Munster takes thriller over East Chicago

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:46PM

Munster coach Mike Hackett stood at half court surrounded by reporters and fans and held one hand to his head.

Hackett may not have donned a Mustangs jersey on Saturday night but the coach was just as much a part of their thrilling 44-41 victory over East Chicago Central in the Class 4A West Side Sectional championship as his players.

And he was tired.

"I'm very relieved we got through this," said Hackett, who watched his team win a thrilling overtime game on Friday night against Glenn Robinson III and Lake Central. "All year long I don't think the pressure ever got to us but these last two games our offense has been very timid.

"Most of the night we were not playing Munster basketball. You have to catch the ball and pass the ball and do all the fundamentals to win a game. I felt helpless over there (on the sidelines); I called every play against the zone I could."

In the end, his players did make enough right moves as the state-ranked No. 1 team advanced to its third straight regional.

Trailing 41-39, Christian Young found Joe Crisman wide open behind the arc for what turned out to be the game-winning basket with 1:01 remaining.

Crisman seemed to find his shot in the second half, recording 11 of his 15 points in the final 16 minutes. He finished 6-for-13 from the field and recorded four rebounds.

"Joe has been clutch for us all year," Hackett said. "They hit a 3 and then he hit a 3. But he couldn't have knocked that down without a good screen or a good ball.

"That's what I'm proud of. In the end, we executed to perfection. We made the perfect screens and the perfect pass and the perfect shots."

Jerrick Ware looked like he was going to be the hero of this one as he gave the Cardinals (14-8) a 38-35 lead with 1:59 left on the clock. Ware finished with a game-high 21 points, knocking down 7-of-13 shots - including 5-for-9 from 3.

That's when Crisman answered back 13 seconds later with his second 3 of the night and knotted the game at 38.

"They played a great game," Crisman said of East Chicago. "They had the momentum there but we got it back."

The Cardinals didn't go down quietly though as Ware and Anthony Williams tied up Crisman and forced a jumpball as the Mustangs tried to wind down the clock.

East Chicago called timeout trailing by one point with 14.5 seconds left.

Everybody knew Ware was going to get the last chance to end Munster's two-year reign as champs.

"They had been breaking us down in the second half so we knew whoever was going to get the ball we were going to send two guys at him," Hackett said. "We were not going to let Jerrick Ware get a clean look at the basket."

Ware never got a chance to shoot. As he made his cut at the 15-foot line, the senior guard slipped and lost control of the basketball. Munster recovered and the Cardinals were called for the foul.

Good night. Thanks for coming.

The three-peat was on.

"It always comes down to the end against these guys," said Ricky Carbajal, who knocked down the game's final two free throws to seal the win. "Every year it comes down to the wire."

Carbajal finished with a team-high 18 points, four rebounds and four steals.

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