A four-star class in Indiana

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:06PM

For Joe Crisman, the consummate team player and the guy who never took a bad shot - at least in public - the honor was nearly overwhelming.

Crisman was one of four players from Northwest Indiana selected to play on the Indiana All-Star team.

"I couldn't believe it," Crisman said. "This was the main personal goal for me growing up and this was the ultimate goal. To know that I reached it is a great feeling."

Crisman is just one of four - count them - players from Northwest Indiana on the 13-man team. All are from Lake County. In 2007, there were four players from Northwest Indiana also - E'Twuan Moore, Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin and Mike Bizoukas.

The other three this year are Austin Richie of Lowell, Branden Dawson of Lew Wallace, and Adonis Filer of Bishop Noll. One notable player who didn't make the team was Spike Albrecht, a first-team Post-Tribune All-Area selection.

Richie found a spot on a team that is guard heavy. Crisman, Nic Moore of Warsaw, Marquis Teague of Pike and Filer all play guard.

"It's quite an honor," Richie said. "I'm excited. It's cool. I thought I had a chance. My class is pretty loaded at the guard position. They looked at me as a wing. I don't think I would've had a chance if I was a point guard."

Filer earned his way onto the team with a late surge. His performance in the state finals against Park Tudor when he scored 19 points in a one-point loss was an eye-opener for many people around the state.

"I'm definitely excited," Bishop Noll coach Drew Trost said. "I felt like it was a long shot without him being on the ballot. Our run in the tournament helped. He was dominant there for us. That gave me hope."

It also helped that Filer apparently looked good at the Top 60 workout a couple of weeks ago.

Filer, who lives in Chicago and attended Mount Carmel for his first three years of high school, said he is excited about getting to play.

"Over the past month, I've really come to learn more about the history of this game," he said. "It's a big honor and I'm really pumped up."

Crisman gets the honor of getting Mike Hackett as his coach one more time. Hackett is the head coach for the Indiana All-Stars.

Hackett pointed out that Crisman won 92 percent of his games (62-6) in three years as a starter on varsity.

"He is well deserving of the honor," Hackett said. "I know it was a personal goal for Joey."

Albrecht was disappointed he didn't make it but happy that the region had four guys.

"I knew it was going to be tough for me to make it," he said. "I did my best. I have no regrets."

Hackett said Albrecht was part of the conversation about trying to fill out the last three or four spots but the log jam at point guard hurt him.

"It was just kind of a bad year to be a point guard," Hackett said.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.