Round one in the books.

The Chesterton boys basketball team had little trouble in getting a Sectional-opening 70-50 victory over LaPorte Wednesday night at Michigan City.

The Trojans will face off against Valparaiso, a 51-37 winner over Portage, at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“We took the right shots, passed and shared the basketball on offense tonight,” Chesterton coach Tom Peller said. “Add that to solid defense and it’s a nice formula for success.”

Chris Palombizio opened the game for Chesterton with a triple, but the Slicers scored eight straight points for an early lead.

Another Palombizio three and a trey from Jacob Andert put the Trojans back on top before a pair of three’s from Slicer Josh Fleming gave LaPorte it’s final lead of the game at 14-9. Fleming finished with a game-high 25 points.

“Chris got off to a good start and that always helps when you see the ball go through the basket early on,” Peller said. “Everybody got involved early on and things just kind of took off from there.”

Donnie Johnson scored five straight points and Cole Teal finished a 7-0 run that put the Trojans on top 18-15 after one quarter and they never trailed again.

“We moved Cole to the point a couple weeks ago and things just seem to be flowing better offensively,” Peller said. “We’re in a good rhythm out there.”

LaPorte got another triple from Fleming to tie the score at 20 early in the second quarter, but a Chesterton defensive change to a zone ignited a 9-0 run.

“Our zone really helped us and we’ll keep changing defenses,” Peller said. “The guys like it and it helps keep the other team out of rhythm a little bit.”

Palombizio’s third triple of the half pushed the Trojans to a 34-23 halftime lead. The sophomore led Chesterton with 19 points.

The blowout took full effect as the Trojans started the third quarter on a 19-0 run that forced six LaPorte turnovers.

“I thought the third quarter intensity on defense coming out of halftime was the difference,” Peller said. “We got five or six stops and converted on the other end. We had a really good purpose defensively.”

The Slicers tried to make a comeback with a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.

“In the fourth quarter, I wanted to get some guys some rest and other people in the game,” Peller said. “They made a little run, but we settled down and kept control.”

Corey Rusboldt added 10 points for the Trojans offensively as Donnie Johnson added nine. Jacob Andert finished with eight, while Matt Holba dished out a team-high five assists.

Chesterton shot 26-of-49 (53 percent) from the floor and outrebounded LaPorte 38-23 on the night.

“We out-rebounded them and that’s big for us,” Peller said. “We got second shots and kept them from getting very many.”

Chesterton (18-16-21-15)

Matt Holba 2-5 0-2 4, Chris Palombizio 7-10 2-2 19, Cole Teal 3-6 0-0 6, Corey Rusboldt 3-6 3-4 10, Jacob Andert 3-5 1-1 8, Avery Beeks 0-0 0-0 0, Niles Dilosa 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Thanos 1-2 1-2 4, Andrew Ralph 0-1 2-2 2, Donnie Johnson 3-5 2-2 9, Tevin Dilosa 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Roeske 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 20-35 11-15 70.

LaPorte (15-8-5-22)

Blake Arnett 0-3 0-0 0, Mitch Mrozinski 2-8 4-5 8, Josh Fleming 10-25 1-2 25, Aaron Vaughn 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Jones 1-4 0-0 3, Matt Walls 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Dubbs 1-2 0-0 3, Ben Walker 3-5 1-1 9, Greg Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0, Brian McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Otwinowski 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-50 6-8 50.

3-point field goals: Chesterton 6-14 (Palombizio 3-5, Teal 0-3, Andert 1-2, Thanos 1-2, Johnson 1-2); LaPorte 8-21 (Arnett 0-1, Mrozinski 0-3, Fleming 4-10, Jones 1-4, Dubbs 1-2, Walker 2-3). Rebounds: Chesterton 35 (Palombizio 7); LaPorte 23 (Fleming 7). Steals: Chesterton 7 (Teal 2, Rusboldt 2); LaPorte 4 (Fleming 3). Assists: Chesterton 12 (Holba 5); LaPorte 4 (Vaughn 2).

　Posted 2/28/2013