Lowell
Red Devils drop opening round sectional game to Highland, 64-45
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
3-2-2005
|
Team
|
1st Qtr |
2nd Qtr |
3rd Qtr |
4th Qtr |
Final
|
| Highland (16-7) |
19 |
12 |
18 |
15 |
64 |
| LOWELL (2-19) |
9 |
13 |
11 |
12 |
45 |
Tuesday, 3-1-2005 - EC
Sectional quarterfinal game at Lowell
HIGHLAND
(64) Adam Huizenga 2-2-8, Greg
Wiesemann 3-0-7, Derek Moser 2-0-4, Ryan Drake 2-1-5, JD Fabian 6-0-12, Marcus
Hammonds 2-1-5, Jon Velacso 02-2, Ryan Hayes 0-1-1, Andrew Helmer 6-6-20,
Mike McFarland 0-0-0, Jon Biancardi 0-0-0, Adam Wozienieski 0-0-0. TOTALS:
23-13-64.
LOWELL
(45) Shaun Hlad 3-0-8, Scott Schulz 1-0-2,
Kyle Metz 2-0-5, Mike Weiand 3-2-8, Jeff Clemens 7-1-18, Austin Hamm 2-0-4,
Joe Kerwin 0-0-0, Ben Drawbaugh 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-3-45.
FREE
THROWS: HIGHLAND (13-23, 56.5%) Helmer 6-7, Huzienga 2-2, Velasco 2-2,
Hammonds 1-8, Drake 1-2, Hayes 1-2.
LOWELL
(3-8, 37.5%) Weiand 2-3, Clemens 1-4, Schulz 0-1
THREE-POINT
GOALS: HIGHLAND (5) Andrew Helmer 2, Adam Huzienga 2, Greg Wiesmann.
LOWELL (6) Jeff Clemens 3, Shaun Hlad 2, Kyle Metz.
LOWELL,
IN (3-1-2005) - This was a
low-intensity event off the floor. The crowd, except for a few who swiped at
the officials, was low key. The cheerleaders weren't in to it. Even the crazy
football players dressed up in funny
costumes weren't too crazy. Security didn't have to
be called, even once.
The players played
hard. The better team won. And neither side felt too bad about the outcome.
For the opening
game of the 95th annual Indiana state tournament,
it went well.
Highland's 64-45
win over Lowell was expected. The Trojans played hard, got everybody into the
game, got no one injured and moved on.
That's what
you're trying to do at this point, said Highland
coach Doug McCallister, who reached the 16-win level for the third consecutive
year.
All you want to
do is advance. It was a physical game. His teams aren't going to lay down.
They've had a tough year but I knew they weren't going to lay down tonight.
We just have
more skill than they do right now. We've got some nice players and number 10
(Andrew Helmer) makes everybody look a little
better.
Number '10' is 6-2
junior Andrew Helmer, the Trojans' football quarterback, a physical, fast
balling passer who clearly leads the undersized (nobody taller than
6-3) Highland squad. Helmer's direction and the Trojans' confidence in him and
coordination with him is the reason the Trojans have had a good year.
What was
encouraging about this game from a Lowell standpoint is that they stayed
relatively close. The game was never in doubt, but the Devils (2-19) were
never blown out.
The Devils, on
this final day of the year, showed signs of becoming a Highland-type team.
With junior football star Jeff Clemens at the point, junior shooting guard
Kyle Metz and agile 6-3 sophomore Mike Weiand up front, Lowell clearly will
not go through this again next year.
They asked me
about next year a moment ago, said coach Mike Magley, who has tried to
smile through two long losing streaks. I'm
feeling bad for the three seniors (Scott Schulz, Shaun Hlad and William Tatge).
They gave it all they had. Nobody who saw us has said that we aren't putting
out a full effort.
Lowell never led
in this East Chicago Class 4A sectional quarterfinal, played on a home site on
a school night. Highland, led by 12 points and
four assists from Helmer in the first two
quarters, built a 25-12 lead early in the second period.
But Clemens, the
5-10 junior, started to emulate Helmer in the second period playing a dominant
shooting and scoring lead guard.
With Clemens
scoring 18 and Weiand (8 points/6 rebounds), who is growing into the front
court player the Devils must have, holding his own up front, Lowell was still
within 52-38 with 6:21 left in the game.
Highland is what
Lowell can be. Neither Helmer or Clemens are true point guards, but they are
clearly the best athletes on their team and dominant personalities. Lowell
also has no one taller than 6-3 and they cannot be a Gary West Side or
Valparaiso with 6-8 centers and 6-7 wing players.
But if Highland
can be 16-7, with an outside chance to win the
sectional, Lowell, which has not had a winning season in 10 years, can have a
very similar team and record in 2006.
We just have to
get to the gym all summer, Clemens said. It was pretty much just me and
Kyle (Metz) last summer. And we need to get stronger up front. We've got a lot
of good younger players.
The most entertaining
part of this game was the one-on-one matchup between Helmer and Clemens.
Lowell defeated Highland twice in football in 2004
and and Clemens scored five touchdowns in the sectional championship game win
in Highland. Helmer ended up with 20 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and
four steals. Clemens had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Yeah,
Clemens said. I said I'd see him in football.
The oddity of
Highland being so clearly better in basketball (2-0 in 2 games) in the same
school year that Lowell, a similar size school, was clearly
superior (total score of 90-13 in two games) in football is hard to explain. A
lot of it is simply confidence. Many of Lowell's 19 turnovers were unforced
errors and throwaways against Highland's full court press.
At the end of the
game, some of Lowell's JV, freshmen and some grade school players went out on
the temporary floor to shoot some baskets. This game ended a major portion of
the 'reconstruction era' at Lowell. The gym will be closed this month as part
of the school's three-year renovation.
When the doors
reopen this fall, Lowell will have a new floor, new lockers, new stands and a
redesigned gymnasium. The new things (the new weight room is already open)
should coincide with a bigger, better bunch of Devils.
But there's a lot
of work to do this summer.
DEVIL NOTES:
Lowell's junior varsity finished with a 10-10 record after
a 57-45 victory over Kankakee Valley last Friday (2-25-5). Lowell freshmen
twins Ted and Eli Macis combined for 25 points. The Macis brothers, who are
also above average baseball
players, are 5-6 guards who should contribute on the varsity level by the time
the 2006 state tournament begins.
Mike Weiand scored
a career-high 15 points in Friday's 70-66 loss to Kankakee Valley. Junior Kyle
Metz led the Devils attack with 21 points.
Lowell has not had
a winning season in 12 years since they won the 1993 Sectional championship.
There is a theory that the rise of football (Lowell's first winning football
season in 25 years was 1993) at the school has taken some of the boy-power
away from the basketball program.
Highland has a
lot of football players out there, said 8th-grade coach Pete
Weiand, Mike's dad. I wouldn't mind a team full of football
players. Highland's players are so much stronger
than we are right now.
The Tuesday night
home site sectional quarterfinal games have been much criticized but one
positive showed Tuesday. On a school night, with a 7 p.m. start, Highland was
on the bus and Lowell was headed home by 9 p.m.. That would not have been
remotely possible had this been the second game of a quarterfinal double-header
at the main sectional site, East Chicago's Barrato Center.
Highland
obviously, was the team extending themselves, making the 20-mile trip south to
Lowell. But the results for them were satisfactory. It is tough to come
down here on a school night, said Trojan coach Doug McCalister. But we
took care of business.
Highland fans were
much aware of the other quarterfinal game matching Lake Central and Gary West
Side. The Trojans' followers were encouraged when Lake Central took a third
quarter lead but resigned to reality when Gary West Side (16-4), the 2003
state champion, rallied to win 63-55. Highland would rather have faced LC, a
team they've already defeated 49-44.
We have a
couple of people there watching that game, smiled McCallister.
Highland center
Marcus Hammonds, playing with a right hand wrapped due to injury, made just
1-of-8 free throws.
Highland and
Lowell are among the smallest 4A schools. The
Trojans benefited greatly from being classified as
3A for a few years and that led to basketball titles
in boys and girls basketball. Lowell has been 4A
since the start of class sports playoffs in 1997.
Some factors could
change by the time schools are reclassified in 2007. If two Hammond schools (rumored
to be Hammond and Gavit) consolidate later in this decade, a Lowell or a
Highland could be bumped down to 3A. Class 4A Sectional one could also be
expanded to seven teams. Also, Wirt, which has fallen below 700 in enrollment,
will very likely be 2A in the next classification.
If schools get bigger or smaller, they just slide up or down in class. But if
Hammond, Gavit and Wirt simply cease to exist, the smallest 4A schools would
drop into the 3A bracket.
LOWELL
Red Devils (2-19)
Coach:
Mike Magley, 31-57 in 4th year at school
Highland
Trojans (16-7)
Coach:
Doug McCallister, 68-47 in 5th year at school