East Chicago Central needed a game like this.
The Cardinals had won two straight close ones, against Bowman and in overtime against Munster last Friday.
They were ready for a decisive victory. East Chicago got it on Tuesday in a 76-59 road win over Chesterton.
East Chicago coach Pete Trgovich was happy to not have to sweat .
He sees the win over the Trojans (4-2) as a sign that real progress is being made. Trgovich has installed a new offensive system and he figured it would take time for the Cardinals (3-1) to figure it out.
“This is our fourth game and fourth game on the road,” Trgovich said. “This was a confidence builder for them. This is a good team. They beat Bowman. We knew they were dangerous.”
East Chicago took control early and was never in danger.
A 17-2 run that started with 2:30 left in the first quarter broke the game open for the Cardinals.
Chesterton didn’t score for 4:24 during the drought. The Trojans finally scored again with 6:06 left in the second quarter on a Rhyss Lewis basket.
East Chicago had already run off 12 points.
A basket by Charlie Cleveland with 2:20 left in the second quarter gave ECC its biggest lead, 33-17, of the half.
Chesterton cut the lead to eight at the half, but the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to start the second half. After that, ECC’s lead never drifted under 10.
New Mexico recruit Damien Jefferson (27 points) and Jermaine Couisnard (25) combined for 52 points.
It was a big night for the two marquee players. They were able to showcase their ability to get up and down the floor.
ECC finished with 41 rebounds, 13 more than Chesterton. The Cardinals were definitely quicker to the ball.
“That’s our style of play,” Jefferson said. “We are an up-tempo team. We should never walk the ball down the court.”
Jefferson said he “loves” to play fast.
Trgovich said the Cardinals’ first offense is the fast break. He wants rivals to crash the offensive boards. That gives his guys a head start if the offensive team doesn’t get the rebound.
“We want our opponents to be worried about our fast break, ” he said. “They know if they don’t get the board, we are off to the races.”
Chesterton coach Tom Peller was not happy with the way his team played defense.
“Our transition defense was horrible,” he said. ‘”I take responsibility for that. We didn’t do it the whole game. We talked about it halftime and we still didn’t do it. They must have scored 30 points in transition. They played harder and with more purpose than we did.”
Next time — if there is a next time — Peller said his team won’t try to run with the Cardinals.
“We have to be more patient,” he said.
Lewis led Chesterton with 28.
Twitter: @MikeHuttonPT
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