January 26, 2000

Calvert overcomes rare halftime deficit

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

They're undefeated, they haven't lost a league game in nearly two seasons and they're ranked third in the state.

Calvert is also very untested.

For only the second time this year the Senecas faced a worthy adversary. And just like the New Riegel game before, Calvert emerged with the victory.

This time the Senecas trailed at the half for the first time this season, but caught, and passed, Danbury to post a 73-59 victory.

"It was a very good test against a very good defensive team," Calvert coach Tony Mass said. "We didn't have a very good flow on offense, but I thought we made some plays when we had to. I don't think we've been down at halftime yet. So, as a coach, you kind of want these games, but at the same time you'd rather win easily."

That just wasn't going to happen against the Lakers (9-3), a group far too strong in the post to be blown away.

Calvert had the stage set to run away with things as the second quarter opened. Bart Fisher and Joe Harvey knocked down 3-pointers on consecutive possession to give the Senecas a 29-17 advantage.

But Danbury established itself in the paint, and showed it would stick around for the stretch run.

Joe Uhinck scored 12 of his 16 points in the second, and 20 of the Lakers' 21 second-quarter points came in the paint. By the time halftime rolled around, after hitting 10 of 13 shots from the field, Danbury found itself with a 38-37 advantage.

"Their post players were real solid," Mass said. "We were giving up a lot of easy baskets, especially in the first half. But our coaching staff did a nice job with adjustments. They got the kids to understand what we were trying to accomplish out there. Once we all got on the same page, we really slowed (Danbury) down offensively."

That finally happened at the start of the fourth quarter. Danbury didn't slow down much in the third (they hit 8 of 13 from the field), but Calvert got eight points from Dustyn Risner and five from Tim Brodman and grabbed a 58-55 lead to start the fourth.

Once there, Ben Brickner hit a pair of shots, Risner took a nifty pass from Nate Keller and scored in transition, and then split two foul shots to put Calvert up by 10 (65-55) with 6:34 remaining.

Meanwhile, things were getting patched up on defense. It helped that Danbury point guard Ben Gdovicak was on the bench with four fouls, but Calvert also picked up its full-court pressure and forced four quick Laker turnovers in the fourth.

Things got so bad for the Lakers, they didn't even attempt a shot until 4:41 was left in the game. And that one was an effort by Gdovicak that ended on the Danbury bench after Fisher swatted it away.

"Part of the trouble was our point guard was on the bench," Danbury coach Brian Vorst said. "There's just certain people we need to have on the floor. We had one of those three on the bench, and the other two were tired.

"And it wasn't just losing Ben that hurt us. At that point the kids started losing confidence, and then they forget the basics that we work on."

The Lakers never recovered from the their early fourth-quarter troubles. They went on to make just 1 of 10 field goals and scored just four points in the final eight minutes.

"We were just trying to keep the ball in front of us because they were getting penetration," Mass said. "Our post players (center and two forwards) were coming, (Danbury) was passing off and we weren't getting rotation. So we just wanted to get rid of their penetration.

"And that's tough for these kids because they're so aggressive," he said. "It's not easy for them to back off."

Harvey dropped in 21 points, 15 in the first half, to lead the Senecas. Risner finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Brodman (13) and Kevin Lucius (10) also scored in double figures.

Derek Ensign paced Danbury with 16 points and nine boards. Mark Turinsky matched Uhinck's 12 points.