|
Team |
1st Qtr |
2nd Qtr |
3rd Qtr |
4th Qtr |
Final |
| LOWELL (10-9) | 15 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 54 |
| GRIFFITH (16-2) | 18 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 60 |
Thursday, Feb. 20 2003 - LAC semifinal - at Calumet
LOWELL (54) Jim Jeffries 4-2-11, Justin Bales 4-2-11,
Ryan Brown 1-2-5, Greg Johnson 0-0-0, Jason Corns 4-2-10, Matt Roberts 4-3-13,
Michael Miller 0-0-0, Nate Wilbourn 1-0-2, Zach Steiner 1-0-2. TOTALS:
19-11-54.
FTS: 11-11, 100 percent
STEALS: Justin Bales - 2
ASSISTS: Mike Miller - 4
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (5) Matt Roberts 2, Justin Bales, Ryan Brown, Jim Jeffries.
GRIFFITH (60) Jason Leal 4-0-8, Brad McFarlane 3-1-9, Kenny
Harris 9-0-18, Cliff Wilson 5-4-17, Todd Polgar 2-0-4, Nate Fentress 0-0-0,
Steven DeJesus, Shawn Mathis 1-2-4. TOTALS: 24-7-60.
FTS: 7-8, 87.5 percent
REBOUNDS: Kenny Harris - 5
ASSISTS: Cliff Wilson - 6
BLOCKS: Kenny Harris - 3
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (5) Cliff Wilson 3, Brad McFarlane 2.
GARY
(2-20-2003) - When coach Mike Magley was being congratulated about how
his Lowell Red Devils had played in the 60-54 Lake Athletic Conference (LAC)
tournament semifinal loss last Thursday to state-ranked Griffith, Magley added a
note of caution.
"Let's see how we play tomorrow night," he said.
His worries proved well founded. Lowell had very little left in a 70-45 consolation game loss to Highland, a lesser team than Griffith.
But let's forget that for a minute and concentrate on Lowell's effort against Griffith, easily their best game of the season.
Lowell, which lost at home to Griffith 59-38 on Feb. 6, fell behind 24-15 but rallied with baskets by Jason Corns, Nate Wilbourn and Justin Bales to close within two at the half. The Panthers stepped out to a 35-28 lead in the third quarter but Lowell rallied again and the 6-3 Bales and 6-2 Jim Jeffries continued to get pull-up jump shots. An 8-2 Lowell run cut the lead to 37-36.
Early the fourth quarter, the Panthers got the ball close to the basket for two scores by Harris to boost the edge to 43-38. And when Cliff Wilson hit back to back three point shots against the Devil defense which was collapsing on Harris, Griffith led 53-43 with 2:50 left.
But the Panthers were a little reckless on defense and Griffith sank six consecutive free throws to close the gap to 55-47 before Ryan Brown scored on a steal and layup and a fast break three-point play to make the score 56-52 with 57 seconds to play. Pairs of Panther free throws by Wilson and Shawn Mathis finally iced the victory.
"Everybody knows Wilson," said Magley. "He's a shooter. And Harris. You can't cover everything. I thought we did a pretty good job of using time outs and staying in it. They're able to spread it out pretty well. They did a nice job."
"But I'm proud of this team. The key was that we came to play, and to win, the entire game. We had the benefit of a good draw to get here but I think we've proven to people that we can play."
Griffith coach Jack Gabor said, "Lowell just played better than us and they shot better than us. I was very disappointed in our defense. You've got to get yourself ready for the games. I've got to find the pulse on this team. Lowell showed what being competitive was all about. Coach Magley did a fine job with his players."
"I think I saw something the first time they played," Gabor continued. "I think they were holding back. That game. There wasn't much riding on it. I tried to tell our kids that this was going to be a different Lowell team coming in here."
"They played their possession game and hit their shots. We've got to understand that we're the focus for a lot of teams."
"Teams that play a matchup zone on us... rather than play a zone offense, we stay with a man-to-man offense and that changes the spacing. We've got about 20 entries in our motion offense and we found a couple that work. Once we kick it into Kenny, we're pretty much unstoppable with him shooting or kicking it out to Cliff or Brad (McFarlane)."
Lowell had four players in double figures and they shot 11-of-11 from the foul line. Except for a sequence at the end of the third period where Lowell lost the ball and Jason Leal scored to make it 39-36. If the Devils score there to close out the quarter, Lowell may have won. But the balanced attack with points coming from all over the floor was what Lowell people envisioned at the start of the season.
"We had some disappointing losses early in the year," said Magley, "but our kids stuck together and they played well here. The five seniors I have are a great bunch of kids. Actually, they all are. But we're trying to build a program and we were fortunate enough to get a second life here in the LAC tourney."
LAC NOTES: We'll try to ignore the fact that Lowell got bombed 70-45 by Highland on Friday in the LAC consolation game, Highland led 32-26 at the half and Lowell's shooting went south after that. The Devils scored only five field goals in the second half, three of them by Greg Johnson after the game had been decided.
Lowell hosts PCC champion Wheeler (16-2) Tuesday night in the home finale. The Devils then travel to Crown Point to end the regular season Friday night. CP has lost six of seven after an 8-4 start and has lost 6-4 center Kyle Robbins for the season after repeated concussions.
The Lowell crowd, about 200 fans, was enthusiastic at the Griffith game. The attendance at the LAC finals was poor. A total crowd of about 750 showed up for the semifinals and only about 2,500 came for the match-up of state-rated teams, Griffith and Munster (won by Munster) Friday night. The LAC tourney reportedly moves to the Christmas holidays next year and expands to 16 teams.
Lowell lost to Hammond in the opening game of the 2002 LAC tournament. The Griffith loss was the first game all season that Lowell has made every free throw. Free throw shooting has been a strength. Lowell made 30 of 37 against Kankakee Valley on Feb. 1 and 13 of 17 in the first round of the LAC against Clark on Feb. 13.
LOWELL
(10-10)
Coach Mike Magley (2nd year) 10-12 in 2002
LAC games in CAPS, Home games in bold
Start times are junior varsity starting times
11-26-2002:
41-75 at Lake Central (12-7)
11-29-2002: 70-30 Calumet (3-14)
12-5-2002: 44-50 Hobart (5-13)
12-13-2002: 51-54 Morton (12-7)
12-20-2002: 66-50 at North Newton (9-8)
12-21-2002: 50-70 Hammond (4-13)
1-3-2003: 48-44 at Hanover Central (12-7)
1-4-2003: 48-64 at Bishop Noll (12-7)
1-10-2003: 70-56 at Munster (20-1)
1-18-2003: 62-55 at Whiting (8-11)
1-21-2003: 54-67 at Highland (12-7)
1-24-2003: 56-36 Clark (5-14)
1-28-2003: 50-29 at Lake Station (1-16)
1-31-2003: 69-63 Kankakee Valley (2-16)
2-6-2003: 45-36 at Gavit (1-18)
2-8-2003: 38-59 Griffith (16-3)
Lake
Athletic Conference Tournament
2-13-2003:
41-28 Clark (5-14)
2-17-2003: 64-50 Whiting (8-11)
2-19-2003: 54-60 Griffith (16-3)
2-21-2003: 45-70 Highland (13-7) 3rd place
2-25-2003:
Wheeler (16-2)
2-28-2003: at Crown Point (9-10)
Gary
West Side (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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