Ken Decker wanted to be more aggressive.
The senior forward achieved that aim Friday night in Crown Point’s Duneland Athletic Conference game at Merrillville.
Decker scored a career-high 29 points as the Bulldogs pulled out a 69-62 win against the Pirates.
He said he felt he let Crown Point down on Jan. 6 in a three-point loss to Michigan City. But he rose to the challenge against Merrillville (9-4, 1-1).
“The ball was just going in — I can’t say much more than that,” Decker said. “Anybody on our team is capable of having a night like that. The ball just happened to be falling in my hands and going in the hoop.”
Decker shot 11-for-13 for Crown Point (10-2, 1-1), including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. He continues to make the most of his final season after previously seeing little playing time.
“Every good moment he has, I’m so happy for him,” Crown Point coach Clint Swan said. “All the work he’s put in, he wanted to play more, and he’s getting his opportunity this year.
“It’s not just about making 3-pointers. It’s rebounding, taking charges, finishing through traffic. And when he gets open, he’s going to knock them in. I get emotional talking about him.”
In a back and forth rivalry game, the Bulldogs snapped a 58-58 tie with 3:35 left when Sasha Stefanovic found Sam Krutz for a basket and Decker scored. Decker’s 3-pointer made it 65-60 with 2:58 left.
Pirates coach T.J. Lux described Decker as the difference.
“He was awesome,” Lux said.
Merrillville turned up its press, but Crown Point didn’t crack.
“Our guys did a great job of finding that next guy,” Swan said. “Last week, we did a bad job of trying to break pressure by dribbling. This week we did a much better job trying to break pressure by sharing the ball, moving bodies and moving the ball, and taking the best possible shot.”
The Bulldogs led 31-28 at halftime and opened as much as a six-point lead midway through the third. But the Pirates stormed back to lead by as many as five points within the last two minutes of the quarter.
“The tempo, we create a faster pace defensively, but then we got into things mishandling the ball and taking some ill-advised shots,” Lux said. “We were trying to do too much, trying to force the action. We have enough talented guys for the action to come to them.
“When we jumped in front, we needed to take care of our business.”
Stefanovic joined Decker in double figures for Crown Point with 17 points.
Merrillville had balance with Cameron Wilbon scoring 15 points, Jonah Jackson 13 and Johnny Bernard 12. Valparaiso recruit Mileek McMillan was hampered by foul trouble throughout the game.
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“Even though Michigan City was a bump in the road, our confidence was really high,” Decker said. “All respect to Merrillville, they’re a phenomenal team. But even when it got rough there in the third quarter, we didn’t stray from our mindset.”
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