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[Southsider2k12]

http://blogs.post-trib.com/lazerus/2009/09...ll-a-buzea.html

Can Boyd pull a Buzea?
By
Mark Lazerus
on September 25, 2009 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
I was talking over the phone with Michigan City athletic director Robert "Bear" Falls on Wednesday afternoon for this week's TimeOut Football cover story on the football team's turnaround when football coach Craig Buzea and boys basketball coach John Boyd walked into Falls' office, one after the other.

Can't be a much better feeling as an AD than that.

Michigan City went out and lured away two of the region's most successful coaches in Buzea (from Portage) and Boyd (from West Side). Both had perennial powers. Both reached the state title game. Boyd won a championship.

Well, it took Buzea a little more than two years to turn Michigan City from a perennial doormat into a conference title contender. The Wolves are disciplined, they're hard working and they're successful -- a far cry from the bad old days, which pretty much lasted from consolidation in 1995 to Buzea's arrival.

Can Boyd do the same? MC boys hoops has never won a sectional, has just one winning season in the last eight years, and is coming off a 3-18 campaign. Buzea, who has chatted with Boyd at length about the rebuilding process, has complete confidence in his newest colleague.

"He'll be just fine," Buzea said. "He's coming in here with a lot of the same ideas and goals I did, and he's got his own ideas and plans, too. He's a proven winner. People are excited, and I'm sure he'll be very successful."

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...e1283695550.txt

Winning big

Boys Basketball: Michigan City 62, Valparaiso 46
By Adam Parkhouse
Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, February 27, 2010 4:16 AM CST
VALPARAISO, Ind. — No doubt everyone at Valparaiso High School was waiting for the home team to make its run.

After all, the Vikings are the No. 4 team in Class 4A (No. 2 according to the coaches poll) and were at home on Senior Night just days after its second loss of the season.

The run never came, and Michigan City made sure this was never a game.

The upstart Wolves started the game on a big run and never looked back, leading by as much as 23 and never less than 10 after the midway point of the first quarter in a 62-46 shellacking of the stunned Vikings.

“I’ve been saying all year it’s a process to bring in a different system to kids who are not used to doing things my coaching staff is used to,” City coach John Boyd said. “We played with a lot of intensity throughout and that was good to see.”

City did win at Valpo back in 2008, but overall the Vikings led the series with the consolidated Wolves 18-7 and had won 15 of the last 17 going into Friday’s regular season finale.

Not only did City get the upset victory, but couldn’t ask for a better way to go into the sectional, even if senior Adam Harmon (game-high 20 points) downplayed that part of it.

“When you go into the sectional, everyone’s record is 0-0,” Harmon said. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

If City were to meet Valpo again, it wouldn’t be until the championship game of next week’s Michigan City Sectional. If such a meeting occurs, the Vikings will like to have long forgot about this one.

The Wolves (11-9, 6-8 Duneland) opened the game on a 13-0 run, 11 of those points coming from Harmon.

“In his last three or four games he’s come out on fire,” Boyd said. “He starts us out well and the kids gain confidence.”

With 4:38 to play Harmon hit a spinning runner in the lane to give his team a 10-0 lead. From that point on, for the final 28 minutes, 38 seconds, the Wolves never led by less than 10.

Valpo (17-3, 12-2 DAC) didn’t score until Andy Martin’s putback with 2:39 to play in the first quarter. For the game, the Vikings were ice-cold from the field, shooting 28.6 percent (16-of-56). From the 3-point line, it was even worse, as the Vikings made just 7-of-34 attempts.

Valpo’s Brad Karp made a trey at the end of the first quarter to cut City’s lead to 17-7. But City never let mighty Valpo back up.

The Wolves opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run, but a 3-pointer from sophomore Taylor Lavery made the score 30-8 with 3:23 to play in the half. City would carry a 30-11 lead into halftime.

The Vikings did start to make a run in the third, cutting the advantage down to 13 in the first 3:15 of the second half. But after trading baskets twice, City bursted out on a 7-0 run capped off by a James Sanders 3-pointer to push the lead back out to 20 at 42-22.

City wasn’t done yet in the third. Harmon had an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:21 left and City carried that 45-22 lead into the fourth.

Valpo did score 24 points in the fourth, but it was way too little, way too late. City took care of business at the foul line, making 15-of-22 attempts in the final stanza.

While everyone else was stunned by the final score, City’s players and coaches didn’t seem to be.

“That’s what we should do,” Harmon said. “We played as a team tonight. ... It’s a big win for us.”

So what does this win mean heading into next week’s sectional?

“Absolutely nothing,” Boyd said. “You have to just play one game at a time.”

Going back to his days at Gary West Side, Boyd now has a 3-1 record against Valpo.

“I feel very comfortable playing Valpo,” Boyd said. “They’re a big-time program and we want to get to that someday.”

Notes: Valpo won the junior varsity game 43-37. ... This was the most lopsided loss for Valpo since Feb. 15, 2008, a 21-point loss at Merrillville. It was the most lopsided loss at home since a 20-point loss to Merrillville earlier that season. ... This was City’s most lopsided win against at DAC opponent since beating Portage by 16 back on Dec. 3, 2004.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.