They only took 26
shots. That’s all they needed.
The Chesterton boys
basketball team picked up a key Duneland Athletic Conference win with a
55-49 victory over Crown Point on Friday night.
“I’m really proud
of our guys,” Chesterton coach Marc Urban said. “We really challenged them
after Wednesday night (at Andrean) and we had a lot of guys make plays that
probably don’t show up in the stat book. We got the win we needed.”
Tyler Nelson got
the Trojans started with the game’s first five points and an early lead.
“Tyler early was
looking to be aggressive,” Urban said. “And I thought Travis (Grayson) may
have played his best game of the year and made the right decisions.”
The Trojans built a
15-10 lead after one quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Crown Point
gave them a 27-26 lead at the half.
Chesterton took the
lead for good midway through the third quarter with a 7-0 run that included
four points from Drew Vanderwoude and three from Jake Wadding. Wadding
finished with a game-high 20 points.
“When we are
playing our best, we get everybody involved,” Urban said. “It doesn’t have
to be Jake (Wadding) always. Everybody we play focuses on him and we have
other guys that can hit shots.”
The Bulldogs crept
within 44-42 early in the fourth before a Nick Mullen triple gave the
Trojans some breathing room.
“Nick hit a huge
three for us,” Urban said. “It was so big and he never hesitated.”
The Trojans closed
out the game with a 5-of-6 performance from the foul line in the final 1:08.
They were 22-of-25 from the charity stripe on the night.
“We probably don’t
win that game if we don’t make free throws,” Urban said. “Credit the guys.
They stepped up and knocked them down.”
Offensively,
Chesterton was 14-of-26 (54 percent) from the field and 5-of-9 (56 percent)
from 3-point range.
“Our biggest focus
was on every possession being important,” Urban said. “Every time we play
those guys, that’s how the game has gone. It’s always possession by
possession.”
Rounding out the
scoring for the Trojans were Jack Eaton (8 points), Nelson (6 points),
Grayson (6 points), Vanderwoude (6 points), Kolton Cardenas (4 points) and
Mullen (3 points).
“It’s a big win for
us for a lot of reasons,” Urban said. “You have to try to stay ahead in the
conference. You can’t lose a second one.”
Chesterton returns
to the court on Friday when they host Lake Central. The JV game begins at
5:30 p.m.
Chesterton 55,
Crown Point 49
AT CHESTERTON
Crown Point
(10-17-11-11)
Matt Hanlon 2-5 0-0
5, Sam Snodgrass 6-13 4-4 19, Sam Krutz 0-0 0-0 0, Elias Gerodemons 5-6 2-2
14, Sam Decker 4-9 0-0 9, Ty Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Karakozis 1-2 0-0 2,
Jake Oostman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-35 6-6 49.
Chesterton
(15-11-18-11)
Kolton Cardenas 1-3
1-2 4, Tyler Nelson 2-5 1-2 6, Jack Eaton 2-3 2-2 8, Nick Mullen 1-2 0-0 3,
Jake Wadding 6-8 8-9 20, Travis Grayson 0-3 6-6 6, Alex Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0,
Jake Warren 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Vanderwoude 2-2 4-4 6. Totals 14-26 22-25 55.
3-point field
goals: Crown Point 7-13 (Hanlon 1-3, Snodgrass 3-6, Gerodemos 2-2, Decker
1-2); Chesterton 5-9 (Cardenas 1-3, Nelson 1-2, Eaton 2-2, Mullen 1-2).
Rebounds: Crown Point 11 (Gerodemos 4); Chesterton 20 (Wadding 7). Assists:
Crown Point 8 (Snodgrass 6); Chesterton 8 (Grayson 3). Steals: Crown Point 5
(Snodgrass 3); Chesterton 6 (Vanderwoude 3).
