The Portage High School boys basketball team found themselves in the hole early on Friday night at Merrillville High School. The Merrillville Pirates, who are ranked second in the state of Indiana, went on a 19-0 run to start the contest and went on to win it 97-46. The Indians did everything they could to stay in the game, but the early deficit was too large to chip away.
Portage cracked down defensively in the final minutes, preventing the Pirates (19-1) from reaching triple digits. Miguel Negroni played aggressive and alert defense all night long and added 8 points at the offensive end.
Sophomore Skyler Moss is the only Portage starter who is not a senior. He leads a talented group of underclassmen, giving the Indians a bright outlook for the next few seasons. Moss was the leading scorer with 13 points. Lawrence Jones drained two three pointers in the second quarter and finished with eight points.
Some of Portage’s younger players received the chance to gain some experience late in the game. Sophomore CJ Haupt, sophomore Tyler Gonzalez, freshman Luke Kizer and freshman Gage Pearman were all on the court for the final few minutes of the game. Kizer, who has been given a lot of playing time this season, scored three points.
The Pirates honored their legendary head coach, Jim East, at halftime. Any Northwest Indiana basketball fan, no matter what city he or she is from, has respect for East’s accomplishments on the hardwood. He has been in charge of the Merrillville program for 31 years and will finally enter retirement at season’s end. East has accumulated over 500 victories over the 31 years.
It will be a rematch next week in the Michigan City Sectional as the Pirates and Indians meet at 6:00 on Tuesday night. This time both teams will step it up a notch, as the loser’s season will come to an end. The Indians finish the regular season 8-13 with the loss, their best record since 2005. The program is moving in the right direction under head coach Rick Snodgrass, who is in his fourth year at the helm.
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