Wildcats stumble way to 41-40 win over hapless Gavit
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Saturday, Dec 28, 2002  in Cedar Lake

GAVIT  (40)  John White 1-4-6, Anotonio McNeal 2-3-7, Tom Poracky 0-1-1, Mike Anderson 2-1-5, Brandon Clopton 1-0-2,  Von Emigh 7-2-19, Mike Grady 0-0-0, Josh Weddington 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 13-11-40.

FTS: 11-20, 55.0%
REBOUNDS:  John White - 10, Tom Poracky - 10.
ASSISTS: Von Emigh - 3
TURNOVERS: 24
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (3) Von Emigh 3

HANOVER CENTRAL (41)  Brandon Hegg 3-4-10, Jeff Johnson 3-0-8, Jon Radosevich 2-0-4, Edie Roberts 2-0-4, Jeremy Spencer 2-3-7, Greg Shroka 2-0-4, Aleks Case 0-0-4, David Ploetz 0-0-0-, Adam Suarez 0-0-0, Doug Billinski 0-0-0, Matt Jackson 0-0-0, Owen Goff 0-0-0, Adam Miller 0-0-0.

FTS: 11-26, 42.3 %
REBOUNDS: Greg Shroka - 4
ASSISTS: Jeff Johnson - 2
FOULED OUT: Eddie Roberts  (4th Q - 2:26 left)
3-POINT GOALS (3) Jeff Johnson 2.

CEDAR LAKE (12-28-2002) - I don't think the up-and-coming Hanover Central Wildcats can play any worse that this.  And they won.

In a holiday nonconference match-ups against a winless team Saturday night, Hanover Central stumbled and fumbled all night long. But the Cats got a free throw from senior Jeremy Spencer with seven seconds to play to keep visiting Gavit winless with a 41-40 verdict in front of about 400 friends of the program.

"Our free throw shooting just kept them in the game," said a frustrated coach Dave Uran, who did some serious stressing out during a fourth quarter Gavit rally. "What were we? Two of 11 in the first half. We were 11 of 26 for the game?  That'll keep anybody in the game."

"But they missed a lot of free throws in the final minutes. What were they? Eleven of 20? But they played hard. They've lost to good teams.  I tried to tell the guys, 'They're looking at us for a win.' The more we kept them in the game, the more they got excited about winning."

Gavit (0-8) has a lot of flaws. But enthusiasm wasn't one of them. The cliche is that the one team wanted it more than the other.  But, at 0-8, Gavit was desperate and they clearly tried to win harder than Hanover did.  With coach Derek Sheridan prodding and pleading, the Gladiators shook off an intensely bad first three quarters and pushed an HC team that is off to their best start in many years.

Gavit junior Von Emigh scored 15 fourth quarter points to drag the visitors back even in the late going. Senior forward Mike Grady blocked Brandon Hegg's shot to give the Gladiators the ball with 1:05 left and Tom Poracky split two free throws with 57 seconds left to tie the game 40-40. On the miss of the second shot, Gavit got two offensive rebounds before HC's Jeff Johnson fouled Poracky with 48 seconds to play.

The Gavit senior missed both foul shots but the Gladiators got the ball again as Jon Rodosevich tied up Gavit's John White for a jump ball with 45 seconds left. After a Hanover time out, Poracky and Grady both missed short shots before the Wildcats' Greg Shorka finally grabbed the rebound.  Hanover held for the final shot but Radosevich also missed and and HC's Jeff Johnson rebounded and called time out.
Finally HC inbounded the ball to Jeremy Spencer who was fouled going up for a shot.  The 6-2 senior, who battled through a frustrating night like the rest of his teammates, sank the second shot and Poracky's 40-foot shot at the buzzer missed badly, leaving Hanover with a somewhat forgettable win.

"Jeremy was getting a little frustrated.  They were pushing him around down there and they got into his head a little. We need his emotion but we need the positive Jeremy.  He can't get frustrated."

"They played as 2-3 zone against us. That's only the second time anybody's played a zone on us.  We should be good against a zone but we obviously weren't.  We need to throw the ball into the post and work off of that but our guys tried to dribble to the basket against a zone and you can't do that."

After a 9-9 first quarter, the second period featured more missed shots and turnovers than anything else.  Hanover seemed to suffer through a time warp that took them back to the winless 2001 season, going scoreless for five minutes and looking bad doing it.

Gavit made 12 turnovers and still led 16-13 at the half. The Cats began the third quarter with a 13-4 run but Dave Ploetz and Adam Miller missed free throw chances that could've put the home team up by 10.

In the final quarter, Emigh, a 6-0 junior guard, started throwing in shots from all angles.  Hanover couldn't stay with him defensively, hitting six field goals, including two three point goals.  "We tried a box and one on him," said Uran, "and we still lost him.  They've got some athletes.  We had a chance to blow the game out at the start of the third quarter but we missed some shots and turned it over a few times and then '22' (Emigh) got hot.  He's a good player but we've stopped better players."

Both Poracky and White, Gavit's top varsity football running back, got stronger on the boards as the game went on and when HC's 6-5 Eddie Roberts fouled out with 2:36 to play, the Cats seemed awfully small up front.

The Wildcats' 5-1 start is one of the best in the school's 33-year history (they were 9-4 three years ago) but they won't survive another game this bad.  For all the effort Gavit gave Saturday, the reality is, they've lost to Bishop Noll by 33 points and to Highland by 43 points.  Gavit lost 44-33 to a Lake Station (1-6)  team Hanover beat by 24 points.

"Nothing against Gavit," said Uran, "but if we'd have lost this game tonight at home, it would've erased everything we'd done to this point.  There was not a whole lot positive tonight, except that we won."

CAT NOTES:   HC junior Jeff Johnson (11.5 ppg.)  scored a season-low eight points but the 6-1 junior wing player ran his six-game total of three-pointers to 16.  Gavit is the fifth team Hanover has held to 45 points or less but HC's total of 41 points was a season-low.  Greg Shroka came back after missing the 59-45 victory over Kankakee Valley with a back injury and scored four points with four rebounds.

Hanover Central has not played in a holiday tournament in recent years but that changes next December when they enter the Wheeler Holiday Tournament.  "You get guaranteed two games," explains Uran, "and it gets you experience in a tournament like the sectional."

Wheeler will leave the Porter County Conference (PCC) next season (to be replaced by South Central), so the Wildcats will continue to see a Wheeler team they have played two or three times a season in recent years.

Uran remembers a Hanover win over Kankakee Valley "six or seven years ago" and another one in the early 90s.  But before that, the Cats hadn't beaten KV since the 1986 season when Uran played for Hanover.  We haven't beaten Gavit in a while either," Uran said.  "We were 0-21 two years ago. We haven't beaten anybody in a while."

2003 HANOVER CENTRAL (5-1, 0-1)
Coach Dave Uran (1st year)
PCC games in CAPS, Home games in bold
Start times are junior varsity starting times
11-26-2002:    60-34  at Lake Station (1-6)
11-29-2002:  49-38   Elmwood Park, Ill. (4-4)
12-6-2002:  49-38 vs. HEBRON (3-4)
12-13-2002:   52-61 at WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP  (3-4)
12-21-2002 : 59-45 at Kankakee Valley (2-6)
12-28-2002:  41-40 Gavit (0-8)

1-3-2003 (F) Lowell  (2-4)
1-7-2003 (W) Whiting (3-5)
1-10-2003 (F) BOONE GROVE (4-3)
1-14-2003 (W) at Beecher, Ill. (6 p.m.)

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament
1-22-2003 (W) quarterfinals - 6 p.m.
1-23-2003 (Th) quarterfinals -  6 p.m.
1-25-2003 (S) semifinals -  11 a.m.
1-25-2003 (S)  championship  -  6 p.m.

1-31-2003 (F) MORGAN TOWNSHIP  (6 p.m.)
2-1-2003 (Tu) at North Newton (6 p.m.)
2-4-2003 (F) Clark  (6 p.m.)
2-7-2003 (F) LaCROSSE  (6 p.m.)
2-13-2003 (Th) at Wheeler (6 p.m.)
2-21-2003 (F) at KOUTS (6 p.m.)
2-25-2003 (Tu) Morton (6 p.m.)
2-28-2003 (F) at River Forest (6 p.m.)

Wheeler (2A) Sectional
3-4-2003 (Tu) Quarterfinals  (6 p.m.)
3-7-2003 (F) Semifinals  (6 p.m.)
3-8-2003  (S) Championship (7:30 p.m.)

Triton (2A) Regional
3-15-2003 (S) Semifinals  (11 a.m.)
3-15-2003 (S) Championship  (7 p.m.)

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .