No one could score Tuesday night.
Then Crown Point senior Carter Delich finally hit the one shot he needed to get started.
“I just saw an opportunity to take a shot, so I took it,” he said. “You feel a little more confident every time you hit the next one.”
The 6-foot-2 guard scored nine points with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in the first quarter to open a scoreless game after both Morton and Crown Point missed their first six shots.
Those baskets ignited the Bulldogs enough for them to leave Morton with a 61-47 nonconference victory.
Morton (10-12) was led by sophomore forward Jeremiah Moore’s 14 points. After Delich started the scoring for Crown Point (16-5), junior guard AJ Lux took over in the final three quarters, scoring a game-high 30 after being held scoreless in the first.
Crown Point coach Clint Swan credited Morton’s defense with stifling Lux early.
“It took a while to get him going because he had a hard time getting into space,” Swan said. “But once he started finding holes in the defense, he was able to make them pay.”
Lux was especially effective at the free-throw line, making 9 of 10 in the second half to keep the Bulldogs in front after they led 26-23 at halftime and 42-34 to start the fourth.
But it was the other end of the court that had Swan raving after the game, thanks to the efforts of Delich and junior guard/forward Connor Cotton.
Morton has been led all season by high-scoring senior guards Ladaion Barnes, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points, and Amari Northcutt, who was averaging 15.0. But they scored just 10 points apiece on Tuesday, with Delich and Cotton drawing those man-to-man matchups all game.
“They do a lot of the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, and this game was indicative of the seasons they’ve had,” Swan said of Delich and Cotton.
Cotton scored just four points, although he had a team-high five assists. But modest stat lines don’t bother Cotton, especially when his passes can find Lux or Delich on nights when they’re lighting up the scoreboard.
“I know we don’t have many of those guys, so I know that this is my role,” Cotton said. “It’s what I do. I get them open to shoot 3s and then get some stops so we can go shoot some more 3s.”
The one player Crown Point did not contain as well was Moore, who scored most of his points on drives to the basket. When Moore caught a pass near the paint, Morton coach Aaron Abram often shouted, “Go to work.”
Abram laughed when asked about those comments, saying they were more the result of thinking out loud than any necessary instructions for Moore.
“He knows what to do. I tell him every day,” Abram said as he continued laughing. “I don’t really need to tell him. Jeremiah’s just that good. From 25 feet in, I’ll take my chances with him.”
While that part of Morton’s game was working, Abram said his team wasn’t vocal enough on defense.
“We didn’t communicate enough,” he said. “You set yourself up to lose when you don’t talk.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
