Donnie Johnson made it clear that he has scored more than 10 points before in a basketball game, just not one when he was wearing the Maroon and Gold uniform of Chesterton.

The reserve forward came off the bench in the second quarter to score eight points when the Trojans badly needed any type of offense and then the junior added another big basket in the third quarter as Chesterton pulled out a 53-45 victory over LaPorte at home on Tuesday night.

The Trojans improved to 3-5 overall this season and 2-4 in the Duneland Athletic Conference.

“I just wanted to start a spark out there,” Johnson said. “I want to make things happen and do what I have to do to get a win for my team.”

Johnson seemingly did everything right in the second quarter as the Trojans blew open a four-point game and stretched the lead to double digits in the first two minutes of the second frame. Not only was Johnson scoring from all over the floor, but the junior added six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Donnie was big time for us tonight,” Chesterton coach Tom Peller said. “He was really great off the bench and I thought his energy was very important for us tonight.”

The Trojans had just two first quarter field goals as both teams combined to shoot 3-of-20 from the floor in the first quarter. The bad news was that Chesterton was struggling to score. The good news was that LaPorte was doing the same.

“If you’re not scoring, at least you’re playing well defensively,” Peller said.

K.J. Zelenika played strong defense on LaPorte leading scorer Austin Alcorn. The senior missed his first five shots before catching fire in the second half, but Zelenika’s defense provided enough of a buffer for the Trojans to build a big enough lead to withstand Alcorn’s four second half 3-pointers.

“We just kept working defensively and trying to make them take hard shots,” Chesterton sophomore Cole Teal said. “You really have to credit K.J. for the job he did on Alcorn tonight.”

Johnson wasn’t the only bench player to contribute on Tuesday night as KeMonte Price added nine points and two rebounds. Jacob Wasielewski much a strong contribution from the starting lineup after Matt Holba was sidelined when he took an elbow to the face. The sophomore center had 10 points and five rebounds while blocking a shot.

“Their energy was really important for us tonight,” Peller said. “We need seven to eight different guys out there contributing in order to win. I thought Donnie and Ke(Monte) gave us some big momentum.”