Nothing semi great about tonight’s great semi matchup: Portage vs. Chesterton at Valparaiso, 6 p.m. tip

Nothing semi great about tonight’s great semi matchup: Portage vs. Chesterton at Valparaiso, 6 p.m. tip

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Never mind what your obnoxious cousin the Duke basketball fan, your loud neighbor the self-anointed Big Ten expert, or even your TV listings might tell you.
March Madness begins tonight at 6 p.m. in Valparaiso High School’s gymnasium, where Portage (18-5) and Chesterton (15-8) square off in the Rubber Match in the first of two sectional semifinals.
When the final buzzer sounds, and those teams vacate the court, Hobart and Merrillville will form layup lines in preparation for the next semifinal. The winners will return to the Valpo gym Saturday for the championship game, a 6 p.m. tipoff.
Tonight will be the third time Portage and the Trojans play this season. Portage won the first game, 55-44, at the Fishers Invitational on Jan. 3. Chesterton won the rematch, 44-42, at home on Feb. 14.
Portage shared the Duneland Athletic Conference title with Crown Point with a 6-1 record. The Trojans’ 4-3 record tied them for third with Michigan City.
Ninth-year Chesterton Coach Marc Urban doesn’t have a problem with Portage being considered the favorite in the Rubber Match.
“They have five seniors who have done a lot, so yeah, there is no question about that, just from the fact that they won the DAC and have had a really good year,” Urban said. “So, it’s going to take our best effort to put ourselves in a position to win it.”
Coaches from the same conference generally try to avoid playing in the same tournaments during winter break, but when the hottest program in the state invites you, you don’t say no.
“They’re in your conference, in your sectional,” Urban said. “I think that when you’re the favorite, you probably don’t want that. When you’re the underdog, it’s probably OK. Jan. 3 when we played them was a long time ago, and the last time we played them feels like a long time ago.”
Those games are in the past. Tonight’s game will be played in the moment, possession by possession. Nothing that happened in the past counts for anything tonight, when both teams embrace a survive-and-advance mentality.
“As coaches, we always try to analyze a lot of things, but the bottom line is we have to make sure that we show up as prepared as we can, as connected as we can, at 6 o’clock at Valpo,” Urban said. “We know that they’ll be ready as well. It should be exciting.”
The venue doesn’t give either team an advantage. Chesterton’s trip, per mapquest, will span 8.6 miles and last 15 minutes. Portage’s will span nine miles and take 16 minutes.
Both teams ride strong momentum into the game. Portage, which has an unusually experienced roster, has won 9 of 10, the Trojans seven in a row.
Seniors account for 83% of Portage’s scoring. Eighth man Anthony Gonzalez is the only senior in Chesterton’s rotation.
For Portage, Twins Mike (14.3 points per game) and Sam Wellman (10.2) and Garrett Clark (11.3) are four-year starters who have committed to play basketball in college. Clark committed to Air Force, Mike Wellman to Grace College, Sam (47% 3-point shooter) to Bethel University. Senior O’Mari Evans, who was scoreless in the first Chesterton game and scored his team’s first 12 points and finished with 16 in the second, averages 11.3 points and shoots 42% from 3-point range.
Chesterton junior Logan Pokorney (15.2) has the highest scoring average of anyone in the game, Sam Wellman the highest rebounding average (5.2), Trojans sophomore Tobias Ray the highest assists average (4.0).
Portage is seeking its 11th sectional title and first since 2001. Chesterton is chasing its seventh sectional title and fourth in the past seven seasons.
In a numerical coincidence apropos of nothing and therefore probably not even worth mentioning, all four of tonight’s semifinalists have played games decided by a score of 64-40 this season. Portage won its game against Crown Point 64-40 and defeated Merrillville by the same score. Chesterton defeated Hobart 64-40.
Based on the first two meetings between Portage and Chesterton, tonight’s first semifinal shapes up as one likely to be decided by a much smaller margin. The game played on a neutral floor was tied with three minutes remaining until Portage caught fire at the end. In the rematch, Trojans sophomore Tobias Ray hit a mid-range jumper with 1.8 seconds left to win it. He scored 15 points, Pokorney 16 in that one.
The schools meet for a third time, improved versions of themselves compared to their previous meetings, the crowd and the stakes bigger this time. Nobody in the audience will mistake this for a January or February game. Everything about the night will scream March Madness.