German leads Cougars to win

GARY — The German invasion of Northwest Indiana high school basketball continued Friday night during the Gary 21st Century-Lake Station nonconference thriller.

Eugene German scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars knocked off the visiting Eagles 77-75. The sophomore guard was also money from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting 6 of 8 to help 21st Century’s final kick to the finish line.

“We played great, we really executed tonight,” said German whose dad, David, was a high school standout in the 1980s and whose older siblings David and Princess had successful high school careers. “We had to stay strong and not let anything get to us. And we had to make our free throws.”

Lake Station (15-6) was not so fortunate from the charity stripe, going 14-for-23, including four missed free throws down the stretch.

“Looking ahead, we will not beat good teams like Noll (the Eagles’ first-round sectional opponent) shooting free throws like that,” Lake Station coach Bob Burke said. “I don’t know what the problem was tonight but the hard work was there. Mistakes happen but a lack of execution can be corrected.”

On the other hand, 21st Century coach Rodney Williams had a the opposite attitude about his Cougars’ sectional prospects.

“This was a big test for us and I’m excited that we pulled through,” Williams said. “This is the first time we played well for four quarters and our mental toughness showed. I’ve been waiting for this all season.”

The Lake Station loss overshadowed a great scoring outing for guard Brian Patterson, who had 28 points and was not a part of the fourth-quarter free-throw problems for the Eagles. Patterson was 5-for-5 in the final quarter and 9-for-11 for the game.