On Friday, Crown Point (6-1) suffered its first loss of the season against Chesterton. Michigan City (9-2) was looking to move to 2-0 in Duneland Athletic Conference play.
In the opening minutes, David Brown scored the first five for Crown Point as the Bulldogs sprinted to an 11-0 lead. Midway through the quarter, Jamie Hodges Jr. gave
Michigan City a spark with a steal and score then followed with a pull-up jumper.
Michigan City forced seven Crown Point turnovers to get back into the game. The Bulldogs were up two late in the period when Darren Roach connected on a corner three-pointer.
After both teams went scoreless for the first two and half minutes, Crown Point started to take advantage of
Michigan City’s full-court pressure. Ty Smith whipped the ball up the court for easy baskets with Darren Roach and Jake Oostman were on the receiving end of those passes more often than not.
On the other end,
Michigan City could not throw the ball into Lake
Michigan. In the first half, the Wolves shot one of ten from the three-point line and 8-30 overall. Also, Crown Point did not turn the ball over in the second quarter. That is the lifeblood of the
Michigan City offense.
Crown Point took a 32-20 lead into the halftime break. Oostman grabbed ten rebounds in the first 16 minutes.
The second half began with Crown Point opening a 16-point lead after an Oostman dunk and Roach scored at the rim. Hodges gained his confidence in the third as he scored nine points to keep
Michigan City within striking distance. Smith recorded his seventh assist as he found Oostman late in the quarter. With that score, Crown Point led 46-37 headed to the fourth.
After flirting with a comeback in the third,
Michigan City ran out of gas in the fourth. Oostman scored on consecutive Crown Point possessions before Smith stuck a dagger through the Wolves with a three-pointer.
Crown Point won going away, 66-48.
Smith led Crown Point with 14 points, eight assists, and four rebounds. Oostman had an impressive 12 points and 17 rebounds. David Brown added 13 points and six rebounds.
Hodges finished with 19 points and five steals. Evan Bush tallied eight points and 11 rebounds.
Crown Point played without sophomore AJ Lux.