Bulldogs stay in DAC race with impressive 56-50 win over Valparaiso
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 in Crown Point

VALPARAISO (50)  Quantrell Blake 3-0-7, Brent Kimmell 4-0-10, Brian McMillan 3-2-8, Mike Hills 2-0-6 Jason Renn 7-4-19, Christian Tabib 0-0-0, Mike Reinhertz 0-0-0.   TOTALS:  19-6-50.

FTS: 6-11, 54.5 percent  (Renn 4-7, McMillan 2-4, -2
TURNOVERS: 10
REBOUNDS: Quantrell Blake 5, Brian McMillan 4
ASSISTS: Jason Renn - 3
STEALS: Quantrell Blake - 3
3-POINT GOALS (6)  Brent Kimmell 2, Mike Hills 2, Jason Renn,  Quantrell Blake

CROWN POINT (56)  Brian Sparks 4-2-10, Aaron Miller 1-0-2, Chad Pruzin 0-0-0, Chris Thomas 11-6-30, Kyle Robbins 4-0-8,  Joel Heavner 2-0-4, Chachi Albrecht  1-0-2,  Mike Harris 0-0-0.   TOTALS: 23-8-56

FTS: 8-10, 78.5 percent  (Thomas 6-6, Sparks 2-2,  Pruzin 0-1,  Heavner 0-1)
TURNOVERS: 7
REBOUNDS: Kyle Robbins - 13
ASSISTS: Kyle Robbins - 4, Chad Pruzin  - 4
STEALS: Kyle Robbins -  3
BLOCKED SHOTS: Chris Thomas 2
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (2) Chris Thomas 2.

CROWN POINT  (1-17-2003) - What kind of problems does Crown Point's Chris Thomas create?

"Too many," said Valparaiso coach Bob Punter. "Way too many. He can go out on the arc. He can shoot the '3'. He gets to the block on the break real fast, He beats everybody down the floor.  If you score, he beats you to the other end."

"We held him to 28 points with five seniors on the floor.  He's a tough kid."

This year, Valparaiso 'held'  Thomas, CP's 6-foot-7 senior all-purpose player to 30 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs beat Valparaiso for the first time in four years, 56-50 last Friday night.

The win was a significant bounce back from CP's 10-point loss to arch-rival Merrillville the week before and it kept the Bulldogs (8-4, 2-1 DAC) one game behind division-leading Merrillville (6-5, 3-0 DAC), an 86-80 winner at LaPorte last Friday.

"We needed it," said CP coach Tom Johnson.  "This is a big  win for a lot of reasons. On the surface, it's obvious. It keeps us in the conference race.  But there's a bigger picture.  We were all beginning to question ourselves that we can't finish a game.  We've had three ball games this year against three good ball clubs, East Chicago, Merrillville and Munster,  where we've had the lead with five or six minutes left in the game and not only did we not win, we got beat going away."

"You keep doing that and, when you get in the same situation again, you have bad thoughts.  So, hopefully, we're beyond that."

"I was really proud of the kids that we finished."

This was high-caliber Indiana basketball.  A roller-coaster game between two winning teams played on a Friday night in front of a near-sellout crowd.  Valparaiso, which came in with an eight-game winning streak, jumped to leads of 5-2, and 16-9 behind a combined seven points and six rebounds from Valpo's 6-7 junior Brian McMillan and 6-2 senior Quantrell Blake. Consecutive baskets by Thomas, Kyle Robbins and Brian Sparks cut the lead to 16-15 before senior forward Joel Heavner jumped off the CP bench and tossed in two baskets to complete a 13-1 run for a 22-17 edge.

Valparaiso, which had only lost to 3A No. 2 Gary Roosevelt (9-1), retaliated with a 13-4 run at the top of the third quarter, led by football quarterback Jason Renn who scored eight of his career-best 19 points in the third quarter to put CP in serious trouble.

But Sparks scored six points in a row to rally the home team before the front court of Robbins and Thomas led CP down the stretch.

With 90 seconds to play and CP leading 49-48, Valpo ran a play that had ace three point shooter Mike Hills (34 3-pointers in 11 games)  open in the left corner. Hills' shot missed and CP guard Chad Pruzin set up Chris Thomas for a three-point shot from the right that gave the Bulldogs a 52-48 lead with 40 seconds left.

"We knew we could run a play and get Mike open for a shot," said Punter.  "We did but he missed it and Thomas hit a big three at the other end."

The unsung hero was Robbins who had a career-best game of eight points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals. "Kyle was great," said Johnson.  "He was very strong inside.  He scored a couple of really big baskets near the end."

Valparaiso didn't act like the loss was the end of the world.  Some of the Viking players mingled with VHS girls players on the CP floor at the end.  There's still six weeks left in the season and Valpo, the defending DAC champ, could still win the league again.

"That's what I told the kids," said Punter. "They (CP) have already got a loss.  We still control our own destiny."

CP was all smiles after beating their visitor from the east.

"This is as big as Merrillville," said Johnson. "In terms of how they look at it. Merrillville and Valparaiso are the big teams, the ones they want to beat. And we have not had very much success against either one."

But, for a night, that was all over.  The celebration window was small however, as Saturday night's game with South Bend Adams was less than 24 hours away.

"This is what I love about coaching," said Johnson. "You win Friday and you turn right around Saturday.  This is great.  When you win, it's great."

DOG NOTES:  Sophomore Chachi Albrecht made his first career start in place of Aaron Miller.  But Albrecht, Miller and guard Mike Harris all played important minutes.

"Don't be fooled by his size," said Johnson of his 5-9 guard. "He's got a big heart out there. As do the other two guys. That situation is a little tough. We're not looking to cut anybody's playing time. We've got four seniors and we're looking for somebody to add a spark."

"The starting thing is not a big deal to me but I know it is to other people. I think we've got a little better ball rotation tonight."
      
Valparaiso senior center Bill Van Senus was in attendance with both arms in slings. Van Senus broke both arms after dunking the basketball on Jan. 7 against Kankakee Valley.

"The momentum of his body carried him past the basket," said Punter.  "You know how the kids do.  Sometimes they hang on (to the rim) and swing back. The rim started to bend back up on him so he let go. Then he used his arms to block his fall which we all would do but he fell and he broke both arms."

"He'll get a chance (in college). The breaks were clean. He should heal okay."

2003 CROWN POINT (8-4, 2-1)

Coach Tom Johnson (6 years -  85-47)
Assistant coaches: Ray Tarnow, Pat Mills, Josh Powers and Scott Sparks
DAC Games in CAPS  -    Start times are JV starting times

11-27-2002:  74-46  at Gavit (0-11)
11-30-2002:  86-85 Lake Central (7-4)
12-6-2002:  76-41 at Clark (3-6)
12-7-2002:  56-54 (West Lafayette) Harrison  (5-4)
12-13-2002:  59-40  at Griffith (8-1)
12-14-2002:  55-60 East Chicago (8-3)
12-20-2002:  79-68 PORTAGE (3-8)

Highland Holiday Tournament
12-27-2002:  55-68  Munster (11-0)
12-28-2002:  69-33 Kankakee Valley (2-8)

1-3-2003:  92-43 Calumet (2-9)
1-11-2003:  43-53 at MERRILLVILLE (6-5)
1-17-2003:  56-50 VALPARAISO (9-2)
 
1-18-2003 (S) at South Bend Adams (9-3)  5:30 p.m.
1-25-2003 (S) at MICHIGAN CITY (2-7) 6 p.m.
1-31-2003 (F) at CHESTERTON  (8-2) 6 p.m.
2-1-2003 (S) at Munster (11-0)  6 p.m.
2-7-2003 (F) LaPORTE (6-5) 6 p.m.
2-13-2003 (Th) at Hobart (5-5) 6 p.m.
2-21-2003 (F) GARY ROOSEVELT (9-1) 6 p.m.
2-28-2003 (F) LOWELL  (3-6)  6 p.m.

Valparaiso (4A) Sectional
3-4-2003 (Tu) quarterfinals (6 p.m.)
3-7-2003 (F) semifinals (6 p.m.)
3-8-2003 (S) championship (6 p.m.)

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .