Trojans boys basketball team travels to Merrillville tonight in a DAC opener for both schools and will try to slow down high-scoring Pirates sophomore guard Charles Hardiman

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The boys basketball DAC season opened Friday night with three games, two that came down to the final possession.
Undefeated Crown Point, the No. 2 team in the state, defeated Michigan City, 69-58. Lake Central topped LaPorte in overtime, 60-56, and unbeaten Portage edged Valparaiso, 57-56.
Chesterton (9-2) travels to Merrillville (1-8) in a DAC opener for both squads.
“Everybody feels this way: You try to figure yourself out, but you get to the first game of the DAC and everybody starts 0-0,” Chesterton coach Marc Urban said. “Merrillville has played some good teams and their record isn’t great, but they still get that breath of fresh air going into the conference 0-0, and they’re on their home floor.”
Chesterton’s biggest concern is containing high-scoring 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Charles Hardiman. He scored 30 points in the Pirates’ lone victory thus far, 66-62 over Andrean.
“Hardiman is a really good scoring guard,” Urban said. “And there are a lot of things that going into those DAC games. Everything amps up a level and it’s always challenging playing there.”
Playing at home, the Pirates defeated Chesterton in the DAC opener two years ago. Last season, the Trojans defeated visiting Merrillville, 47-39, when Hardiman scored 18 points.
Chesterton (9-2) is coming off a 62-24 win over Andrean in which Logan Pokorney made six 3-pointers and scored all 20 of his points in the first half.
Pokorney leads Chesterton with 15.7 points per game, followed by Bradly Basila (11.2), Jaylon Watts (11.2), Tobias Ray (8.8) and sixth man Malachi Ransom (7.8). Basila leads the Trojans with six rebounds a game, followed by Watts (4.1). Tobias Ray leads the team 5.3 assists per game and center Caden Schneider (3.2).