Mercy! Logan Pokorney hits seven 3-pointers, Cooper Huwig four and the team 16 as Chesterton wallops visiting Valparaiso, 75-33, in front of a big, boisterous home crowd

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton saved its best basketball game of the season for its biggest rival and shot visiting Valparaiso into such a massive deficit that the running clock mercy rule kicked in with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night.
The Trojans made 16 3-pointers, seven from senior Logan Pokorney and four from sophomore reserve Cooper Huwig in blowing away Valpo, 75-33 in front of the biggest, loudest crowd of the season. The two shooters gave the rims a night off, delivering nothing-but-net beauties.
When a pack of teenage boys get together on a Friday night it doesn’t always end as well for their families or for the entire town as this one did. They put everyone in a good mood, including workers at local restaurants, their tip jars fattened by adult spectators too keyed up to go straight home and eager to prolong the adrenaline rush that the entertainment supplied.
Not even the return of winter’s cold, nasty wind could put those wearing maroon walking out of the gym in an “Oh, no, not again!” state of mind.
It’s been a strong season for the Trojans, but never quite this good.
With one nonconference game remaining, next Friday at Culver Academies, the Trojans ran their record to 18-4 overall and 6-1 in a DAC season that ended with them in second place, one game behind Crown Point, two games ahead of third-place Portage (4-3). LaPorte and Michigan City tied for fourth at 3-4. Valparaiso and Merrillville tied for sixth at 2-5 and Lake Central (1-6) finished last.
The Vikings (12-11) never led Friday night and fell behind 15-6 at the end of the first quarter, by which time Pokorney and Huwig had two three-pointers apiece. Valpo never grew closer than that.
The Trojans stayed hot all night, hitting three 3s in the second quarter to take a 37-15 lead at the half, five in the third quarter to go up 55-26, and four in the fourth period.
Pokorney scored 23 points without playing more than a few second-half minutes, Huwig had 12 and Bradly Basila 11.
Seven different Trojans buried 3-pointers, with Ransom, Schneider, Basila (did he call bank?), junior Ethan Virgil (3 for 3 on the season) and emerging sophomore Tommy Kostbade joining the long-range shooting exhibition.
The Trojans didn’t encounter any success down low early thanks to 6-foot-9 Corbin McConnachie blocking three shots, but McConnachie couldn’t have reached the shooters who took over the game from nowhere near him.
It was more than hot long-range shooting that helped the home team to wash away the stink from an unimpressive road win at Lowell by racing to a 37-15 halftime lead.
The Trojans used the muscle and hustle of a couple of key reserves to make Valpo uncomfortable.
Gunner Ello, the strongest athlete on the floor, worked his way inside to draw fouls, including Maddux Wagner’s third on the final play of the half, and did a strong job on the boards and on defense. Ransom used his quickness to the team’s advantage at both ends. When Jaylon Watts’ dunk attempt popped out, the left-handed Ransom was right there to grab the rebound, put it back in the basket with his right hand and complete the three-point play by making the free throw. Ransom also applied the sort of in-your-face defensive pressure that ruins the night for ballhandlers and makes them feel as if they have gained a moral victory for not turning it over, even if they picked up the ball 35 feet from the basket.
Tobias Ray, Ransom and Watts did a nice job of pushing the pace and looking for the hot shooters and Basila and Schneider also passed the ball back to the perimeter from the post when they saw open shooters.
The blowout served as a reminder that comparative scores don’t do such a great job of forecasting outcomes. Valpo defeated Lowell by 25 points and Chesterton outscored Valpo by 42 points, which means that Chesterton is 67 points better than Lowell, right?
Well, not exactly. Three nights before shooting the Vikings into mercy land, Chesterton survived Lowell, 52-41.
“Obviously we didn’t play great, but I think that lit a little extra fire in us tonight,” Pokorney said of the Lowell game.
So did the green jerseys in the gym.
“It’s a rivalry game,” Pokorney said. “You’re always ready for it.”
Huwig added: “I think it was a little bit of both. Valpo is a big game and we played a really bad game against Lowell.”
Subpar games can hit the reset button for teams in the area of paying attention to details.
“I think Lowell helped in a lot of ways because I felt we had delusional confidence going into it, we were really cute,” 10th-year Chesterton coach Marc Urban said. “Still, give Lowell credit. They had a lot to do with it.”
It obviously didn’t settle well with anybody, but Friday’s lights-out performance purged it.
“We were very dialed in, very focused on what we needed to do to win the possession, win the three-minute segment, win the quarter, and eventually win the game,” Urban said. “We played really well. We obviously got free and hit a bunch of 3s. I think our defense was really good and that helped to translate over to the offensive side, but the ball also moved and guys executed.”
The atmosphere and the home team’s performance screamed big-time Indiana high school basketball.
“I probably had three or four people today compliment how much they like our gym, the scoreboard, everything looks really good,” Urban said, “especially when we have a packed student section and fan base. Hopefully we can keep this thing going. I thought our guys played hard and did things the right way. So, hopefully they show up two weeks from now for sectionals (at Chesterton).”
The team will gather Sunday in the gymnasium to watch the IHSAATV.org sectional pairings show streaming on the new scoreboard. The finale of the regular season is Friday, Feb. 27 at Culver Academies.
“It was a really good win against our rivals and we had a great crowd, great crowd,” Urban said. “The student section was really, really good, and this game’s always a fun one. Now we have to go back, figure out how to get better, and gear up for the next one.”