Bulldogs take quick lead before pressure defense seals win for Merrillville, 53-43
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003   (in Merrillville)

CROWN POINT (43)  Brian Sparks 6-1-13, Aaron Miller 0-0-0, Chad Pruzin 1-1-4, Chris Thomas 6-6-19, Kyle Robbins 1-0-2, Jimmy Little 0-0-0, Joel Heavner 1-0-2, Chachi Albrecht 0-0-0, Sam Henderson 1-0-2,  Mike Harris 0-1-1.   TOTALS: 15-11-43.

FTS: 11-14, 78.5 percent  (Thomas 6-6, Spark 1-2, Pruzin 1-2, Albrecht 2-2, Robbins 0-2)
TURNOVERS: 21
REBOUNDS: Kyle Robbins 6, Chris Thomas 5
ASSISTS: Chad Pruzin  3
BLOCKED SHOTS: Chris Thomas 3
FOULED OUT: none
3-POINT GOALS (2) Chad Pruzin, Chris Thomas.

MERRILLVILLE (53)  Lavell Cook 6-1-13, Josh Mayo 4-6-16,  Jimmy Reitz 3-1-7, Chris Harris 2-2-6, Igor Ristevski 2-2-8, Dennis Howell 1-0-2, Dezmone Jackson 0-0-0, David Coughlin 0-0-0.   TOTALS:  18-12-53

FTS: 12-19, 63.1 percent  (Mayo 5-6, Harris 2-4, Ristevski 2-2, Cook 1-2, Reitz 1-3, Lalic 1-2
TURNOVERS: 9
REBOUNDS: Lavell Cook 7, Chris Harris 6
ASSISTS: Josh Mayo 4
STEALS: Chris Harris 5
FOULED OUT: NONE
3-POINT GOALS (5)  Josh Mayo 3, Igor Ristevski 2.

MERRILLVILLE  (1-11-2003) - Crown Point started fast and looked good. They had about 500 fans behind them as they built a lead of 11 points in the second quarter. The Bulldogs had the taller, more experienced team with the better record.

But I'll be honest. There was never a time during the game when I was confident that CP would win.  I've seen this match up too many times.

Sure enough, Crown Point didn't win. Leading 38-31 with 3:11 left in the third quarter and 42-39 with six minutes left, the Bulldogs fell silent down the stretch, losing 53-43 in the annual Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) match up between the two teams Saturday night.

It was ugly but not unprecedented. In the last 15 years, in 29 games between the two teams, Crown Point has won only twice.

"I don't really have much to say," said coach Tom Johnson, whose team's season ended four times in six years by Merrillville. "They kicked our butt in the season half. The fourth quarter in particular."

"I'm at a loss for anything else to say.  I can't point to very many things we did well on the offensive end.  We didn't take care of the ball. We know what they're going to do. We didn't handle it. I thought we executed what we wanted to do well for 2 1/2 quarters."

Crown Point (7-4, 1-1 DAC) roared out of the gate, leading 7-0, 15-7 and 24-13 with 5:03 left in the half.  Led by senior point guard Chad Pruzin, wing player Brian Sparks and multipurpose center Chris Thomas, the Bulldogs pushed the ball up the floor, spread the Merrillville defense and got to the basket for short shots.

But the shorter, quicker Pirates (5-5, 2-0 DAC) overcame all CP's veteran stars with solid man-to-man defense, an effective press and accurate shooting from inside and out. Merrillville coach Jim East inserted 6-4 forward Jimmy Reitz, more of a running forward, instead of George Lalic, a low post center who had played well (12 points, 5 rebounds) against Griffith's Kenny Harris the week before. Reitz did a better job of staying with Thomas (21 ppg.), whose strength is running the floor.  East also asked 5-11 senior guard Chris Harris to harass Pruzin, instead of 5-6 sophomore Josh Mayo and lit a fire under 6-3 scoring leader LaVell Cook, who scored eight second quarter points after a scoreless first period.

"I'd like to say that I have no answer to why we have so much success against Crown Point," said Merrillville coach Jim East, anticipating the obvious question.  "Tom Johnson is an outstanding coach and Crown Point has an outstanding program. We just try to play the best defense we can against that type of team. We contest the three, defend the floor. This is my best defensive team.  Chris Harris was just relentless on Pruzin.  Jimmy Reitz did a good job coming in to guard Thomas.  But there's no magic formula."

Maybe not.  Crown Point simply began to lose the ball against Merrillville's pressure defense. Trailing 38-31, Merrillville ran off eight points in a row, sparked by a couple of steals by Cook, the quickest player on the floor.  CP, which lost twice to Merrillville in each of the last three seasons,  led at 42-39 on a 12 footer by Kyle Robbins with 7:40 left in the game. Back-up guard Dennis Howell tied the game with a driving feed to Reitz for a layup after a free throw by Harris.  After a Crown Point time out, CP's Mike Harris split two free throws for a 43-42 lead with 3:54 to play. But the Bulldog defense lost Merrillville's best long distance shooter Igor Ristevski, who sank a 20-footer from the right corner for a 45-43 Pirate lead.  Pruzin missed a three-pointer trying to regain the lead and Merrillville went into East's trademark four-corner attack.  Speedy point guard Josh Mayo, who may be the top sophomore in northwest Indiana, zipped into the middle of the old 'North Carolina' spread attack and fed Reitz for the 47-43 lay up.

After another CP time out, Cook stripped Pruzin of the ball and forced a jump ball situation which gave possession back to Merrillville.  Cook  missed an ill-advised Pirate shot with 50 seconds to play but he immediately stole the ball back and fed Mayo, who was fouled. The sophomore hit two foul shots to give the home team an insurmountable 49-43 lead with 28 seconds to play.

The Bulldogs did not score in the final 3:54 of the game and they committed 10 turnovers in the final quarter, scoring just three points.

"I challenged my kids," said East, "because we've had so much success in the DAC.  I told them that this is the game of the year.  Next week, LaPorte will be the game of the year.  But this was a  big one.  If we were going to say in the race, you've got to win the home games."

"To hold Crown Point to three points in the fourth quarter, a team that is that offensive-minded, is incredible.  But hey, legs get tired.  Thomas was pretty lively in the first half. He outran us.  But I think we tired him in the second half."

The tendency is to say that CP, with a season-low 43 points, played very poorly and that was true at the offensive end.  But the whole truth is more ominous.  Merrillville is a lot better than 5-5.  A team with a coach that bases much of his style on ball handling skill and defensive man-to-man quickness, has four very quick players in Mayo, Harris, Howell and Cook.  Mayo (14.3 ppg, 28-35 FTs, 17 3-point goals in 10 games), whose only weakness is his size (he's 5-6 at best) is second probably only to Bishop Noll's Gary Patterson as a point guard in this area.  The Pirates committed only nine turnovers in a very close game in front of a loud crowd of about 1,200 in the bright, purple colored Merrillville gym.

"When you put the ball in his hands," said East, "he's pretty good.  He's pretty good at the free throw line for a sophomore.  I thought the effort was there.  We'll get better and we'll win some ball games.  We've got a long way to go.  I told our kids, 'This could be a springboard (to a top season).  It was last year.  It's up to you.'  I think our kids are much better when they get up and come to school and get on a schedule." 

DOG NOTES:  Sometimes coaches will intentionally hold back an offensive or defensive wrinkle until after half-time, forcing opposing players to adjust to the subtle change on the fly.  Teams like Merrillville and Crown Point haven't done anything the other side hasn't seen, but confusion on two or three possessions can mean the game.

I asked Merrillville's Jim East if he used more than one press against Crown Point.

"No comment," said East, who commented on absolutely everything else.  "We just press."

East said, "I feel for coach Johnson. I actually feel sorry for him. There's no magic answer (to why Merrillville has won 27 of the last 29 from CP).  It must be hard on him.  I hope it's what we do.  I thought last week (against Griffith) we couldn't play this same kind of ball because we played the night before.

Crown Point will probably see Merrillville again at the Valparaiso Sectional in March but that's a long way off.  The Bulldogs now face a murderer's row of Valparaiso (9-1), Adams (7-3), Chesterton (7-2), Munster (11-0), LaPorte (6-4) and Gary Roosevelt (8-1).  "We've got to play better than this," said CP's Tom Johnson, "or we're going to lose a lot more games."

2003 CROWN POINT (7-4, 1-1)
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 (0-10)
11-30-2002:  86-85 Lake Central (7-4)
12-6-2002:  76-41 at Clark (3-4)
12-7-2002:  56-54 (West Lafayette) Harrison  (5-4)
12-13-2002:  59-40  at Griffith (6-1)
12-14-2002:  55-60 East Chicago (7-3)
12-20-2002:  79-68 PORTAGE (2-8)

Highland Holiday Tournament
12-27-2002:  55-68  Munster (11-0)
12-28-2002:  69-33 Kankakee Valley (3-7)
1-3-2003:  92-43 Calumet (2-9)
1-11-2003:  43-53 at MERRILLVILLE (5-5)

1-17-2003 (F) VALPARAISO (9-1) 6 p.m. 
1-18-2003 (S) at South Bend Adams (7-3)  5:30 p.m.
1-25-2003 (S) at MICHIGAN CITY (2-7) 6 p.m.
1-31-2003 (F) at CHESTERTON  (7-2) 6 p.m.
2-1-2003 (S) at Munster (11-0)  6 p.m.
2-7-2003 (F) LaPORTE (6-4) 6 p.m.
2-13-2003 (Th) at Hobart (4-4) 6 p.m.
2-21-2003 (F) GARY ROOSEVELT (8-1) 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 .