Merrillville boys rally in 4th to scuttle upset-minded Bulldogs, 62-60

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith
2-04-2006

Friday, 2-3-2006  boys basketball at Crown Point, IN

MERRILLVILLE (62)  Greg Hill  6-5-18,  James Rowe 3-0-6, Darryl Evans 8-8-26, Bo Patton 1-1-3, Andy Anderson 3-1-7, Josh White  0-2-2,  Isaac White 0-0-0, Ryan Smith 0-0-0, Al Williams 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  21 (17-19) 62.

CROWN POINT (60)  Danny Bouchee 3-4-11, Ben Derks 2-0-4,  Zach Cecich 7-4-18, Stephen Albrecht 8-4-21, Kyle Hanaway 2-0-4, Aleks Alavanja 1-0-2, Keith Dean 0-0-0, Michael Kvachkoff 0-0-0, Andy Krumwied 0-0-0.  TOTALS:  23 (12-19) 60.

FREE THROWS:  MERRILLVILLE (17-19, 89.3%)  Hill 5-5, Evans 8-9, Patton 1-1, Anderson 1-2, Josh White 2-2.   CROWN POINT (12-19, 63.1%)  Bouchee 4-6, Albrecht 4-7, Cecich 4-6.

3-GOALS:  MERRILLVILLE (3) Darryl Evans 2, Greg Hill;  CROWN POINT (2) Danny Bouchee, Stephen Albrecht.

FOULED OUT: CP: Stephen Albrecht (CP) 4th Q - :11 left.

CROWN POINT (2-3-2006) - The day is fast approaching when Crown Point will start beating Merrillville.  It may even be this season.  It wasn't last Friday night.  The Bulldogs managed the final minute especially well and came within a court length pass and a two-hand tip of overcoming a six-point deficit in the final 1:01 of the contest.

But, while the Pirates (12-3, 10-1) stayed within one game of first place Valparaiso (15-1, 11-0) in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) race and Crown Point lost for the sixth game in a row, CP played perhaps their best game of the season. 
 
Merrillville came in with 15 consecutive wins over Crown Point dating back to 1998 and thanks to a 13-1 run at the top of the fourth quarter, the purple-clad Pirates made it 16 in a row.  But the way this game and the 71-62 Pirate win over CP in Merrillville in December have dropped hints that the Bulldogs have closed the gap.

Crown Point (5-10) broke the press consistently, attacked the basket successfully and lead most of the game before the Pirates' experience and shooting brought them back for a sweep of the two-game Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) season series.

"I'm really pleased with our effort tonight," said CP coach Shaun Busick. "I'm really pleased with a lot of the things we did."

He should be.  Crown Point sophomores Stephan Albrecht and Zach Cecich combined for 39 points as the Bulldogs forged leads of 23-18 in the second period and 41-34 in the final minute of the third quarter.  Merrillville, paced by seniors Darryl Evans and Greg Hill, who combined for 44 points, rallied both times and the Pirates led 55-47 with 2:31 to play.

Crown Point then began to squeeze the clock.  A free throw by Cecich and driving layup by sophomore Ben Derks made it 55-50 with 1:50 to go.  Evans sank two foul shots but a free throw and a basket by Albrecht, who was coming off a 22-point game against Boone Grove on Jan. 28, forced a Merrillville time out with 49 seconds to go.

Two more free throws from Evans, the speedy Pirate backcourt star, seemed to ice the game.  But Danny Bouchee scored on a driving layup to make it 59-55 with 25 seconds to go.  The Pirates lost the ball on the dribble and Albrecht was fouled, making two shots for a 59-57 score.  Hill made two foul shots with 11 seconds to go but Bouchee, CP's leading scorer, hit a lean-in 20-footer with one second to go.  Before the ball was passed inbounds, CP's Keith Dean fouled Merrillville's Anthony Anderson. The Pirate junior missed the first foul shot but made the second for a 62-60 lead.

The made foul shot allowed Crown Point's Kyle Hanaway to run the baseline, wind up and throw the ball the length of the floor. Dean caught the ball near the basket. There was contact with a defender but Dean, ironically a transfer from Merrillville, could not grab the pass five feet from the Pirate basket. The ball, and CP's final chance to tie, bounced away.

"That would only have tied the game," said Busick, who campaigned for a foul on the play. "We had the lead and we didn't finish. That's tough for a young team.  But I'm proud of our attitude and our effort."

Crown Point's most impressive number was an unofficial 12 turnovers against Merrillville's full and half court presses.  The Bulldogs' weaving attack denied the Pirates the steals and deflections they usually get.  The 6-2 Albrecht held his own outside while the 6-3, 225-pound Cecich added eight rebounds.

Merrillville coach Jim East said after the game that he almost wished Crown Point had won.  But the Merrillville crowd of about 250 fans in the attendance of nearly 1,000 didn't agree.  It was a loud roller-coaster game enjoyed by almost everyone.

"I just like the way we played tonight," said Busick.  "Moving the basketball and taking care of it.  We changed some thing tonight.  We put Danny Bouhcee at the point and moved Stephen (Albrecht) to the wing.  We'll get going.  We're going to hang in there."

CP NOTES:  CP has lost six games in a row.  They lost eight straight early in the 2004 season.  The Bulldogs have not lost more than eight in a row in at least 15 years.

The lack of a girls game on Friday night (CP played Merrillville Saturday) added to the crowd somewhat as CP girls players and coach Tom May were in the stands.  Merrillville girls players were on hand to root for the Pirates.  Crown Point's wrestling team was honored before the game for winning the wrestling team regional title.

CP coach Shaun Busick, who coached at three schools outside Northwest Indiana before coming to Crown Point, has more than once this season made an observation that many before him have found out.

"What happens here is that they (the defenders) keep a hand on you the whole game and it doesn't affect you until the last four minutes of the game.  Then it wears on you.  That's what happened to us twice against Merrillville.  The referees (different refs in the two games) don't understand that.  They say, they're not getting an advantage with it (the hand-checking).  But they are.  I'm going to talk to them about it.  It does gain an advantage late in a game."

"That's why I think that teams around here do not do well in the state tournament.  Because the games are called so differently.  Not badly.  Just differently.  It's like a college level game they're calling and these are just kids."

With the start of the girls state tournament, CP and most other teams will play on Thursday, Feb. 9.  The Bulldogs host LaPorte (6-11). The Slicers smoked Michigan City 57-44 Friday night, making 24 of 34 from the foul line.