PORTER TOWNSHIP, IN (2-23-2005) - With the state tournament draw on the street, every game in the final week of the season becomes a warm-up. A glorified practice. In that respect, Chesterton did very well and Boone Grove didn't do that badly in the Trojans' 63-51 road win late Tuesday.

 For Chesterton (9-10), the effort was at peak level on a week night in a meaningless nonconference matchup, perhaps the toughest game emotionally to play. For Boone Grove (14-6), it was the fourth time the Class 2A Wolves had lost to a much larger Class 4A school this season, but they were not overwhelmed nor were they outclassed, which speaks well for the Wolves' chances in the 2A playoffs next week.

“We have a lot of respect for them,” said Chesterton coach Tom Peller. “They were 14-5 and this can be a tough place to play. Our freshman did everything for us in the first half tonight and then Casey Martin came on strong in the second half.”

'The freshman', is 6-foot-3, 15-year-old Zack Novak, who scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the first two periods. Novak passed Kouts graduate Ricky Hise's freshman point total to become the all-time single-season freshman scoring champion of Porter County.

Novak, who has started from day one, finished his 19^th game with 309 points (16.2 per game), more than anyone has ever scored in the near century old history of Porter County high school basketball.

Borys, who averages 21.7 per game, joins Larry Kubal (1,513), Aric Graham (1,498), Mike Lemmons (1,316), John Meyne (1,156) and Kevin Hannon (1,108) as one of only six 1,000-point scorers in eight decades of Boone Grove basketball.

The game was decided by Chesterton's pressure on Boone's guard and the Trojans' superior free throw accuracy. A spinning layup by the 6-3 Novak gave Chesterton a 14-7 lead before eight point by the 6-4 Borys helped close the gap to 19-17. The Trojans, who have lost six games by five points or less, led 30-25 when three-point shots from Kyle Krol and Jake Pivarnik cut the gap to 32-31 with 49 seconds left in the half.

But Chesterton stayed aggressive, pushing Boone senior guard Joe Faron and requiring Borys to help get the ball up the floor. Boone seemed to tire in the second half, even Borys, who missed five second half foul shots.

Martin, the three-sport star who has deferred somewhat to Novak as a scoring option this season, did a stronger job posting up and scored eight in the second half as the Trojans slowly pulled away.

Boone uses predominately six players while Chesterton got 10 boys on the floor. It made a difference.

“If we'd have taken advantage of our opportunities in the first half,” said McKay. “We'd have been ahead at halftime after we made our run. We try to tell the boys that every possession counts and it does matter.”

Chesterton now heads into an unusual stretch where they play at Crown Point (11-8) Friday night to close the season and follow that with a Merrillville Sectional semifinal game against Crown Point seven days later.

“That's not good,” admitted Peller. “But it's better than playing Merrillville at Merrillville.”

Boone, as always, hopes the four games against 4A schools, gets them ready for the 2A state tournament, where they will see speedy Bishop Noll and Wheeler.

Boone opens with Lake Station at the Class 2A Wheeler sectional Tuesday, March 1. They would then face the winner of the Boone-Wheeler game.

“We know Wheeler so it wouldn't take long to get ready for them,” said McKay. “But Noll. We don't play them. And if we thought Chesterton's guards were tough, they're nothing like Noll's guards.”

McKay understands that games they play against larger 4A schools are probably games Boone will lose during the regular season.

“Obviously,” he smiled. “If I was trying to build up my won-loss record, this is not the way to do it. But we want to get our team ready for the tournament and we've won six sectionals in eight years so it must be working.”

WOLF NOTES: Boone Grove's Larry Kubal averaged 26.3 per game as a sophomore in 1971, 25.2 per game in 1972, and 23.0 in 1973. John Meyne and Kevin Hannon were on the same Boone teams that went 19-3 in 1980 and 20-4 in 1979.

Meyne averaged 14.4 in 1978, 18.4 in 1979 and 19.5 in 1980.

Hannon averaged 10.5 in 1979, 15.8 in 1980 and 19.8 in 1981 for the undefeated PCC champions that finished at 21-4.

Aric Graham and Mike Lemmons played together for four years.

Graham averaged 13.6, 15.7, 19.1 and 19.1 from 1994 to 1997.

Lemmons averaged 13.5, 14.8, 16.9 and 14.5 over the same four years.

Danny Borys averaged 9.0 per game in 2003, 17.1 in 2004 and 21.6 this season through 20 games.

“He actually scored 1,000 in three years,” said coach Matt McKay, “because he only scored four points as a freshman. The thing about him is, he's averaged 22 points a game against the (4A) Duneland Conference schools.”

Chesterton's 7-foot sophomore Evan Schmidt will not return from the knee injury he suffered in early January in time to play this season, according to Trojan coach Tom Peller.

Boone played without 6-foot-3 defensive standout Will Mitchell, who was home sick.

“He'll be back next week,” said McKay. “He wanted to play tonight but there was no need.”

Boone Grove, which plays four Class 4A schools, will play five of them next season.

The Wolves drop Merrillville and Calumet and pick up Crown Point and Lowell.

“The Crown Point game is better for us,” said McKay, “Because that's a natural rivalry in the Lakes of the Four Seasons area.”

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BOONE GROVE (15-6)

Coach: Matt McKay, 182-109 in 13th year at school

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT / TIME	OTHER INFO
Nov. 24	at Valparaiso {4A}	L   48-  61
Dec. 3	Washington Twp. {1A}‡	W   59-  42
Dec. 10	River Forest {1A}	W   71-  20
Dec. 17	at LaCrosse {1A}‡	W   49-  34
Dec. 22	Kouts {1A}	W   56-  47	tournament
Dec. 23	Hebron {1A}	W   51-  39	tournament

Jan. 7	at Hanover Central {2A}‡	W   60-  53
Jan. 8	Wheeler {2A}	W   58-  45
Jan. 14	at South Central (Union Mills) {1A}‡	W   56-  33
Jan. 15	at Portage {4A}	L   43-  54
Jan. 20	Hebron {1A}	W   53-  32	tournament
Jan. 22	LaCrosse {1A}	W   56-  35	tournament
Jan. 24	Kouts {1A}	3ot  L   68-  70	tournament
Jan. 28	Kouts {1A}‡	W   68-  56
Jan. 29	Merrillville {4A}	L   65-  75
Feb. 4	at Morgan Twp. {1A}‡	W   51-  48
Feb. 5	at North Judson {2A}	2ot W   58-  50
Feb. 15	Hebron {1A}‡	L   52-  54
Feb. 18	at Kankakee Valley {3A}	W   68-  59
Feb. 22	Chesterton {4A}	L   51-  63
Feb. 25	Calumet {3A}	W   58-  50
Mar. 1	(n)Lake Station {2A}	7:00 pm

‡PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE GAME

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Revised: February 26, 2005 .