Left: Not all of Logan Pokorney’s 19 points, 17 in the first half, came from long range. He scores here on a drive on a night he made five 3-pointers in a 70-45, seasonopening win over visiting Elkhart. Center: Jaylon Watts starts a fastbreak on a night he scored 13 points against Elkhart. Right: Sophomore Malachi Ransom, Chesterton’s quickest player, blows by his man during blowout victory over Elkhart.
Many of the spectators who formed a small opening-night crowd last Saturday with Elkhart in town for a boys basketball game no doubt left talking about two things: 1. Chesterton showcased exceptional teamwork; 2. Logan Pokorney’s long-range jumper looked even better than in years past, which is saying a lot.
Pokorney made five 3-pointers on his way to 17 first-half points and was in no hurry to pad that total, finishing with 19 points to lead the Trojans past Elkhart, 70- 45.
The Trojans moved the ball rapidly around the perimeter and penetrated, both of which resulted in open shots. They cashed in on enough of them to take control of the game early and never surrendered it.
“I think we stayed connected through everything,” junior guard Jaylon Watts said of what he thought the Trojans did best. “When things started to get bad, we didn’t drift off into our own bubble, we just stayed connected, played together.”
Things didn’t turn sour often for the Trojans, who are coming off a 16-10 season.
“I think we all played for each other tonight,” Pokorney said. “You see a ton of high-fives, a ton of huddles, and you see guys encouraging each other, and I think that’s what helped us win.”
That and, then of course, Pokorney’s soft touch from deep range didn’t hurt. The second-year starter and third-year varsity player made a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter and three more in the second and didn’t even look as though he had hunting shots on his mind.
“My teammates got me open, driving the lane and being able to stop on two and hit me,” Pokorney said.
Second-year starter Tobias Ray and fellow sophomore Malachi Ransom, a transfer from Simeon of the Chicago Public League, also buried 3s in the first quarter, helping the Trojans take a 16-8 lead that grew to 37- 22 at the half and 56-27 after three quarters.
None of the points came from seniors. Juniors combined for 51 points (Pokorney 19, Watts 13, Caden Schneider 11, Rob Czarniecki 4, Peyton Tarnowski 4), sophomores for 14 (Ransom 8, Ray 5, Gunner Ello 1) and the freshmen for five (Cooper Huwig 3, Tommy Kostbade 2).
CARMEN THOMAS/photos
“We’re young,” ninth-year Chesterton head coach Marc Urban said. “We had guys who didn’t know where to get their uniforms. Cooper had his shirt on backwards. He asked if we had smaller shorts, so I had to pull the string to tighten them for him.”
Once he came off the bench, nothing about Huwig’s game betrayed his absence of varsity experience. He’s playing against older players than in past years, but he’s playing the same sport and it’s obvious that it’s a game for which he has a natural feel. So, when the ball came to Huwig for an open 3, he used his lefty stroke to swish the first shot of his varsity career. And that wasn’t even his best play. That came when he whistled a beauty of a bounce pass to Tarnowski under the basket for an easy bucket.
The Trojans scored 22 bench points, led by Ransom’s eight.
Left: Starting center Caden Schneider scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. Right: Back after missing all last season with an elbow injury, Peyton Tarnowski scores on a feed from Cooper Huwig.
For starters, Urban went with a fourguard lineup, surrounding Schneider with Ray, Watts, senior Anthony Gonzalez and Pokorney.
Gonzalez didn’t score but did deliver the most memorable pass of the night. Gonzalez went behind the back to whip a perfect interior pass to Watts for an easy bucket in the second quarter. Fellow senior Robert Williams also went scoreless but lent help on the boards.
For the most part, Urban was pleased with the opening act of the season.
“I thought the ball moved,” he said. “We shot a lot of 3s, obviously. I liked all of them, but I know when we got the ball and touched the paint, we shot a lot higher percent. Our points per possession the first half when we hit the paint was 1.4. So, we have to make sure we understand that you don’t have to shoot that first quick one all the time. You want to be a threat, but when we move it, and we’re able to hit that paint, our points per possession are going to go up.”
CARMEN THOMAS/photos
Nobody is more equipped to get to the paint on the dribble than Ransom, the quickest player on the team and the best at pressuring ballhandlers. Ransom earned a long stretch on the bench when his jaws moved almost as quickly as his feet. At one point in the second quarter, Urban tried to get Ransom’s attention, hollering, “Malachi,” repeatedly. When the coach realized his voice wasn’t heard, he used a timeout to tell Ransom three times, “Don’t do it! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!” By “it” he meant trashtalking his opponent. Shortly after that, Ransom flashed his crazy quickness, took his man to the rim, scored on a layup, had a few words for his foe, and was pinned with a technical foul. Urban took him out of the game for a long stretch, and when the lefty returned in the second half, he did so with the same level of hustle that enabled him to energize the team in the first half.
Chesterton played at a fast pace and with precision.
“When we’re able to get stops, we’re able to get out and run and we’re a lot faster,” Urban said. “When they make it and they’re able to get set, we’re a lit bit slower getting up the floor. But if we can get out and run, we have guys who are quick and they’re unselfish.”
The Trojans aren’t as big as they are quick and skilled, but Schneider, the 6-foot- 7 starting center, looked comfortable.
“I think Caden is going to keep getting better. He just has to make sure he stays on the floor. He can’t get into foul trouble on dumb ones,” Urban said. “Some of it is we have to make sure we do a good job making sure we stay out of rotations, but he has to be really smart down there just to stay on the floor because he really helps our offense go because he’s a good passer and can shoot it. He’s going to continue to develop his low-post game, which we’re going to need to be able to throw it down to him. He made some good moves tonight, so we just have to keep working with him.”
Blasted in its opener at Northridge, 81- 41, Elkhart dropped to 0-2.
Chesterton’s next game is Friday night at Hammond Morton, which opened its season with a 59-45 loss to Bishop Noll. The next night, the waters grow considerably choppier for the Trojans when they travel to South Bend St. Joseph. The Huskies (new nickname) lost in the 3A state title game by 10 points last season and have most of their roster back, including Chase Konieczny and Nick Shrewsbury, both of whom have brothers playing at nearby Notre Dame.
Konieczny scored 25 points last year at Chesterton, a game won by the Trojans, 75- 72.
“Obviously, it’s going to get a lot tougher as we go, and there are a lot of things that we have to improve on, but it felt good to play a game,” Urban said. “We hadn’t played in a long time. To dive into the season, I was pleased with a lot of things, but I know there will be a lot of things we need to correct. That’s how you have to go through a season.”
The Trojans don’t play another home game until Dec. 13 against Washington Township.
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