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Basketball: Steelheads have road trip to remember

When they look back on it, there will be plenty for the Steelheads to remember about their two-game road trip to Los Angeles this past weekend.

Like many travelers, they dealt with flight delays and hotel issues and jet lag. But they also swept both games against the L.A. Lightning during their only "plane" trip of the IBL season. And the Lightning feature former NBA players Lamond Murray and Fred Vinson, who is in the L.A. Clippers' front office but dabbles as an IBL long-range shooter in the offseason.

So, going on the road to win two is a big step for a Gary team that coach Rob Spon has running on high octane.

"We're playing really good together," Spon said Sunday. "That's the key. That's why I like going on the road. Championships are won on the road. That's when everybody comes together. Now, we believe we can beat anybody at any time."

Saturday's game, which finished too late for editions of the Post-Tribune, was a perfect example.

Still battling some jet lag, the Steelheads (9-2) found a way to win 106-105, with the winning bucket coming on a 3-pointer with no time left by forward Adam Schaper (a Kankakee Valley alum).

"It was nuts, but it was great," Spon said. "The only bad part is they scored over 100 points on us. But we'll take the win."

Schaper, who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, will take his performance overall. He might even forget that he forgot his game shorts at home and had to borrow some from teammates to play. Schaper also scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Friday night's game and came up huge for the Steelies in the two games.

A year ago, as a rookie, Schaper struggled mightily away from the Genesis Center.

"A year of maturity does wonders," Spon said. "Last year, he didn't know how to handle distractions on the road. This year, after being overseas, he knows how to handle them and he stepped up."

So did point guard Royce Parran, whose game has taken off after fellow point guard Shaun Fountain left to play for a few weeks in the Dominican Republic. Parran, who's 5-foot-9, also scored 21 points in Saturday's win and nearly had a quadruple-double. He added nine rebounds, eight assists and seven steals.

Trailing by two with just a few seconds left, Tyrone Anderson stole the ball off an in-bounds play, got it to Parran and he found Schaper open for the game-winner after driving into the lane. After that, the celebration was on.

"We went nuts," Spon said. "You should have seen us all jumping up and down. The guys just mauled Adam. It was a great feeling for them."

Four other Steelheads scored in double figures, as well, leading to a sixth straight win.

Vinson led the Lightning (0-4) with 29 points and six assists, while Murray was one of three L.A. players to record double-doubles. He scored 24 points with a whopping 19 rebounds.

The Steelheads will stay on the road for their next two games, but be closer to home -- starting with a game at 6:15 p.m. (CST) this Friday at Grand Rapids (Mich.) and then traveling to play Elgin at 7 p.m. on May 16. The Steelheads' next home game is against Elkhart at 7:15 p.m. May 17 at the Genesis Center.

See more at www.post-trib.com