Mustangs bury Cougars early

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:46PM

Munster never forgets.

West Side was reminded of that Wednesday in the first round of the sectional after enduring a 69-48 drubbing on the Cougars' floor.

West Side made the mistake of hovering in its no-fly zone the last time it played at Munster, jumping out to a seven-point halftime lead.

This time, there was no wiggle room for that kind of behavior. The double-digit lead came in the second quarter and the Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in state, just kept pounding that nail in until they finished the job.

Munster coach Mike Hackett had talked about getting out to a fast start. The players clearly heard him.

"We played terrible early," Hackett said of their first encounter.

There was one small moment of hope for the Cougars.

West Side took a 3-2 lead when Marquis Wells hit a three-pointer on its first possession. That was the last time the Cougars were ahead.

Munster jumped out in a zone and quickly took control of the action, particularly on the defensive end, holding the Cougars to just seven shots in the first quarter.

The Mustangs started to pour it on in the second quarter, going on a 9-2 run. A pair of free throws by Christian Young with 3:52 left made it 25-10 Munster. The Mustangs extended the lead to 31-13 when Scott Jerge made a pair of free throws with 1:07 left.

The lead hovered around 20 for most of the fourth quarter.

The Cougars seemed like they would be a difficult matchup for Munster with their two big guys - Jonathan Black and Rashaad Armstrong - taking up space inside.

They were largely ineffective early and not nearly as effective as Ricky Carbajal, who finished with 23 points, four rebounds and four blocks.

Carbajal was able to find little spaces underneath the West Side zone. Those turned into easy baskets. He was 9-of-13 from the floor.

The Mustangs figured the crowd might get into it early if they let it. Never happened. Besides, the Munster fan base was substantial.

"It's always our plan to take them out early," Carbajal said.

It was a very physical game. Joe Crisman got banged up for a play in the second half when a West Side player rolled into him and hit his knee. He came out but returned a few minutes later.

Hackett was happy with the way his team kept his composure.

"I was proud of our kids," he said. "That wasn't a game for little boys. That was for men. They never did anything stupid."

In the second game, Lake Central built a 12-point second-half lead and then held on for a 70-64 victory over Lowell.

This was a matchup of stars - Lowell's Austin Richie and Lake Central's Glenn Robinson III. Neither player disappointed.

The Indians jumped out to a 34-23 halftime after Robinson scored 18 of his 29 points.

Richie, who finished with 35, finally found his rhythm after the Red Devils started to get desperate in the fourth quarter.

He made three three-pointers in the final eight minutes - all of them from NBA range and two of them with two guys in his face.

The Red Devils cut the lead to three with 46 seconds left after Richie's last three-pointer.

But that was as close as they could get.

Lake Central coach Dave Milausnic was disappointed to see Richie, who'll head to Western Michigan, play his last game. Richie was in the Lake Central school system before his family moved.

"He played like a kid that wanted to play another game," Milausnic said. "I remember him when he was 7-years-old, shooting baskets at Lake Central. It's sad to see him go."

Milausnic may be sad about Richie leaving but he has a lot to look forward to. Robinson also had five assists, two steals and one block. The Red Devils had no one that could match up with him.

"That was pretty doggone good," Milausnic said of Robinson's performance.

Robinson has some company. His dad, Glenn Robinson, was in the crowd and so was Purdue coach Matt Painter. Robinson has already committed to play at Michigan.

In the end, Lowell just ran out of gas and Lake Central made enough free throws to put them away.

"I'm proud of my kids," Milausnic said. "We only have one kid with sectional experience on the team. They have come a long way."

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