Crown Point makes a statement at Hall of Fame Classic. 'Best team in state.'

NEW CASTLE – Clint Swan went into halftime of Tuesday night’s Hall of Fame Classic at New Castle Fieldhouse already wondering about sleepless his night might be.

Luke Ertel can do that to an opposing coach.

“I said, ‘If I get in my car knowing they were comfortable the whole second half, I’m going to have a hard time sleeping at night,’” Swan said. “I said, ‘Let’s make it ugly and if they beat us by 50, they beat us by 50. At least I’ll know we went after them.’”

It did not happen right away. But eventually Swan’s Class 4A second-ranked Crown Point team was able to put away No. 7 Mt. Vernon for a 60-56 victory in the championship of the Hall of Fame Classic. Crown Point (5-0) did it despite a triple double from the Purdue-bound Ertel, who posted 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I’ll tell you what – he’s unbelievable man,” Crown Point guard Mason Darrell said. “That was my first time playing him. The first half he was hitting everything. Second half we were like, ‘OK, we’re to send two and make someone else do something.’ That ended up working out in our favor.”

Crown Point had to dig out of an 11-point deficit midway through an ice-cold third quarter. The Bulldogs’ defensive pressure, especially with guards Kingston Rhodes (three steals) and Bryce Peters (guarded Ertel) paid off in the fourth quarter. Rhodes buried a big 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:30 left to put Crown Point ahead 54-52, a lead it would not relinquish.

Ertel, who played all 32 minutes and scored 33 points earlier in the day in a 62-51 win over Northview, suffered a left leg cramp with 1:32 remaining and the Marauders trailing by four. He returned to the game and scored to pull Mt. Vernon within two with 9.1 seconds left but Dikembe Shaw – who was named tournament Most Valuable Player – drained two free throws to seal the win.

Shaw finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead Crown Point, which has most of its team back from a group that went 23-3 and played in the semistate championship against Fishers last season.

“The experiences we had as kids and going into our senior season now, I wouldn’t want any less,” Shaw said. “I think our chemistry and our individual skill put together makes us the best team in the state. Those experiences help us in games like this, where it’s close. It helps a lot. It rallies the troops, as they say.”

Mt. Vernon (7-2) also got a big game from 6-8 junior Max Vise, who finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Owen Daugherty also pitched in 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the 3-point line. Mt. Vernon did not help itself by shooting 5-for-13 from the free-throw line.

“We got rattled a little bit and they took advantage of it,” Mt. Vernon coach Joe Bradburn said. “They got on a run and got to the paint way too much. We started chasing them a little bit and gravitated outside more and they got to the paint when they wanted to. Give them credit. The broke us down and shook us a little bit and the pressure ended up bothering us and wore us down.”

Ertel came out smoking in the first quarter of the championship, hitting three 3-pointers. He nearly had a triple double by halftime, staking the Marauders to a 36-30 lead with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

It was the first Hall of Fame title for Crown Point on its first appearance. The Bulldogs knocked off 3A second-ranked Silver Creek 76-65 earlier in the day behind Shaw’s 22 points and seven rebounds and Darrell’s 18 points.

“For us, we’re just fighting for turf,” Swan said. “We’re still the little guy just trying to fight for our name. I would be lying if I didn’t say this was kind of a big deal for our guys. To come down here and win in this venue was huge. I meant a lot to them, which was great.”

Crown Point has another tough game upcoming against 3A top-ranked Cathedral (6-0) at home on Tuesday, followed by Hamilton Southeastern on Jan. 2 and at Brownsburg on Jan. 3. Mt. Vernon plays in a loaded Homestead tournament on Friday and Saturday, opening with South Bend St. Joseph.

Consolation: Silver Creek 74, Northview 62

What a difference halftime can make.

Silver Creek, after committing 26 turnovers in a loss to Crown Point in Tuesday’s early game, found itself trailing Northview by 14 points at halftime of the consolation game.

“We knew were a better team than how we came out,” Silver Creek senior Dane Caldwell said. “We came into the locker room and held each other accountable for how we were doing. I think that fired us up for the second half.”

It worked. Silver Creek (8-1) ran off a 14-0 run to start the third quarter and never looked back on the way to a 74-62 win over 3A No. 3 Northview (5-2). Caldwell, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the Dragons with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Brandon Hunter added 14 points and nine assists.

“We thought we had a real chance of winning (against Crown Point) and didn’t play our best at all,” Hunter said. “Too many turnovers. We came out flat (against Northview), I think because we were still thinking about the first game. We talked at halftime about how we were getting embarrassed again and had to show people what we were capable of.”

Brayden Goff had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Northview.

All tournament team

MVP: Dikembe Shaw, Crown Point

Mason Darrell, Crown Point

Luke Ertel, Mt. Vernon

Max Vise, Mt. Vernon

Dane Caldwell, Silver Creek

Quinn Lewis, Northview

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Crown Point defeats Mt. Vernon for Hall of Fame Classic championship