Chesterton coach Tom Peller experimented a little Friday night and it paid off.

Peller inserted Brandon Roeske into the starting lineup and watched as his team picked up a 56-42 Duneland Athletic Conference victory over LaPorte.

“Roeske had been shooting well all year and we thought we’d give him some extended minutes tonight and see how he played,” Peller said after the junior scored a game-high 11 points, including three 3-pointers. “It really paid off.”

The score was tied at 16 with 6:47 to play in the second quarter before Roeske hit back-to-back triples for the Trojans. A 7-0 run later in the period that included four points from Chris Palombizio gave CHS a 29-22 halftime lead.

“We were more consistent and moved better offensively tonight,” Peller said. “Our depth was really important tonight. A couple of our main guys weren’t great offensively tonight, but found other ways to help us out with rebounds and defense.”

LaPorte cut the lead to 29-26 before Roeske scored five more points and Jacob Andert added his third triple of the night.

“We got some big contributions from our bench tonight with Roeske and Andert,” Peller said. “I thought those guys gave us a great lift and some much needed energy.”

Leading 42-33 after three periods, Peller turned it over to his defense.

“In the fourth quarter, I thought we did a nice job defensively,” Peller said. “I think they only made a couple of baskets, so getting some stops there was big.”

Preventing any real rally, the Trojans hit on 6-of-7 free throw attempts in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

After Roeske’s 11-point effort, Palombizio followed with 10 points, while Andert and Corey Rusboldt had nine points each. Matt Holba scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 12 boards.

“We emphasized the boards all week in practice,” Peller said after his team outrebounded LaPorte 47-22. “The rebounding advantage was big for us. We’ve been talking about being tougher in games. That shows up in rebounding, taking charges, getting on the floor and just doing those sorts of things.”

Chesterton (14-15-13-14)

Matt Holba 1-6 6-10 8, Chris Palombizio 4-10 2-2 10, Cole Teal 1-5 2-3 4, Corey Rusboldt 4-9 0-0 9, Brandon Roeske 4-9 0-0 11, Avery Beeks 0-2 0-0 0, Mike Thanos 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Ralph 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Andert 3-3 0-0 9, Donnie Johnson 1-3 0-0 3, Jacob Wasielewski 0-0 0-0 0, Tevin Dilosa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 10-15 56.

LaPorte (14-8-11-9)

Blake Arnett 3-4 2-5 9, Mitch Mrodinski 1-4 0-0 2, Josh Fleming 3-12 0-2 7, Zack Kiger 3-8 2-2 8, Gage Ott 4-13 3-3 11, Logan Dubbs 0-1 0-0 0, Aaron Vaughan 0-0 0-0 0, Miles Browder 2-3 1-2 5, Jacob Jones 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 8-14 42.

3-point field goals: Chesterton 8-14 (Palombizio 0-4, Rusboldt 1-2, Roeske 3-3, Andert 3-3, Johnson 1-2); LaPorte 2-13 (Arnett 1-1, Mrodinski 0-3, Fleming 1-5, Kiger 0-1, Dubbs 0-1, Jones 0-2). Rebounds: Chesterton 47 (Holba 12); LaPorte 22 (Kiger 7). Steals: Chesterton 4 (Rusboldt 2); LaPorte 4 (Kiger 2). Assists: Chesterton 10 (Holba 3, Teal 3); LaPorte 3 (Mrodinski 1, Fleming 1, Kiger 1).

The Chesterton junior varsity boys basketball team improved to 3-5 on the year with a 51-47 victory over LaPorte on Saturday.

Jordan Dilosa led the Trojans with 11 points (5 rebounds), while Niles Dilosa had 10 points (4 rebounds). Rhyss Lewis scored nine points and Colin McEuen added seven points.

Lewis and McEuen each had two assists in the victory.

Posted 12/31/2012