Logan Pokorney’s six 3-pointers and 22 points not enough for Chesterton to advance in 69-55 sectional semfinal loss to Portage in final game of season for Trojans

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
Big bodies. Calm under pressure. Connected in a way that made it clear they knew where each other would be when and why.
The Portage boys’ basketball team was all that and more Friday night in ending Chesterton’s basketball season, 69-55, in a sectional semifinal at Valparaiso.
Portage showed the value of having four four-year varsity players in the starting lineup, including three four-year starters who have committed to play college basketball on scholarship.
Logan Pokorney tried his best to keep the Trojans in it, making six 3-pointers and scoring 22 points, and Jaylon Watts (16 of 18 points in the second half) tried to bring them back into the game late with hard drives to the hoop, but Portage had too much firepower and poise to let any of the attempted comebacks gain much steam.
A subset of the final score shined a light on the value of physical and emotional maturity as well as playing experience. Points by seniors: Portage 63, Chesterton 0.
The Indians (19-5) face Merrillville, a 58-46 winner over Hobart, in today’s 6 p.m. sectional final at Valpo. Portage seeks its first sectional title since 2001.
Chesterton finished with a 15-9 record and brings the top seven players in the rotation back next season.
“The environment, even though they’ve played in a lot of really good environments, I felt that there were stretches of the game that we felt comfortable and then there were stretches of the game we looked uncomfortable,” Urban said of his team. “It’s good to experience, but we have to make sure that in those games in those environments we try to stay steady and cool and calm as much as we can and continue to execute. They’re good enough to do it. They’ve done it all year. We just have to get better at it.”
After a regular season that ended so well, with a seven-game winning streak and key in-season addition 6-foot-7 freshman Bradly Basila getting better by the game, the postseason started so poorly, and foul trouble quickly turned Basila into a spectator. To his amazement and that of others who could have sworn that was the sound of a hand slapping leather echoing in their ears, Basila was whistled for two fouls 62 seconds into the game. For the first time since early in his nine-game freshman season, he was a non-factor all night.
“Bradly being in foul trouble, especially that early in the game, changed the flow of it, the feel of it, really quickly,” Urban said.
Portage took advantage by hitting the offensive boards hard and without Basila’s length getting in his way, Mike Wellman became more aggressive shooting.
Portage turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, trapping its way to a lead that grew to as large as 21 points.
Portage guard O’Mari Evans made a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter, forced multiple turnovers and scored a game-high 24 points. Grace College-bound Mike Wellman also made a trio of 3-pointers, hammered home a thunderous dunk and scored 16 points. His twin, Sam, also will play in the Crossroads Conference, although against Mike, not with him, for Bethel University. Sam scored 11 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and did a nice job of directing traffic for his team all night. Air Force-bound Garrett Clark added nine points.
The Wellman brothers had six points apiece in the first quarter, putting Chesterton behind 17-6 after eight minutes. The Trojans battled back, and the Chesterton crowd was its loudest of the night when a possession in which Rob Czarniecki secured three offensive rebounds, Caden Schneider buried a 3-pointer to cut Portage’s lead to 22-18. Mike Wellman immediately responded with a 3 of his own and moments later, Portage took a 27-19 advantage into intermission.
Chesterton needed a strong start to the third quarter to put Portage on its heels. Just the opposite happened. The Trojans didn’t handle the halfcourt trap well, and the winners turned enough turnovers into buckets to start the quarter on an 18-5 run, too big a deficit to overcome.
“I’m proud of my teammates,” Watts said after the game. “We didn’t give up. It would have been very easy to give up, but we just stuck with it. We kept telling each other in the huddles, stick with it, no matter what, so that’s what we did.”
Portage cashed in on a big foul disparity and mad 17 of 24 free throws, compared to 4 of 6 for Chesterton.
“They’re shooting 24 free throws to our 6, obviously they were attacking, but when you give them 17 points from the line in a 14-point game, that’s a lot when you’re only making 4, that’s a lot,” Urban said. “And we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds. As of late, we’ve been good at digging those out, but they got a lot. We had a lot of turnovers that led to no-brainer points. And when you’re trying to get back, and you’re trying to press a team with a lot of good guards and it’s not something that you do, they were able to lay some stuff in, but I give our kids credit. They didn’t stop fighting. They kept sticking with it.”
Portage’s seniors hit big shots every time Chesterton threated to get close.
“They’re strong, they’ve got good size. They all can play multiple positions and when they’re shooting like that, they’re a tough guard because you have to guard the 3-point line, but you don’t want to give them lanes for them to drive,” Urban said. “Give those guys credit. I’ve known Sam and Mike and Garrett for quite some time. Yes, you’re competitive, you want to beat them in every single way, but they’re really good kids and they’ve always been very respectful. I’m pulling for them to do well in college.”