East Chicago defeats Lowell 61-41 en route to Sectional title

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
03-05-2007

Friday, 03-02-2007  - Class 4A, Sectional 1, boys basketball semifinal at East Chicago 

EAST CHICAGO (61)  Terry Weathers 1-1-3, Angel Garcia 5-0-11, Kawaan Short 4-0-8, DeAndre Jones 1-1-3, E'Twaun Moore 8-1-20, Anthony Sain 1-0-3, Derrell Connor 1-0-2, Marcus Johnson 3-0-6, Eric Ligon 1-0-2, Josiah Daniels 1-0-3, Bryce Walker 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  26-3-61.

FREE THROWS:  LOWELL (1-4, 25%) Mike Weiand 1-2, David Weiand 0-1, Ted Macis 0-1;  EC (3-7, 42.8%) Jones 1-2, Weathers 1-4, Moore 1-1.

ASSISTS:  LOWELL (9) Corns 4, Korth 2, Cusic, Kuiper, Mike Weiand;  EAST CHICAGO (9) Moore 3, Weathers 2, Garcia 2, Jones, Connor.

REBOUNDS:  LOWELL (11) Mike Weiand 3, Korth 3, Kuiper, Corns, Kersey, Eli Macis, Bennett.  EAST CHICAGO (17) Moore 7, Johnson 4, Conner 3, Short 2, Weathers.

STEALS:  LOWELL (0)    EAST CHICAGO (12) Conner 3, Weathers 3, Sain 2, Moore 2, Short, Walker.

3-GOALS:  LOWELL (6) Mike Weiand 2, Nate Korth 2, Robert Cusic, Jacob Bennett;  EC (6) Moore 3, Garcia, Sain, Daniels.

EAST CHICAGO (3-02-2007) -  It wasn't as much of a contest as the visitors would have liked it to be.  In all honesty, there probably is 20 points difference between Lowell and East Chicago and the home team won 61-41 in the semifinals of 4A Sectional one in the big East Chicago gym.

After Munster's semifinal win over Lake Central, much of the 4,000 fans headed for the exits and the EC-Lowell match lacked the intensity it needed to be dramatic.  When EC all-star E'Twaun Moore hit three three-point goals in the first quarter, it gave the Cardinals, one of the state's top-15 teams, an early lead that proved very difficult to overcome.

The idea was a classic upset.  Lowell holds the ball 40-50 seconds on every possession, takes advantage of EC trying to steal the ball and scores backdoor lay ups.  The Devils challenge East Chicago to hit from outside and takes advantage when the Cardinals, who were idle for two weeks before the playoffs, can't hit the long ones.

Little of the plan worked.  EC star E'Twaun Moore hit three long three point shots in the first period to help the Cardinals to a 14-8 lead.  Then 6-foot-11 Angel Garcia scored three second period baskets while guard Derrell Conner stole the ball three times and it was 23-8 with 4:10 left in the first half.  East Chicago forced nine third quarter turnovers and forged leads of 35-15 and 44-25.  The Devils were down 25 by the middle of the fourth period.  The idea was to give the Cardinals the outside shot.  But Moore, a four-year starter, hit his first three shots.

"We knew that could happen," said Lowell coach Mike Magley.  "That's why he's highly regarded and he's a D-1 player."

Lowell missed some layups early, partly because they rushed their shots and partly because of 6-foot-4 Kawaan Short and 6-foot-11 Angel Garcia.  The style of the game held EC to just 29 first half points, but the speed and size Lowell faced held them to only 15.

"We asked our boys to play a style they hadn't played all year," Magley admitted.  "I give credit to my players that they believed in it.  We're down 14 in the third quarter.  If we could get back to eight at that point, we're still in it."

But the lead immediately went to 20 points as speedy guard Terry Weathers stole the ball and scored and Anthony Sain sank a three-pointer.  The lead was 16 at 39-23 after consecutive baskets by Lowell junior Robert Cusic late in the third quarter.  But Short, who is a powerful 250 pound pivot player, sank three early fourth quarter baskets to up the edge to 50-26.

Lowell finished the season at 10-10, the first time since 1993 that the Red Devils have not had a losing record.  They had a postponed game with Whiting (2-18) canceled or Lowell would have had a winning season.

"The seniors did something that hasn't been done here (a winning record) in a long time," said Magley.  "Now the task for the underclassmen is to keep it going.  I can't say enough kind words about this team.  The dedication they put in."

"We have potential but potential is nothing unless you work at it.  For the boys coming back, they have to work on their own.  They can't let us coaches organize everything and think that's enough.  They have to find games.  They have to find competition."

NOTES:  Lowell coach Mike Magley said their goal was not to stop EC all night.

"Our goal was to control the game on the offensive end," he said.  "We didn't want to be on defense all night.  We didn't want to turn the ball over, but we did and that made the game easy for them.  We knew that if EC shot the ball really well from outside, they'd win.  And they did that."

East Chicago won the EC Sectional Saturday night (3-3-2007) with an overtime win over Munster.  Lowell may have played their final game in the East Chicago Sectional.  Some at East Chicago Friday seemed certain that with Morton moving from Class 3A to 4A this fall, it no longer makes sense for Lowell to be in Class 4A Sectional one with Gary West Side, Munster, Lake Central, Highland and EC.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that Lowell's only move could be to 4A Sectional two which includes Merrillville, Portage, Valparaiso, Hobart, Crown Point and Chesterton.  It's actually hard to figure which sectional is tougher.

There will be change.  Warsaw hosts the five team Sectional 5 and they are losing Columbia City, which moves down to Class 3A.  What could happen?  Goshen could leave sectional 4 to fill out Sectional five.  Adams, the easternmost South Bend School, could slide to sectional four and Chesterton, the easternmost Sectional 2 school, could be bumped east to sectional three.

Then, of course, Lowell slides from sectional one to two and Morton fills Lowell's space in sectional one.  As complicated as that seems, it could happen.

Copyright © 2006 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved.
Revised: March 05, 2007 .