Second Q meltdown costs Trojans at SB St. Joe

Left: Chesterton junior Rob Czarniecki looks for a cutter to receive his pass in a 77-55 loss to South Bend St.

Joseph.

Right: Logan Pokorney goes up for two of his team-high 16 points in 20-point loss at South Bend St.

Joseph.

No need to call in the worlds most skilled sleuths to pinpoint the time and cause of the Chesterton basketball teams meltdown Saturday at South Bend Saint Joseph, where the Trojans lost, 77-55.

Let those investigators stay on the case of the healthcare CEO slaying, which appears far more complicated.

Back on the basketball court, a night that started with promise ended quickly.

The Trojans self-destruction began when the hosts put on a full-court press at the beginning of the first quarter and it didnt end until the Huskies had gone on an 18-0 run to put the game in their control to stay.

At the outset, Logan Pokorney drove hard to the hoop for a pair of buckets and nailed a 3-pointer to give his team a 13-9 lead that was trimmed to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Then the long, skilled, experienced, relentless Huskies cranked up the pressure.

Competing against the states No.

3 ranked 3-A team called for Chesterton having a lead guard with experience playing the point in big games, playing it in a way that indicates he lives to play that position more than any other, and would rather be doing it than anything else, anywhere, and does it armed with the physical and emotional maturity that comes with age.

TOM KEEGAN/photos Chesterton doesnt have that player at the moment.

Sophomore Tobias Ray, a starting shooting guard as a freshman, and fellow sophomore Malachi Ransom, who played for the freshman team last season at Chicago Simeon, took their turns, in that order, trying to lead the press break.

As would be the case with most sophomores anywhere, they werent ready for that steep a challenge.

A roster full of juniors and seniors is best suited to take on the team Chesterton faced Saturday, but with two starters sidelined by concussion, injuries sustained by junior Caden Schneider and senior Anthony Gonzalez on consecutive practice days, the Trojans didnt have that.

Many of the minutes were played by three sophomores and two freshmen.

The swarming Huskies, who return four starters from last seasons state runner-up squad, forced Chesterton into 10 secondquarter turnovers, won the period 23-6 and the middle two quarters of the game 52-21.

The Trojans failure to handle the pressure means that future opponents, even those neither as relentless nor as talented as St.

Joe, will make Chesterton negotiate fullcourt heat until the Trojans can make them pay for it.

The path to figuring out how to do that starts with reviewing Saturdays game film, a task headed by ninth-year head coach Marc Urban.

I think collectively we all have to take responsibility for it.

I have to figure out on my end why we were getting the ball so deep in corners and putting guys in binds, Urban said.

Then they have to make sure they do their part and help each other out and be stronger with it.

So, it was a collective effort, but I could have probably worked against a press for the past month, but you play the No.

3 team in the state on their home floor when theyre going good, you cant simulate it.

So, we have to go through this.

I just told the guys, Hey, were all going to take collective responsibility for it and were going to come back Monday and figure out how to fix it and grow and get better.

Urban makes as difficult a non-conference schedule as he can cobble together.

After playing Washington Township at home Friday, the Trojans begin a threeweek gauntlet that features some of the states top programs.

They play Brownsburg at Grace College, noon Saturday, are at East Chicago Central on Dec.

17, and at Penn on Dec.

21.

After the Christmas break, its off to a tournament held by Fishers, the No.

1 team in the state, on Jan.

2 and 3.

Id much rather do this than play someone whos not very good and not find out about ourselves because we have a lot of good teams left on the schedule, Urban said of playing St.

Joe.

But theyre a good basketball team and when we did what we were supposed to do, we had some decent looks, we did some good things.

I even thought defensively, we followed the scout really well.

Pokorney led Chesterton (2-1) in scoring for the third consecutive game, netting 16 points, and did a nice job of checking Chase Konieczny, who led the Huskies with 16 points, 11 coming in the second quarter, when most of the hosts points came off turnovers.

Jaylon Watts, Pokorneys junior classmate, scored 12 points and guarded Nick Shrewsberry (seven points).

Konieczny and Shrewsberry both have brothers playing for nearby Notre Dame, coached by Micah Shrewsberry, who attended the Chesterton game.

Sophomore Elijah King and junior Ethan Roseman had 13 points apiece for the Huskies.

We wanted to do whatever we could to limit (Konieczny and Shrewsberry) and let (Rosen) get his, Urban said.

But if youre going to turn the ball over 26 times or 24 times, whatever we did, that leads to points and it really doesnt matter what you do.

St.

Joe took a 63-34 lead into the fourth quarter, at which point Chesterton had no shortage of role models for how to play when on the wrong side of a lopsided scoreboard: with the same effort as in a tie game.

Pokorney continued to defend attentively, and Rob Czarniecki, who took two charges under the basket early in the game and scored nine points, had the play of the game well into the fourth quarter.

His team trailing by 25 points, Czarniecki hit the deck for a loose ball, and then from a seated position he put enough power behind a two-hand pass to rifle the ball ahead to Pokorney, who took it to the hoop for a bucket and was fouled.

Sophomore Gunner Ello, in the starting lineup in place of Schneider, didnt shy from contact, battle hard for rebounds and scored five points.

Watts didnt let his focus stray, and Peyton Tarnowski came off the bench to draw fouls on drives and made 3 of 4 free throws.

So, there were some positives for the Trojans to take from the game, but the failure to handle the press determined the outcome.

When we give up the pick six plays where we cant get back and stop them from scoring, theres not a lot we can do, so we just have to get stronger with the ball in the future, Czarniecki said.

We just have to dive into the film and keep getting at it.

We can take the good and the bad from this game and keep going.

We have a long way to go, so we just have to stay at it..

This article has been shared from the original article on chestertontribune, here is the link to the original article.