Posted: Jan. 20, 2010 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay — When your offensive game is off, like it was for Whitefish Bay guard John Johnston in the second half of the Blue Dukes' gritty North Shore tilt with visiting Cedarburg on Friday night, this is how you stay involved in the game.

And possibly win championships.

Bay was nursing a 40-37 lead with just over five minutes to go, when the Bulldogs' Eric Poppenburg stole the ball from Johnston. It looked like Poppenburg was going in free and clear for a layup that would make it a one-point game.

But Johnston would have none of that. He stayed right on Poppenburg's hip and when the Bulldog guard went up for the seemingly easy bucket, Johnston swiped the ball out of mid-air sending it back toward mid-court. On the spot was 6-7 junior forward Jamie Schneck, who dove for the ball and kicked it ahead to Johnston, who wound up being fouled by Poppenburg.

Bay would get nothing out of the play, but the Bulldogs never got inside of two after that and had only a precious few opportunities to tie the game, which the Blue Dukes all rejected.

It all led up to an intense 50-46 win for the Blue Dukes, which guaranteed them nothing less than a share of the league lead.

"There are nights when your offense is just awful, like it was for me tonight," said Johnston, who scored 10 points, all in the first half, "and in a situation like that, defense can bail you out. We continued to have that energy, just like we do every night."

And because Bay did indeed have it on the defensive end, it improved to 5-1 in the North Shore and 9-2 overall, while Cedarburg fell to 1-5 and 5-6, respectively. Bay is still tied for the NSC lead with Port Washington (5-1, 10-1).

To a worn out Blue Dukes coach Kevin Lazovik, who has been battling bronchitis and gave Bay the day off Saturday for their tough-minded effort, the defensive intensity was a sight for sore eyes. He mentioned that Johnston may have been a little tired in the second half from chasing the Bulldogs' all-state caliber forward Chip Rank (22 points, but only eight in the second session).

"You've got to love John making a play like that, and you've got to love a 6-7 kid (Schneck) hitting the deck and going after the loose ball," he said. "The effort we put forth on the defensive end when we were struggling like that is the kind of stuff that wins you games."

The effort was not just limited to Schneck (10 points) and Johnston. A short time later, when Bay was holding on to a 42-39 lead, senior guard Jevontae Merriwether leaped in front of a cross-court pass at the centerline, tipped it forward to himself and raced in for a crowd-pleasing dunk that made it 44-39 with 3:04 left.

And when the Bulldogs closed to within 44-42 with 1:06 left, the Blue Dukes did what all good defensive teams do with the lead: make their free throws.

Guards Alex Jamerson (10 points) and Merriwether (11) combined to make six-of-eight charity tosses in the final 1:01. Jamerson's final two with 12 seconds remaining gave Bay an insurmountable 50-44 advantage. Ron Patten completed Bay's balanced scoring with nine points.

Johnston said the defensive stickiness comes from intense day-in and day-out work in the field house.

"Our guards put the most pressure on people of anyone in the league," he said. "Alex (Jamerson) and Jevontae (Merriwether) are just relentless, and it really does start in practice. We're happy to get to games because of what we have to go against every day in practice."

Lazovik wouldn't have it any other way.

"This one wouldn't win anyone any style points," he said, "but we did a great job of getting after it on the defensive end, and so did they (the Bulldogs). That's a very competitive team that hasn't had the good fortune to come out on top in some close games.

"It was a good win."

UP Next

The Blue Dukes will visit dangerous Milwaukee Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Red Knights (3-3, 6-4) just knocked off a good Nicolet team (3-3, 9-3), 70-60, Friday as all-star guard Chim Kadima had 24 points. Then on Jan. 26, Bay will host area nonconference rival Shorewood (3-9), also at 7:30 p.m.