CROWN POINT, IN (1-7-2005) - No basketball team looks worse than when they can't hit an open shot.

Despite a good effort, Crown Point looked bad Friday, scoring just 36 points, going scoreless in the final 4:18 and losing on the road at Chesterton 45-36.

“Was it our defense?” smiled Trojan coach Tom Pellar. “I think it was. I hope it was. Both teams missed a lot of open shots.”

“They did a good job of getting back and stopping us and we did a good job of getting back and stopping them. And we had a half court game.”

CP isn't going to win a lot of half court games on the road against talented teams like Chesterton.

“I thought our kids did everything they could,” said coach Tom Johnson. “I thought our half court defense was great. But so many shots went in and out or kicked out.”

“When we had a 36-34 lead (5:00 to play) and we had a really good look and it kicked out. That made a big difference and we just didn't hit anything after that.”

This was what Johnson called a 'typical Duneland Conference game.” Crown Point used the threat of 6-4 center Ryan Brown inside to get some open shots. But Chesterton limited Brown and 6-5 Brian Maloney close to the basket and CP missed their make-able shots.

Chesterton got the ball inside to 6-3 freshman Zach Novak, who scored nine in the first half. But the Bulldogs shut down Novak in the final two quarters and Chesterton missed open shots.

The Trojans went scoreless for 4:41 in the middle of the second half and a 5-0 CP run gave the visitors a 34-32 lead with 5:24 to go. Chesterton's Adam Nallenwig drove for a layup to tie the game but CP guard Mark Patrick hit a free throw line jump shot to make it 36-34 with 4:18 to play.

The Bulldogs then missed their final 10 shots and Nallenwig's two foul shots put the home team ahead 38-36 with 1:33 to go. Curt Bradford was 4-of-4 from the line as Chesterton closed out the win.

“We used a 1-3-1,” said Pellar, “a 2-3 and a man-to-man. Just to keep them off balance. Just a change of pace. We see them so often, they know what we're going to do and we know what they're going to do.”

“This is a big win for us. It get us back to .500 against an experienced team with a good coach. This was a turning point for us. We almost couldn't lose this one at home.”

Crown Point used an 11-4 run in the first half to lead 14-9 with 7:20 to go in the second period. Novak, a 6-3, 205 pound wing, capped a 12-4 run with a three-point shot from the corner to give the Trojans a 21-18 edge. But a three-pointer by CP's Chachi Albrecht sparked a 5-2 run that tied the game 23-23 at the half.

This was not a poorly played game; it was a poor shooting game. The two teams combined for just 28 turnovers. The pace of the game was very slow for two teams that like to push the ball up the floor but there still should have been about 20 more points on each side.

“We wanted to hold them under 50,” said Peller. “And we held them under 40. They missed some they usually make and so did we.”

Johnson explained that you don't try to fix someone's shot during a game, even if you think it's off. “You just tell them to keep shooting,” he said. “You might take someone out if he throws up a couple of air balls. But a lot of those shots looked good. They just kicked out. In that case, you just tell the kid to keep shooting.”

“One of our guys came into the locker room and he was really frustrated. He said, 'I've put in so much time on my shot and I'm getting nothing out of it. I told him that he is getting something out of it. He's taking the right shots. You just have to keep shooting.”

CP used 6-1 sophomore Matt Ernest at the point in the final moments to try to create some offense. Ernest is playing much more of a role coming off the bench with senior Mike Smith in the back court.

Johnson gave a lot of credit to 6-2 senior Seth Henderson for defending against Novak, the Trojans leading scorer.

Johnson was not discouraged by this loss.

“Our defense is fine. We've held the last three teams to 50 points or less. And we're running our offense a lot better than we were a month ago. I like the decisions we're making.”

Now the ball has to go in a little.

DOG NOTES:  Chesterton lost 6-11 sophomore Evan Schmidt to an ankle injury in the second quarter. It was estimated he'd be out for two weeks. Schmidt is much bigger than he was last season.

“He's gained 50 pounds,” said coach Tom Peller. “And he's still growing.” Schmidt, the tallest player in the DAC, is a major college prospect, not because of what he'll do in high school, but because he could eventually be 7-1 and about 275 pounds by the time he's 22 years old.

Crown Point turned back Portage 56-47 on Jan. 4 behind 8-of-17 shooting and 17 points from center Ryan Brown (10.0 ppg.). Matt Ernest scored a season-high nine points as CP led 34-21 at the half.

Crown Point now has three consecutive 'double-header' weekends, starting Jan. 14-15 against Lake Central (6-4) and South Bend Adams (4-4). Lake Central broke the 21-game home court winning streak of LaPorte with a 49-38 upset Friday night.

The other 'double-headers' are at Michigan City (4-6) and at home against East Chicago (5-4) on Jan. 21-22. and against Valparaiso (8-2) and at Munster (7-3) on Jan. 28-29.

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CROWN POINT (4-5)

Coach: Tom Johnson, 106-79 in 9th year at school, 139-110 in 12th year overall

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT/ TIME	USA-365.com Broadcast Time
Nov. 27	at Griffith {3A}	W, 66-36
Dec. 3	LaPorte {4A}‡	W, 69-57	7:15 PM
Dec. 10	at Lake Central {4A}‡	L, 61-64
Dec. 14	at Valparaiso {4A}‡	L, 35-55
Dec. 17	Michigan City {4A}‡	L, 51-55	7:15 PM
Dec. 28	Merrillville {4A}‡	L, 53-67	7:15 PM
Dec. 30	at Hammond Gavit {3A}	W, 47-35
Jan. 4	Portage {4A}‡	W, 56-47	7:15 PM
Jan. 7	at Chesterton {4A}‡	L, 36-45
Jan. 14	Lake Central {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Jan. 15	at South Bend Adams {4A}	7:30 pm
Jan. 21	at Michigan City {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Jan. 22	East Chicago Central {4A}	7:30 pm
Jan. 28	Valparaiso {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Jan. 29	at Munster {4A}	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Feb. 4	at Merrillville {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 10	at LaPorte {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 18	at Portage {4A}‡	7:30 pm
Feb. 19	Lowell {4A}	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
Feb. 25	Chesterton {4A}‡	7:30 pm	7:15 PM
‡DUNELAND CONFERENCE GAME

Chesterton (5-5)

Coach: Tom Peller, 34-19 in 3rd year at school

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Revised: January 09, 2005 .