Tobias ray nails game-winner with 1.8 seconds left to pull Trojans past Portage, 44-42

Tom Keegan
Onwartrojans.com

A high school basketball team and its point guard took a big step toward adulthood Friday night in dramatic fashion in Chesterton’s gymnasium, into which Portage entered with an unbeaten DAC record.
Trojans sophomore Tobias “TJ” Ray put a smile on the faces of home spectators that not even the chore of brushing snow off the windshield and driving home on wicked roads could remove.
A game so well played by both teams, packed with stingy defenses and tough shots made with a hand in the face and a defender stationed close enough for the shooter to know what he had for dinner, deserved a fantastic finish.
Ray provided one, going behind his back with the ball to create room and hitting a 14-footer with 1.8 seconds remaining to break a tie and give the Trojans a 44-42 victory on a night he and teammates showed they’re ready to play with the big boys.
Ray scored 15 points, made 7 of 8 free throws and buried two 3-pointers in the first half, including one from just this side of teammate Bradly Basila’s hometown of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
But it’s not unusual for Ray to hit from so deep that the man guarding him is taken by surprise because he didn’t realize until that instant that anybody shot from there without the buzzer on the verge of blaring. It’s what he does. With increasing frequency, he also drives hard to the hoop and draws fouls.
What Ray does not do is shoot mid-range jumpers, at least until Friday night.
With the score tied, Chesterton coach Marc Urban called a timeout with about 20 seconds left to set up a final play. He put the ball in Ray’s hands and the sophomore held it out top until inside of 10 seconds remained, and then he made his move. Ray penetrated, noticed hot-handed junior Logan Pokorney covered in the corner, saw a clogged path to the basket, executed a pull-back dribble, then went around his back, from right to left to create space, squared perfectly and launched a 14-footer.
Bam!
“I think he’s taking a step every day,” Pokorney said. “He’s just growing constantly, whether it’s becoming a better passer, a better scorer, or being more assertive in a game like that. He could have easily stopped and passed the ball, but he knew it was his moment to score, his moment to make a play.”
But the ballgame wasn’t over yet and 1.8 seconds remained on the clock.
Portage’s long pass was deflected out of bounds by Chesterton with 0.8 seconds left and the visitors had one more chance, in-bounding the ball under the hoop Chesterton defended and getting a shot off that glanced off the rim and the buzzer sounded. Chesterton had its biggest win of the year, avenging a 55-44 loss to Portage in the Fishers tournament on Jan. 3 and throwing a wrench into the top of the DAC standings.
With one game left in conference play, Portage shares the lead with Crown Point at 6-1, which it defeated 64-40 eight nights before losing to Chesterton. The Trojans are 3-3 in the DAC, locked in a four-way tie with LaPorte, Michigan City and Lake Central. The Trojans conclude DAC play Friday, Feb. 21 at Valparaiso (2-4). Merrillville is in last at 0-6.
The big shot was a fitting ending to Ray’s game, one in which he handled steady pressure with a steady hand, two hands actually, going to his left more often than early in the season.
Everything was fitting but the distance from which the shot was taken. Does he even practice mid-range shots?
“Not really,” Ray said. “I’ve never really shot mid-range shots before in my life. I’ve always either shot 3s or got to the rim. It’s never really been my go-to thing to do.”
But his is a shooter’s eye, so well-coordinated with his shooting hand, letting it know the right touch to put on the ball. He squares precisely on nights he’s on, releases it quickly, and has such a feathery touch.
“I’m thankful that Urban had confidence in me and the team did, too,” Ray said.
He had given the Trojans a 42-39 lead with 38.1 seconds left by hitting a pair of free throws. Portage scored three points on the next possession to tie it, 42-42.
Portage freshman Bryce Kobe drew a foul and made the first shot. He missed the second, but Garrett Clark soared for the offensive rebound and Caden Schneider was whistled for a foul.
Clark made both freebies and the game was tied with 27.6 seconds left.
The game situations weren’t identical, but in a 50-49 loss at home to Crown Point, Urban opted not to call a timeout to keep Crown Point from setting up its defense, and the Trojans didn’t get a shot off.
This time, the coach called time after the ball was advanced past halfcourt, and without hesitation used every second of the huddle to communicate his message.
“I wanted to get organized,” Urban said. I knew we were in the bonus. They had just called a tight one (foul) against Caden, so I was hoping we could get downhill and make them make a call.”
Ray improvised his way to the game-winning shot, one that must have made his early season struggles seem a million miles away. Back then, as he learned how to run a team against varsity competition for the first time after a season as a freshman starter essentially in a designated shooter role, even his 3-point shot left him for a bit, and then during a mini-slump, his free throw touch. Turnovers mounted and he didn’t always handle it well, letting his emotions boil over.
“He had a tough start to the year, and he got thrown into a whole different role than he was last year,” Urban said. “People think it’s always going to be like roses all the time and it’s not. And he had to go through those tough times and keep figuring out a way to stay consistent. I think that’s the biggest thing for him right now is his consistency.”
Pokorney led the Trojans with 16 points and couldn’t have been more pleased if had been the one to hit the game-winning shot himself.
“I’m really happy for TJ because that’s something he can always do,” Pokorney said. “It goes to show how much more confidence he has in himself now and how much he can impact the game and make plays like that. I think he’s taking a step every day, growing constantly, whether it’s becoming a better passer, a better scorer, or being more assertive in a game like that. He could have easily stopped and passed the ball, but he knew it was his moment to score, his moment to make a play.”
Ray looked away from the mirror to explain the factors in his improvement.
“I think my team,” he said, calling attention first to sophomore sixth man Malachi Ransom. “Malachi, every single day going at me helps me because I go against guards who are good. And I think having everyone else getting on me. I’ve tried to work on my attitude and some of our older guys and our juniors and our whole team tell me to do this and do that and I think it helps me a lot.”
Ray has given Urban reason to believe that in good times and bad he will react better than at bad times early in the year.
“I feel that he’s been emotionally at a good place,” Urban said. “I feel like he’s done a much better job of managing the game and not having those highs and lows because you’re not going to be perfect, and that’s part of his development, and he’s just going to continue to get better. I thought he played really well tonight, and obviously he hit a big shot.”
Urban is in his ninth year as Chesterton’s coach and for most of that time, Tim Ray, the point guard’s father, has been an assistant coach, giving young TJ one of the best seats in the house.
Travis Grayson, the pilot of Chesterton’s 29-1 state runner-up team, is the gold standard for lead guards in Ray’s hometown, so to be mentioned in the same breath as him is high praise, even if he wasn’t making a direct comparison to their different abilities.
“When you think about where Travis was as a sophomore, it took him a while,” Urban said of his former four-year starter who recently reached the 1,000-point milestone as a junior at Spring Arbor University. “We’ve used that reference a lot with him, and he’s Chesterton through and through. He’s been sitting behind the bench a lot, seeing us win stuff, so he knows that he has to do his part so that he can be part of that too. That’s what makes this fun and exciting and makes us ready to get up tomorrow and get ready for Hammond.”
Portage built its unbeaten conference mark with the sort of strong defense it played at Chesterton and with an experienced lineup that includes three four-year starters who have committed to play college basketball.
Chesterton defended Clark (Air Force) and the Wellman twins, Mike (Grace College) and Sam (Bethel) so well that none of them scored in double figures. Guard Omari Evans scored Portage’s first 14 points but finished with just 16. Rob Czarniecki, coming off the bench in this one to make room for Bisala in the starting lineup, a nod to Portage’s size, slowed Mike Wellman at times and consistently showed up in the right spot with help defense to thwart drives.
Urban was quick to mention how big a factor the recent improved play of center Caden Schneider (seven points) has been in the team’s improvement.
“Caden’s starting to grow. He’s starting to play with a lot more toughness. That’s huge,” Urban said. “Logan was aggressive. Everybody’s figuring out their roles and how they’re going to bring value to winning. We’ve had some good, hard practices, and I think even with us as a coaching staff we’re starting to understand our guys a little bit more too. We’re not coaching effort now, which is huge, and when you don’t have to coach effort, then you can coach basketball, and that part gets fun.”
Winning gets fun, too, and for the first time all season, the Trojans (11-8) take a three-game winning streak into a game. They play tonight at 7 at Hammond Central (8-10), which also has a three-game winning streak.