weiand, who was 4-of-5 from the line for the night, sank two free throws with three seconds left and Lowell had won a significant game.

"This was big for us," said assistant coach Chris Jusevitch.  "If we'd have lost we'd have had to go with that over the Christmas break."

This wasn't an odd contest.  It wasn't filled with missed shots and turnovers.  It was just played very cautiously.  Down 7-0 after three minutes, the Devils mounted a 9-2 run to tie the game early in the second quarter.  Lowell didn't get started until Nate Miller came off the bench, scoring 12 of the Devils' 23 first half points.  But the third quarter descended into tentative shooting and careful playing.  Magley was not critical of the patience.

"One of the things I liked about tonight was that we were not selfish," he said.  "We made the extra pass in the effort to get a better shot.  I thought that helped win the game."

But Lowell fell behind 32-31 with 1:45 left after a steal by Donald, who passed to Dion Hawkins for a fast break basket.  Miller was fouled with 1:28 left and split two foul shots.  But, on the miss, Joe Bell tipped the ball to Weiand, who grabbed the offensive rebound.  Again Miller was fouled, but again, he could only split the two foul shots with 53 seconds to go.
Donald missed a three-point shot and Lowell got the rebound.  But the Devils turned the ball over and fouled Hawkins who also made one of two foul shots to tie the game with 22 seconds to go.  Gavit's Kendall Dawson stole the ball from Cusic.  But on a fast break opportunity, Miller drove down the lane and decided to pass off to Macis with 16 seconds to play. Macis was closely guarded and was called for double dribble.

Gavit seemed in position to win, but Weiand's steal and free shots let Lowell get out of town with the victory.

"I thought it was two god defensive teams and both sides were patient," said Magley.  "We're 3-3. Its good. But every day we've got to get better."

DEVIL NOTES:  Senior guard Eli Macis, Ted's twin brother and a returning varsity regular, will be back in uniform next Friday against Hanover Central after missing the first six games of the season.  Ted Macis played his third game at Gavit and Mike Miller played for the second time this season.

Coach Mike Magley started Robert Cusic with David Weiand, Jake Kerwin, Keith Greer and Joe Bell at the start of the Gavit game.  To start the second half, Cusic, Greer and Weiand teamed with Nate Miller and Ted Macis.

Magley says:  Don't read anything into that.

"Anybody who is a varsity player could be out there," said Magley.  "I go up and down the line of all the guys.  Joe Bell sees the floor well.  He gets in the right spot.  Keith Greer has stepped up his game.  Playing tough defense.  Nate Miller has come back and played great.  Ted has nice moves.  He can take it to the basket, but he doesn't force it.  He'll pull up and take the shot.  Every single guy has something and that's what it is going to take."

Lowell can present many different lineups.  They have four senior guards and five serviceable forwards.

"Who ever is playing well," Magley said.  "Everybody's playing quality minutes right now.  We've got guys like Ben Fox and Jake Kerwin who do little things like boxing out."

The most dramatic play of the game was Miller's fast break with less than 20 seconds left in a tie game.  Instead of trying a contested shot on the break, the senior made a surprising pass to Ted Macis, resulting in a turnover.  But even had he scored, Gavit would have been left with plenty of time to respond.  To attempt to maintain possession and run the clock down might have been the right play for Miller to make.

"If you score, you're a genius and if you don't, you look stupid," Magley said of the last minute play.  "In basketball, you've got to make those split-second decisions.  That's why you tape the games and watch them as a team.  To talk about those decisions."

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Revised: December 25, 2007 .