Bulldogs fall 54-47 in Region Rumble to Washington

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-03-2007

Monday, 01-01-2007 at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN - "Region Rumble"

WASHINGTON (54)  Andrew Obaseki 2-0-4,  Jon Sturgeon 1-2-4, Kyle Price 2-0-4, Tyler Zeller 7-10-24, Bryan Bouchie 4-4-12, Tanner Wildridge 3-0-6, Ross Wade 0-0-0, Seth Coy 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 19-16-54.

CROWN POINT (47)  Stephen Albrecht 7-0-17, Ben Derks 4-3-12, Kyle Hanaway 1-3-5, Aleks Alavanja 0-2-2, Zach Cecich 2-7-11, Derrick Garletts 0-0-0, Andy Krumwied 0-0-0.    TOTALS: 14-13-47.

FREE THROWS:  WASHINGTON (16-22, 72.7%)  Sturgeon 2-2, Bouchie 4-7, Zeller 10-12, Wilddrigde 0-1;  CROWN POINT (13-20, 65%) Cecich 7-8, Alavanja 2-3, Hanaway 3-5, Derks 1-2, Albrecht 0-2.

REBOUNDS:  WASHINGTON (28)  Zeller 11, Wildridge 7, Bouchie 5, Price 3, Wade, Obaseki; CROWN POINT (15) Albrecht 5, Alavanja 5, Derks 2, Cecich, Hanaway, Garletts.

ASSISTS:  WASHINGTON (9) Obaseki 4, Wade, Sturgeon, Price, Zeller, Bouchie;  CROWN POINT (7) Albrecht 3, Hanaway 2, Alavanja 2.

STEALS:  WASHINGTON (2) Obaseki, Wildridge;  CROWN POINT (7) Albrecht 3, Hanaway 2, Alavanja 2.

3-GOALS:  WASHINGTON (0) CROWN POINT (6) Stephen Albrecht 3, Ben Derks 3.

VALPARAISO, IN (01-01-2007) - Might have been a little too much to ask for Crown Point to beat arch-rival Merrillville and come back three days later in a neutral site holiday game.
Might have been a little too much to expect CP to beat a team with two 6-foot-10, Division I players, too.  The Bulldogs didn't have as much intensity as they had in the 68-63 victory over Merrillville last Friday, and they might have had a better opponent overall.

Washington (6-2), the 2005 Class 3A state champion from Southern Indiana's Daviess County used their height and a decided rebounding advantage to slow Crown Point's 65-points-per-game offense.

"I don't think we really played well," said Swan.  "You saw us playing Friday.  We were nothing like we did tonight."

To say Crown Point played badly would not be totally accurate.  But they didn't play well.  They didn't have the excitement level they'd had against the Pirates.  When basketball slows,  the taller team almost always wins.  Washington, with 6-foot-10 senior Bryan Bouchie and 6-foot-11 Tyler Zeller, slowed the game to take advantage of their biggest assets.

"I think we're a pretty good team," Swan said.  "I feel like when we play well, we're able to beat anybody, but when we don't we can lose to anybody."

Washington was not just anybody.  Bouchie had 12 points and four blocked shots while Zeller, a junior, had 24 points and 11 rebounds.  Washington out-rebounded CP 28-15 and the tall boys forced CP to change their normal shots.  CP led only 4-2 and could not make their transition game work as it had during a four-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs start 6-3 Zach Cecich and 6-6 Aleks Alavanja up front.  Cecich was very physical and scored 11, but in a half court game, there's no way they could match Washington.  CP made a late run, cutting a 38-30 lead to 38-37 on a Stephen Albrecht basket with 28 seconds left.  But you never had the feeling that CP would win.  Zeller made six free throws in a row down the stretch.  CP was 13 of 20 from the line and missed two key free shots in the final quarter.  You almost wished they'd play another game immediately afterwards and put some money on it so you could see how they really matched up.

"They (CP) were a lot more talented than the teams we've played," said Zeller, the brother of 2005 all-stater Luke Zeller, who now comes off the bench at Notre Dame.  "We've played Evansville Bosse and Terre Haute North.  They were similar to those two."

The difficulty in facing Washington is stopping both Zeller and Bouchie, a Valparaiso University recruit, from getting the ball close to the basket offensively or getting it off the board defensively.

"When I'm in foul trouble," says Zeller, "he (Bouchie) comes in and plays.  When they double down on one of us, the other of us can get shots that they couldn't get if the other one wasn't there."

The Bulldogs made just 10 turnovers and shot a respectable 6-of-15 from three point range, but the game was lifeless at times.  Despite a very good crowd, the lack of a rooting interest for most made it a quiet night.  CP played down to the emotion level of the crowd and that helped Washington, which needs to use the size they have.

"I just told them to make us look good now," said Swan.  "Don't get eliminated in the first round of the sectional and embarrass us."

Nothing about this game was embarrassing at all.  As defeats go, a non conference loss on a neutral site to a quality team isn't a bad one.

RUMBLE NOTES:  Crown Point's Stephen Albrecht played 29 minutes even though he was ill.

"He had the flu," said coach Clint Swan, "and I didn't take him off there much at all.  He gave a great effort."

Over 3,500 fans chose to sacrifice the Michigan-USC Rose Bowl game to watch the triple-header action at the 8th annual Region Rumble.  The crowd was a big upgrade over any of the previous seven 'Rumbles'.  There were three major reasons, according to many.  1.) The much-hyped Valparaiso team, probably the best team ever to play in the 'Rumble', certainly drew out the home crowd in Valparaiso.  2.) The location: Valparaiso Athletics and Recreation Center (ARC) is a better and more kid-friendly site than Hammond's lovable old Civic Center.  There were so many children in the ARC Monday, you'd have thought that Hannah Montana was in concert.  3.) The date. New Year's Day proved to be a time when lots of folks had nothing to do and welcomed the chance to see some basketball games.  Obviously, no other teams were playing and everyone who wanted to see the game had the chance.

Crown Point, which has 10 juniors on the roster Monday returning, already agreed to be in the Rumble on New Year's Day in 2008.  The opponent, almost certainly a school outside of Northwest Indiana, has not been selected.

"We're already looking forward to being here next year," said Clint Swan.  

CP athletic director Jerry Caravana adds, "The year after that, this spot in the schedule will be taken by Hanover Central."

Luke Zeller has obviously been interviewed before.

"I don't know what it's like to be short," he admits.  "I'm the guy who always wanted to play guard when I was younger but it's never going to happen."

In the first game Wheeler beat Class 1A Attica 49-33 as 6-foot-2 Becca Bruszewski scored 25 and blocked three shots.  Valparaiso (10-1) beat (Chicago) Washington (6-3) in overtime 50-48 in the third 'Rumble' game Monday.  Valpo played without 6-foot-8 all-stater Rob Hummel, who was sitting out after a concussion last week.

Andrean's Courtney Pishkur and Hanover Central's Charlie Huffnagle both reached the final-5 in the first annual 'Region Rumble' three-point shooting contest.

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Revised: January 03, 2007 .