Crown Point shocks 4A No.1 Valparaiso in upset, 59-55

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
01-28-2007

Friday, January 26, 2007 - Duneland Athletic Conference game at Crown Point

VALPARAISO (55)  Rob Hummel 6-2-16, Kevin Meyne 2-0-4, Marcus Biggs 0-4-4, Nate Windsor 1-0-3, Scott Martin 10-5-26,  Trent Reddington 0-0-0, Travis Allen 0-0-0, Joe Vaznonis 1-0-2, Matt Enzinger 0-0-0.  TOTALS: 20 (11-17) 55.

CROWN POINT (59)  Kyle Hanaway 3-4-11, Ben Derks 0-0-0, Aleks Alavanja 3-1-7, Zach Cecich 2-0-4, Matt Ernest 2-0-4, Mitchell Robinson 1-0-2, Stephen Albrecht 8-9-31.   TOTALS: 19 (14-25) 59.

FREE THROWS:  Valparaiso (11-17, 64.7%) Hummel 2-3, Biggs 4-6, Martin 5-8;  CROWN POINT (14-25, 56%) Albrecht 9-13, Hanaway 4-4, Alavanja 1-2, Cecich 0-2, Ernest 0-2, Robinson 0-2.

REBOUNDS:  Valpo (31) Martin 9, Hummel 7, Meyne 5, Biggs 4, Windsor 4, Vaznonis 2;  CROWN POINT (23) Alavanja 7, Albrecht 6, Cecich 4, Hanaway 3, Robinson 2, Ernest.

ASSISTS:  Valparaiso (7) Hummel 3, Martin, Windsor, Biggs, Meyne;  CROWN POINT (11) Hanaway 6, Ernest 3, Derks, Cecich.

STEALS:  Valpo (9) Hummel 2, Meyne 2, Martin 2, Reddington, Biggs, Windsor;  CROWN POINT (4) Albrecht 2, Hanaway 2.

BLOCKED SHOTS:  Valpo (8) Hummel 4, Martin 2, Meyne 2;  CROWN POINT (0).

TURNOVERS:  Valpo (10);  CROWN POINT (12).

FOULED OUT:  Marcus Biggs (V)  0:33 left- 4th Qtr.

3-GOALS:  VALPO (4) Rob Hummel 2, Scott Martin, Nate Windsor;  CP (7) Stephen Albrecht 6, Kyle Hanaway.

CROWN POINT  (1-26-2007) - You had to be there.  And even if you were, it was hard to believe.  How many times in a row had Valparaiso defeated Crown Point?  Eight?  The Vikings beat the Bulldogs 74-50 just six weeks ago.  And wasn't it CP that got smoked up 75-48 seven days earlier by East Chicago?  And wasn't Valparaiso ranked No. 1 in the state?  It's all true.  But for one night.  Maybe one night only, it all got turned around.  Crown Point fell behind 17-8 early, but when it was all said and much more was done, Crown Point had rejected a team they, on paper, could not ever beat, stopping Valparaiso 59-55 late Friday in Northwest Indiana's upset of the year.

Matched against 6-foot-8 all-stater Rob Hummel, Crown Point's 6-foot-2 junior Stephen Albrecht got lost against the Vikings' defense and got found by his teammates for a stunning 31 points, including 6-of-6 from three-point range.  No one had scored 30 points against Valparaiso all season.  The Vikings, who had beaten nine teams by 20 points or more, had allowed just 45 points per game all season.

"I don't know," Albrecht said, as he limped out the door with a leg he injured in the third quarter.  "I was 5-of-20 against them the first time.  My teammates just kept getting me the ball and the shots kept going in."

Point guard Kyle Hanaway explained, "He was unreal.  When he shoots it, I know it's going in when he shoots."

There was nobody who knew what was coming in the first quarter.  There was no indication in the first 10 minutes that Crown Point (8-8) was going to do anything but lose big.  CP went scoreless for almost four minutes while Valparaiso struggled to an 8-2 lead.  Back-to-back baskets by Hummel and Kevin Meyne boosted the Vikings to a 17-8 lead two minutes into the second period.  But a three-pointer by Albrecht started an 8-2 run that helped close the gap to 23-21 at halftime.

Valpo, which lost lead guard Marcus Biggs to three first quarter fouls, led 27-25 midway in the third quarter before the game heated up.  Albrecht drove to the basket to score to tie the game and he hit a three-point basket for a 30-27 lead.  Next time down the floor, Valpo's 6-foot-8 Martin, who averages 23 points a game, was called for an offensive foul, bowling over CP's 6-2 senior Matt Ernest.  Valpo coach Bob Punter, who clearly didn't like the 10 personal fouls called on Valpo in the first half, drew a technical foul at this point and two free shots by Albrecht made it 32-27.  Martin, the DAC MVP in 2006, went to the bench with four fouls with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
 
After Hummel hit a 10-foot jumper, Ernest scored on a short baseline shot to make it 34-30 after three quarters.

Hanaway hit a short jump shot to start the fourth quarter, and after Hummel missed a three-pointer, Hanaway ran the ball up the floor and flared it out to Albrecht for another three-point goal and a 39-30 lead with 7:12 left in the game.

"I can't really explain it," Hanaway said later.  "We weren't hitting anything early.  Once we got in a rhythm, we got some adrenaline going, we were right there with them.  We were staying with them punch for punch.  Fourth quarter, I knew we were in it.  I don't know if I ever knew we had it (the win), but by the fourth quarter I knew we were in it for the long haul."

It is an understatement to say that Valparaiso was very unhappy about the officiating, which saw 26 fouls called against the Vikings and only 14 whistled on the home team.  CP's Matt Ernest drew two crucial offensive fouls in a 60-second span in the third quarter and he did do a little acting on the first one.  But Valpo didn't cover Albrecht, who came in averaging 18 points a game.  The Vikings played a zone defense in the second half, possibly due to foul trouble, and that played right into CP's hands.  The Bulldogs had 63 three-point baskets in 13 games BEFORE Friday night.  The Vikings also seemed to flow to the ball.  That's good in theory, but bad when the other team's top shooter is on the weak side and you slide towards the ball and away from him.  But with that said, Crown Point was down nine points early against a team that had beaten theM seven times in a row and they had no offense.

As much as coaches say that defense wins, offense won this game for Crown Point.  Hanaway kept getting the ball to Albrecht while Hummel, who dominated Albrecht in the earlier game, and others, could not find him on this night.

"Steve not only deserves credit for that," said a tired-looking coach Clint Swan afterwards.  "He's a phenomenal shooter.  But his teammates got him the ball.  He didn't force anything in the second half.  His teammates hit him with some great screens and Kyle just kept finding him."

CP actually could have won by more.  If someone tells you the Bulldogs played a perfect game in beating Valpo, remind them of the JV caliber 14-of-25 foul shooting (8 of 17 in the fourth quarter) that threatened to give the game back to the green-clad Vikings.  CP's coach wasn't thrilled with the foul shooting, but he liked the show.

"I hope we can keep the fans coming back," said Swan, "because I thought we were fun to watch tonight."

There are some realities about this win that rose with the Saturday morning sun.  Valpo obviously will target CP as a 'must win' foe the next time they line up, which figures to be at the CP sectional in March.  Crown Point used only seven players, which is something they simply can't do on a regular basis.  And Donald and Rosie will team up on 'Dancing with the Stars' before Valparaiso attempts 23 three-point goals in a game again against a team that's smaller physically than they are at virtually every position.  That dog won't hunt.  Plus, you have to be lucky to beat a superior team.  A tip-in attempt by center Zach Cecich popped up in the air about 10 feet and fell through the hoop for a key fourth quarter basket.

But another reality is, next time Valparaiso is going to have to do something different than simply have Martin and Hummel try to take Cecich and Ernest one-on-one.  Martin scored 26, but he is not strong enough to back the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Cecich down close to the basket and Hummel (2-of-11 from three-point range) can't spend half the game shooting three-pointers from outside.  Valpo had 54 shots and Hummel and Martin took 43 of them.

From a CP standpoint, a little confidence is a dangerous thing.  Crown Point had played a couple of top teams before this year, but had not previously beaten any of them.  Now they have.  They are now 'the team that beat Valpo'.  And in Northwest Indiana, nobody else is.

"I thought we did a good job of contesting shots until late in the game when we let some guys get away," Swan said.  "We let them back in.  But all-in-all it was a great job defensively by our guys.  I don't like to compare teams or wins.  But I do know that this is a signature win for our program.  I'm very proud of these guys not backing down.  It was a great win for us."

BULLDOG NOTES:  Valparaiso had defeated Crown Point eight times in a row since a 56-50 CP win on Jan. 17, 2003.  The win ended Valpo's hopes of repeating their 2004 feat of going 14-0 in the Duneland Conference.  This is the fourth year of the DAC's controversial double round robin and no boys team has gone 14-0 in league games.  Michigan City's girls are 13-0 and Valparaiso's girls went 14-0 in the DAC in 2005.

It's hard to estimate crowds at the new Crown Point high school, because it's never been full.  Capacity is listed at just under 4,000 but the gym looks larger than that.  There may have been 2,500 fans at Friday's game.

CP guard Kyle Hanaway said he could not compare Valparaiso (14-2) and East Chicago (15-3), the two teams considered the best in Northwest Indiana.

"They're two totally different styles of teams," he said, after the Bulldogs had faced them back-to-back.  "You really can't compare them."

The officiating in the game was not the best.  A lot of contact was allowed and the 26-14 foul disparity contributed to Valpo coach Bob Punter being ejected for his second technical foul with 1:49 left in the game and CP leading 50-44.  One play that the relatively large Valpo fan block (maybe 500) did not like was when Ron Hummel broke out to dunk the ball and Matt Ernest caught him from behind and wrapped his arms around him to prevent the basket.  It was not a dangerous play, and while it was certainly an intentional foul, the officiating crew did not call it that way, and since CP did not have six team fouls, Valparaiso did not even get a foul shot.

But Valparaiso blocked eight shots and was not called for fouls on any of them.  On the road, you don't usually get all those calls.  Still, the proud Vikings, who are 59-11 in the last four years, did not take the loss well.  Punter, the Valpo coaches and the team left quickly after the game, and while most fans were accepting, there was some shouting at the officials and security had to be called, although there were no confrontations.

The funniest scene came in the final minute of the fourth quarter when CP principal Ryan Pitcock walked over to the Crown Point student section and appeared to warn them not to rush the floor immediately at the end of the game, something they were certain to do.  But he apparently made a deal with the fans.  When Kyle Hanaway grabbed a rebound and threw it into the air, the CP crowd cheered happily but stayed in the stands.  After Valpo players and coaches shook hands and disappeared into the locker room, Pitcock waved to the CP cheering block and 150-200 students ran onto the floor and surrounded coach Clint Swan, lifting him briefly up on their shoulders.

Ironically, for reasons that were not explained, Crown Point high school held an autograph session in the lobby after the game for young fans who wanted to get Bulldog players' autographs.  CP had scheduled it and announced it before the start of the game, obviously not knowing the outcome.  Coach Swan had to do three radio post-game interviews and a talk session with local sportswriters.

"I missed the whole thing," he said.

Swan, in his first year as CP coach, also called in to the Region Sports network's post-game show on WWCA (1270) AM after 11 p.m. and discussed the game for 10 minutes.  He told the RSN's Chris Lanin.

"I am fortunate to follow two very good coaches (Tom Johnson and Shaun Busick, now at Zionsville) into Crown Point.  These boys were very well coached when I got here."

Swan is being modest, but that's not all just talk.  This was probably Crown Point's biggest win since they won the regional championship from Hammond high at East Chicago on March 13, 1998.  It was probably CP's biggest upset since they beat Merrillville 60-49 the week before at Merrillville on March 7, 1998.  That was coach Tom Johnson's second team that lost the semistate semifinals (the format was different then) to eventual state runner-up Marion 76-63 on March 21, 1998.  Johnson, who coached CP for nine years (1997-2005), is now 9-5 in his second year coaching at Lebanon, down in Boone County, north of Indianapolis.

The players on the floor Friday night beating Valparaiso were players Johnson developed in his system and Busick started four sophomores last year (in what would be his only season in CP) to get them experience that certainly showed against the Vikings.

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Revised: January 28, 2007 .