Friends Bradly Basila and Robert Williams combine for 28 points, 20 rebounds on night marc urban sets chesterton record for boys basketball wins with 174th

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Not long after Chesterton ninth-year basketball coach Marc Urban had awakened Friday morning from dreams about backdoor cuts and reversing the ball to the third side, his wife, Traci, told him what he would be doing that night. Didn’t ask him. Told him.
“You’re starting Robert tonight,” Traci said. “If you don’t start Robert and Anthony tonight, I’m going to stand up and boo you.”
It wouldn’t have been the craziest thing a coach’s wife has ever done at a Chesterton boys basketball game, if visiting wives are included, but it certainly would have caught people’s attention.
The coach didn’t let it come to that. He started seniors Robert Williams and Anthony Gonzalez.
“I was going to do it anyway, but I told her I wasn’t going to just to lead her on,” Urban said.
Gonzalez has started multiple games in his two years at Chesterton, but for Williams, mostly a JV player a year ago and a seldom-used varsity reserve this season, it was an honor, as well as an extremely popular move with teammates.
As his name was announced as a starter, teammates roared. Players form a tunnel of sorts with lines perpendicular to the bench to slap handshakes as the starter makes his way onto the floor. Williams, instead of shaking hands, spontaneously decided to lift junior guard Peyton Tarnowski off the ground.
It wasn’t Williams’ only show of strength Friday night. Playing the first two-and-a-half minutes and the entire second half of a 79-17 blasting of badly overmatched and winless Whiting (0-21), a 2A school, Williams produced 12 points and eight rebounds, made 6 of 7 field goal attempts, blocked a couple of shots and consistently gave an effort level befitting a close game, even though Chesterton led 45-7 at the half and the entire second half was played with a running clock.
The win pushed ninth-year Trojans Coach Marc Urban (174-55) past his predecessor, Tom Peller, for the most boys basketball wins in school history.
The Urbans will have the entire team over for dinner tonight but it won’t be to celebrate his milestone, rather to watch the state tournament pairings show, which airs on IHSAAtv.org from 5 to 7.
Urban won’t have any trouble remembering this as the night Bradly Basila, without playing in the second half, contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Williams in the most extended playing time of his career played so efficiently.
Williams said he didn’t learn that he was starting until right before the game.
“It was a nice surprise,” Williams said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to start. It was a really fun experience, especially the handshake on the walkout.”
Urban appeared touched by seeing the reaction Williams’ teammates had to him hearing his name called in the starting lineup.
“It was great. They see what he does every day and he;’s been great to Bradly and has helped him in a lot of ways,” Urban said. “When you’re a senior and you have a freshman who comes in, that can go different ways, but it’s gone as well as it possibly can.”
When Basila joined made his debut on Jan. 31, Williams chances of working his way into minutes went from slim to a great deal slimmer. Like any player on the bench, he would like to play more. It would only be natural of him to wonder if the minutes would have come if Basila had not.
“I do my best not to and Bradly’s such a great guy I hardly think like that at all,” Williams said. “I’m just happy to go against him and get better together with him.”
Other than both being 6-7 and sharing a passion for basketball, on the surface it wouldn’t seem they would have much in common.
Basila’s a freshman, Williams a senior. Basila speaks French, Williams speaks English. Williams is a small-town Indiana boy. Basila is from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, a city of 17 million people.
Williams, a fundamentally sound big man, has worked for years on his game to maximize his potential.
Basila an athletic marvel, so fast and quick, so explosive and armed with motor that never stops revving, has so much untapped potential. Pretty much every game he does something that leaves the crowd in awe. Williams doesn’t have that in his game.
Yet, a closer look makes it easy to see why they have clicked. Teammates describe give both teammates high marks for intelligence and humor. Basila needs a teammate to help him bridge his language barrier and other cultural adjustments, and Williams has a naturally friendly, unselfish way about him.
Williams shared what makes him say that Basila is “a great guy.”
“He’s funny in practice and he’s a very wholesome person,” Williams said. “He’s just nice to hang out with.”
Urban went into detail about some of the ways Williams helps Basila daily.
“Obviously, there’s a language barrier with Bradly. There will be times that Robert will be on defense, Bradly’s on offense, and Robert knows where he’s supposed to go and he’ll kind of guide him to where he’s supposed to go, even though he’s guarding him,” Urban said. “It’s almost an extension of a coach on the court who guides him where he’s supposed to go.”
Williams also helps his newest teammate by making things more difficult for him.
“Robert’s very physical, and he’s strong, and he’s big. He gives him a good look,” Urban said. “Bradly’s starting to finish better, but I think that has a lot to do with he’s got to go against Robert every single day, so you’re going against size, you’re going against strength and length, you’re not going against someone who’s really small and it’s easy.”
Williams and Gonzalez (11 points, several steals Friday night) are the only seniors on the roster. Gonzalez grew up in Chesterton but spent his first two years at Brother Rice in Chicago before coming back home to go to school, so Williams is the only one from the Class of 2025 he stayed in the program for all four years.
“Robert in that class has stuck with it, just keeps working, just keeps working and keeps getting better,” Urban said. “Now he’s part of a team that keeps getting better here toward March. As coaches and the players, we understand the importance of Robert Williams to our program, and that makes it fun.”
Fun was a word Williams used to describe what it’s like going against Basila in practice every day.
“It’s been and difficult,” Williams said. “He has very sharp elbows, especially when he chins the ball and tries to move you out of the way. He gets us a lot doing that.”
Williams called Basila “crazy fast,” a trait he showed when he pulled a rebound out of the sky and tore down the middle of the court with it, directly to the rim where he attempted a one-hand dunk that popped. Teamates tried to set him up for dunks with multiple alley oop passes, and Basila tried getting dunks on his own, but nothing worked, he was fouled a couple of times trying, and he still is in search of his first flush.
Williams had one opportunity for a dunk, but he laid it in, explaining that he doesn’t step into dunks, unless he first dribbles, so unless he has a breakaway layup, it’s not likely to happen. The two seniors combined for about 32 minutes, half of it with the clock not stopping because of the mercy rule. It was time enough for them to total 28 points and 20 rebounds.
Williams and Gonzalez weren’t the only ones given expanded playing time. None of the starters played in the second half. Junior forward Mike Rone scored five quick points in the fourth quarter and made a 3-pointer. Freshmen Cooper Huwig (two points) and Tommy Kostbade, sophomore Gunner Ello (two points) and junior Peyton Tarnowski (six points) all took their turns against a team that had more sub-6-footers than not.
“Robert and Peyton, Gunner and Cooper and Tommy, Anthony goes back and forth, it’s a really good scout team,” Urban said. “I always say when iron can sharpen iron, you’re going to get better, and I think having those guys be strong and capable has helped us this month here.”
Chesterton (14-8, six-game winning streak) will be visited by Culver Academy (12-8 heading into a Tuesday game vs. Illiana Chrisitian) on Friday, a 6:30 p.m. tipoff, in a regular season finale for both schools.