Gillespie gets comfortable
Junior dominates around basket, scores 27 points in Andrean’s win against Kouts
Kouts had one big problem against Andrean.
That was Gabe Gillespie. A broad-shouldered player who flourishes in open spaces near the basket, Gillespie was the matchup the Mustangs didn’t have an answer for in visiting Andrean’s 73-59 win on Wednesday.
Gillespie, a 6-foot-5 junior, finished with 27 points, six rebounds and two blocks. He was 9 of 12 from the field.
Andrean (5-3) felt like it could exploit Kouts (9-2), which is ranked No. 2 in Class 1A in the Associated Press poll, inside. Mission accomplished. Gillespie was ready to get touches. He didn’t play in a 61-56 loss to Merrillville on Dec. 30 because of COVID-19 quarantine protocols and went 20 days between games. He played in a 70-46 win against Kankakee Valley on Dec. 18 and then in a 57-46 loss to Bowman on Jan. 7.
Gillespie finished with eight points against Bowman but said he “didn’t feel like myself” because he hadn’t played much.
Kouts made him feel comfortable. Andrean coach Brad Stangel said there was a big improvement for Gillespie.
“He’s a tough matchup because he’s so strong,” Stangel said. “He has good footwork. We just had talked about getting the ball inside.”
Gillespie was happy to be the focal point offensively.
“Our plan was just to get the ball inside as much as possible, and if we didn’t score, to kick it back out,” he said. “I thought we executed well.”
The 59ers were collectively sharp on offense. Andrean was 28 of 46 from the field. Two other players, Nick Flesher and Ben
Jones, finished in double figures. Flesher scored 20 points, and Jones added 18.
Stangel said the game plan was to get the ball inside.
“We wanted to wear them down,” Stangel said. “That’s where our advantage was.”
Andrean also was able to wear down the Mustangs’ best scorers.
Cole Wireman, a 6-0 senior guard who was averaging 28 points, finished with 21. His twin brother, Cale, scored five; he was averaging 19.
Jones guarded Cole Wireman for most of the night. He was the player the 59ers focused on. He worked hard for every point.
“When you go into games, you want to take something away,” Stangel said. “You can’t take everything away.”
Flesher helped open up the inside by making two 3-pointers in the first half.
The game was tied at 17-17 after a quarter, and Andrean led 31-26 at halftime.
Kouts couldn’t get the lead back
in the second half. It pulled within a point at the end of the third quarter when Noah Young made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 46-45. But Andrean scored eight of the first 10 points in the fourth
quarter to start to pull away.
It was a big win for the 59ers. “We just started like this was a new season for us after losing to Bowman,” Flesher said. “This definitely feels good.”