Unranked Trojans catch fire early and never cool off in 73-55 win over No. 4 South Bend St. Joseph in boys basketball season opener as four players score in double figures: Ray (20), Pokorney (18), Basila (17), Watts (11)

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Based on Chesterton’s season-opening boys basketball game Friday night at home, preseason rankings aren’t worth the cyberspace they float on.
Unranked and only mentioned in the “others receiving votes” basement of the poll, the Trojans looked worthy of far more respect than that in taking it to No. 4 South Bend St. Joseph, 73-55, Friday night at home.
One problem with preseason rankings is that they amount to guesses by coaches voting without knowing how much progress other teams’ key players made in the offseason, which appears to have been a ton in the case of each of Chesterton’s four players who scored in double figures in the opener: Tobias Ray (20 points), Logan Pokorney (18), Bradly Basila (17) and Jaylon Watts (11).
Ray buried five 3-pointers, Pokorney four, Basila and Cooper Huwig one apiece during a fast-paced physical game that pumped up a lively crowd, which returned the favor.
“We all came in to work hard all summer and it showed tonight and it’s going to show even more throughout the season,” Pokorney said.
Those are confident words, but sound almost timid compared to the self assurance with which the Trojans played.
“More confident,” Basila said of the biggest difference from a year ago. “We all have more confidence. We play more together right now.”
It’s one thing to say it, but the Trojans showed it from the outset.
“These guys put in the work in the weight room. They put in the work skillwise and they put in the work figuring out how to get better,” 10th-year Chesterton coach Marc Urban said. “And it was good to see us have success.”
Confident words not backed up by confident performances amount to enough hot air to float balloons. The Trojans floated soft shots from long range, not balloons.
“The confidence comes from the work. You can’t have delusional confidence. My brother gave that to me,” he said of Michael Urban, director of mental performance for the Los Angeles Clippers. “We don’t have delusional confidence.”
And scoring wasn’t necessarily what the Trojans did best in a game they trailed only once, 5-4.
Pokorney, whose weight and speed are up and his dribble lower, made his biggest contribution at the defensive end. He guarded Nick Shrewsberry, a 6-5 guard recruited to Notre Dame to play for his father, head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Pokorney, headed to Taylor University on a basketball scholarship, held him scoreless until Shrewsberry stopped in transition at the volleyball line and launched a shot that went in for his only points of the night with 1:38 remaining.
Plus, Pokorney’s effort moving without the ball was a key factor in the Trojans success against the press. Urban, Marc the coach, not Michael the sports psychologist, explained the importance of that: “Logan did a really good job of breaking to get open over and over and over and that’s a tiring to do. He’s fast. He’s extremely fast, he’s strong, he’s relentless. His ability to get open was the first part of us starting to break that press.”
Pokorney grew heavier in a smart way and as a result is faster.
“I ate more food and I went to the weight room this offseason,” Pokorney said. “I really wanted to focus on putting on pounds. I’m 10 to 15 pounds up this year from last season. I was in the weight room the whole offseason and I think it’s going to show this season.”
Ray, a junior third-year starter, never has played better than he did against the quick, well-coached Huskies. He withstood their relentless defensive pressure, sometimes extending to fullcourt, other times in the form of halfcourt traps, to make productive passes. He drove hard to the hoop, sometimes to dish the ball and twice to score, once on a nifty left-handed layup from the right side.
Ray made a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter, but his most entertaining play of the night came when he drove the right baseline hard and threw an over-the-shoulder pass to hit Pokorney cutting down the lane, receiving the pass and banking in the shot.
“We work on stuff like that and I’ve known Logan since third grade, so we’ve been playing together forever and it was just knowing that he’s a really great cutter and just being able to find him with that, knowing he’s open and getting it to him,” Ray said of the play.
Ray has grown taller and rocked up his physique in the weight room and tweaked his shot, all of which made him tougher to guard.
“I’ve been working a lot on my body, like trying to not be chubby in a way, getting more mature and having the guys on my team having faith in me to drive,” Ray said. “And having a great shooter like Logan and a great paint presence like Bradly, it opens up so much more for me to get more assists to them.”
Basila joined the team to play the final nine games after moving from the Democratic Republic of Congo, speaking French and very little English. His talent was obvious, but he was sped up, his game raw. He looked like a completely different player, a smart player and still a relentless competitor but much more under control. He played the entire first half and almost all of the second, committed just two fouls, and might have had as many rebounds as points.
“I just keep learning and I understand what the coach is saying now,” said Basila, who no longer needs Google translator to conduct interviews.
Staying out of foul trouble will be important for Basila because no one else can replace him as a rebounder, low-post scorer or rim protector.
“He’s obviously slowed down and he’s continuing to make the right plays,” Urban said. “And when you do that, everyone has confidence that you’re going to make the right decision and you feel good with it. I don’t think he forced anything tonight. And he’s going to continue to learn and grow and he’s such an intelligent kid. He’s progressed so much here and he’s going to continue to get better.”
Basila looked especially quick when he missed close shots and snared his own rebound.
Watts did impressive work getting to the rim and finishing through hard contact and would have had two old-fashioned 3-pointers if not for missing one of the free throws.
“One of the things we talked about was him getting more physical defensively,” Urban said. “He’s put on some good weight. I feel confident he’s going to finish that.”
Pokorney said of Watts: “He’s not going to get the recognition, but he’s one of the best guards in the state. He really is.”
Watts was one of the key players in keeping the team pushing at a fast pace from the jump.
Pokorney scored the first points of the season, nailing a 3-pointer from the left side of the key and hitting another from the left wing later in a first quarter that ended with the Trojans on top 11-7. They expanded the lead to 27-16 when Ray’s lefty layup from the right side came at the end of a 10-point run early in the second quarter. St. Joe cut its deficit to 34-29 at the half.
“In the second quarter we kind of let the game get to us and stopped being sharp,” Urban said. “But I felt that in the second half everybody was pretty sharp every possession, which you have to be able to do in tough games.”
Pokorney scored 10 third-quarter points to put Chesterton up 56-39 heading into the fourth period, when the lead grew to as big as 21 points. One of the smoother plays of the third period came when Malachi Ransom drove into the lane and rose up to throw a perfect pass to an open Huwig in the left corner. Nothing but net. Beautiful rotation. Such a soft landing, oh so wild a reaction from the student section.
Which team was ranked No. 4 again?
The players were aware of the preseason poll, but said they didn’t read too much into it.
“They’re obviously a really, really good team and we always want to play the best and beat the best, too. And I feel like we can be aware of that, but we don’t want to get too heavily into it,” Ray said.
Pokorney interjected, “Piggybacking off what TJ said, we’re just taking it with a grain of salt. Rankings don’t matter to us.”
Basketball is not a game of perfection, so the film will supply the coaches with plenty of practice fodder.
“It was a really good win but it’s still Game 1 and we have got a long way to go,” Urban said. “We have things we have to clean up and get better at, but it’s a great win.”
Urban called the student section “the best it’s been in my 10 years here.” He particularly got a huge kick out of a group of students, including former basketball players of his Rob Czarniecki and Peyton Tarnowski, draping an ESPN banner over a table set up in the first row of bleachers on the home side and sitting at the table dressed as ESPN anchors, wearing ties, sportcoats and headsets. Urban also appreciated the young members of the Chesterton basketball club sitting under the hoop the Trojans shot at in the first half.
“I thought the energy and the environment they brought was tremendous and I hope they keep coming back,” Urban said.
Given how entertaining a night the home team provided, right across the hall from where diners were serenaded with chillingly beautiful Christmas songs during the Madrigal Dinner, it’s difficult to imagine anyone in attendance not wanting to return on a regular basis. The Trojans resume their schedule with a couple of games on the road, playing at Washington Township on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 14 vs. Fort Wayne Snider at Grace College at 1 p.m. Central. The next home game is vs. East Chicago Central on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.