Boone Grove defensive slump results in 3-3 start, 3rd place finish in South County Tourney

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
12-27-2006

Friday, 12-22-2006 at Kouts, IN - South County Tournament - (3rd place) boys basketball  

BOONE GROVE (70)  Nick DiMarco 2-0-4, Joe Johnson 7-0-14, Jake Pivarnik 0-2-2, David Mastey 9-2-20, Bryce Palleson 9-9-27, Mike Eleftheri 1-0-3, Mark Rosinski 0-0-0,  Alex Hearn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 28 (13-15, 86.6%) 70.

KOUTS (69)  Morgan Drazer 9-6-24, Preston Frame 1-0-3, Jon Hand 3-3-9, Adam Marlatt 5-4-14, Kyle Mueller 3-0-7, Abe Osborne 1-0-2, Alex Otto 2-1-5, Brad Parks 0-2-2.  24 (16-23, 69.1%) 69.

FREE THROWS:  BOONE (13-15, 86.6%) Palleson 9-10, Mastey 2-3, Pivarnik 2-2;  KOUTS (16-23, 69.1%) Drazer 6-7, Frame 0-2, Hand 3-4, Marlatt 4-5, Mueller 0-1, Otto 1-2, Parks 2-2.

3-GOALS:  BOONE (1) Michael Elftheri; KOUTS (5) Jo hand 3, Kyle Mueller, Preston Frame.
 

Thursday, 12-21-2006 at Kouts, IN - South County Tournament - (semifinal) boys basketball  

BOONE GROVE (42)  Nick DeMarco 1-3-6, Joe Johnson 3-1-7, Jake Pivarnik 3-0-7, David Mastey 1-0-2, Bryce Palleson 6-2-14, Mike Eleftheri 2-0-4, Mark Rosinski 1-0-2, Alex Hearn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17 (6-10, 60%) 42.

MORGAN TOWNSHIP (60)  Troy Turner 5-5-15, Eric Spaulding 4-6-14, John Grubl 5-0-10, Steve Melton 4-0-8, Steve Litrell 5-0-11, David Sheets 0-2-2, Jarrett Washington 0-0-0, Dustin Scardina 0-0-0.  23 (13-16, 81.2%) 60.

FREE THROWS:  BOONE (6-10, 60%) Palleson 2-2, DiMarco 3-4, Johnson 1-2, Mastey 0-2;  MORGAN (13-16, 81.2%) Turner 5-6, Spaulding 6-8, Sheets 2-2.

ASSISTS:  BOONE (10) Master 3, Johnson 2, Palleson 2, DiMarco, Pivarnik, Rosinski;  MORGAN (4) Litrell 2, Turner, Spaulding.

REBOUNDS:  BOONE (22) Palleson 7, Pivarnik 7, Rosinski 4, Johnson 2, DiMarco, Eleftheri;  MORGAN (28) Spaulding 10, Grubl 7, Washington 3,  Turner 5, Sheets 2, Melton.

3-GOALS:  BOONE (1) Joe Johnson; MORGAN (1) Steve Litrell.

KOUTS (12-22-2006) - This was not what Boone Grove had hoped for.  A resounding loss and a shaky win and third place was less satisfying than it normally is in a four-team tournament.

Boone gave up 69 points, including 46 in the second half and barely escaped with a 70-69 victory Friday night in the third place game of the 70th South County Tournament, 24 hours after they took a hard line 60-42 spanking from the tournament champ and now Porter County Conference (PCC) favorite Morgan Township Cherokees.

The Wolves solved some of their offensive problems the second night in the tiny old Kouts gym at the south end of Porter County, but they can't find defense to save their lives.  Kouts (1-7) has won just three of their last 28 games and for Boone to need two Bryce Palleson free shots with 12 seconds left to win by a point was probably not cause for celebration.  Boone looked slow against Morgan, a squad with no one taller than 6-foot-2 and no lighting crossover dribble masters.  The Cherokees were just a step faster all night.

"We know they've got a couple kids who are big and stocky," said Dustin Nelson, head coach of the Cherokees.  "If you take those boys out, they go very young.  I don't care who you are, in a tournament, that's hard to do.  This may not look like a big win, but to us, it's a huge win.  You know about the PCC.  Every win is like beating your brother."

Boone led Morgan 8-2 early in the semifinals on baskets by Jake Pivarnik, Joe Johnson and Bryce Palleson.  But that was the high point of the night in front of about 500 fans.  John Grubl, starting for the first time on the varsity, scored three first quarter baskets and looked confident.  Veterans Troy Turner and Steve Litrell sparked an 8-0 run late in the first quarter that gave Morgan a 19-14 edge with 7:10 to go in the half.

Boone center David Mastey did have four first half assists, but Morgan's three-guard (really all five Cherokee starters were guards) attack created bad match ups that Boone could not find an answer for during a six point third quarter.  Steve Melton's steal and crossover dribble reverse layup made it 42-27 Morgan with 2:30 left in the third period.

Eric Spalding, a 6-foot-2 junior, out-hustled Boone, grabbing rebounds and loose balls the Wolves should have had.  Spaulding had 14 points and 10 rebounds and he stole most of the boards because he just grabbed with more gusto.

"He works very hard," said Nelson.  "His dad played basketball for Homer Drew at Bethel College (in the 80s), so he's a guy who just plays hard.  He spends a lot of time in the weight room and he used to have terrible hands, but he's worked on that.  That's what we like to see."

Boone coach Matt McKay was not happy with his team and it wasn't a one-night special.

"We didn't play well at LaCrosse," he said.  "I don't know if it was a carry over from that night.  More a 'carry on'.  I don't know if we were playing that well in the first quarter tonight. Defensively, we're giving up lay ups and we practice to prevent that.  Offensively, we can't make any shots.  Jake and Bryce cant make a shot and they're our top two scorers.  We've just got to go back to work."

Morgan (6-2) won the South County Tournament 48-37 over Hebron in a game that ended with just four Hawk players still eligible.  There is a South County junior varsity tournament as well and once you played in the JV tournament, you could not play in the varsity playoff.  Hebron only had eight players in uniform to start the game but the Cherokees were under the same limitations.  Morgan's intensity was the story of the two day tournament.

"We don't have any other answer," said Nelson, the former coach of Washington Township girls earlier in the decade.  "We aren't big.  We aren't fast.  We aren't strong and we really don't have any great shooters.  We many look fast because we're moving efficiently, because I don't think we're fast.  We had to sit a couple of kids down so we can play defense.  We had to work on that.  We trap particular people at particular times.  We moved Grubl up because of the match up against Boone.  We put him in instead of Jarrett Washington because of the match up.  He can do a lot of things and he had a very good start against a good team.  Boone is very strong and we're going to see them again.  We were concerned about their offensive weapons."

Seniors Dustin Scardina and Steve Melton both went to the Morgan bench early in the season for defensive liabilities, they worked their way back into the mix and the Cherokees are the better for it.

"We've been preaching defense for two years.  Morgan Township has always taken a lot of pride in defense under (former 300-win Morgan coach) coach Matt Bush for a long time.  I have aligned myself with that.  I was the one who had to change.  It took a year for me to buy into it.  I was an offensive coach at Washington Township with the girls.  But I realized that we don't have that much talent.  Not last year and not this year.  The only way we can win is to play defense."

Boone might have felt good about getting back on the floor the next night, but even before that game, McKay said, "We've got to get back on the practice floor."

COUNTY NOTES:  Boone Grove led LaCrosse 33-24 after three quarters on Dec. 15 only to be outscored 24-5 in the fourth quarter in a stunning 48-38 loss.  The Wolves have not been 2-3 since 1997 when they were 0-3 after three games.  That team did come back to go 18-8 and win the PCC and Sectional titles.  Jake Pivarnik was 3-of-15 shooting and he was feared by Morgan.

"I'd like to think we had something to do with that," said Nelson.  "We know he can shoot the lights out.  That's why we made the change (starting JV guard Jon Grubl) to get more speed on defense."

Boone center David Mastey scored a career-high 20 against Kouts in the consolation game, and the Wolves led by 12 at the half, but almost let it get away.  Bryce Palleson (19.7 ppg.) scored a season high 29 against Hebron.

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Revised: December 27, 2006 .