Noll hangs on against Valpo boys

VALPARAISO | Nothing like a little controversy to fuel a burgeoning rivalry between two relatively new opponents.

Times No. 1 Bishop Noll held on for a 40-39 victory Saturday night over No. 8 Valparaiso.

The Warriors (16-1), coming off a Friday night loss against Highland, escaped after sophomore Larry Crisler made a pair of free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining for a four-point lead. The problem was, Crisler perhaps shouldn't have been at the line.

Both scorekeepers believed Noll's John Dodson, who wears No. 5, should have shot the free throws. But the official put Crisler, No. 25, at the line.

"(The referee) came into our timeout and said repeatedly, '25 is our shooter,'" Noll coach Drew Trost said.

Valpo coach Joe Otis saw it differently.

"The official said 25 was the shooter, but he was not the guy who was fouled," Otis said. "They put the wrong guy at the line."

Valpo (12-5) had the ball with 38.6 seconds remaining, trailing 38-36. But the Vikings had a bad interior pass stolen with 14.5 to play, and still had three fouls to give until the bonus.

Eventually, Andrew Kittridge appeared to have fouled Dodson deep in the left corner. But after a timeout, Crisler stepped to the line.

Criser made the first, and missed the second while a sixth player - Noll's Jonathan Bock - was walking off the court. But the officials didn't call a technical, and blew the whistle giving Crisler another shot which he made for a 40-39 lead.

After he made it, Valpo's Drew Boetel hit a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the key to get with 2.5 seconds remaining. Following another timeout, Noll inbounded the ball to a wide-open Dean Danos to run out the clock.

"This is a huge win for us," Trost said. "This can be a turning point for us."

Crisler, who battled foul trouble all night, scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed four rebounds. No other Warriors player scored more than six points.

"He's emerging into the star we thought he could be," Trost said.

Boetel and Tyler Doane each scored 10 points to lead the Vikings. Kittridge had one of his best offensive games with eight points, but John Mosser - who had 23 points in a win Friday against Chesterton - was held scoreless.

In fact, the Vikings only had one basket - a Kittridge jumper - in the fourth quarter until Boetel's late 3-pointer while struggling to find shots against Noll's zone.

"We were stuck on 38-36 for two days," Otis said. "We're not a great 3-point shooting team statistically, and if you can't stretch a zone, it's obviously in their best interest."

Valpo had a 10-0 run early in the game to lead 14-9 after one quarter, but the Warriors responded to take a 26-24 lead at the half. The score was tied 34-34 after three quarters.

"Where we really hurt ourselves was our free throw shooting in the first half (6-of-10) and our shot selection early in the second half," Otis said.