Boys Basketball: Wolves take buzzer beater on Taylor’s 3

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:05AM

CHESTERTON — It was a game without much offensive rhythm for most of the night, but Michigan City and Chesterton gave fans of both teams a fantastic finish on Friday.

Michigan City’s Ryan Taylor hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the visitors a 47-45 victory, setting off a joyous celebration as his teammates rushed the court to congratulate him.

“When it left his hand, I knew it was going in,” Wolves coach John Boyd said of the 6-foot-2 junior’s game-winner. “Ryan was able to make a big shot.”

Taylor’s heroics were necessary after Chesterton (1-3, 0-2 DAC) mounted a last-minute comeback. The Trojans rallied behind two late 3-pointers by K.J. Zelenika, the second of which tied it at 40 with 1:51 left. Michigan City’s Taylor Lavery, who led all scorers with 16 points, answered with two free throws to put the Wolves ahead 42-40.

Cole Teal responded by scoring in the lane and drawing a foul, with his free throw giving Chesterton a 43-42 lead with 59 seconds left. Lavery answered this time with a bank shot: 44-43 Wolves, 20 seconds to go.

Teal wasn’t done, making another roller in the lane in the closing seconds to give the Trojans a 45-44 advantage. Boyd didn’t call a timeout, counting on his players to get the ball up court quickly and come through.

They did.

“Sometimes you have to have faith in your players,” Boyd said. “You’ve got to believe in them.”

Michigan City (2-1, 2-0) outscored Chesterton 11-2 to close out the first half with a 24-21 advantage.

Lavery scored nine second-quarter points after going scoreless in the first period. In a rough-and-tumble first half, the two teams combined for far more fouls (21) than field goals (13).

Zelenika and KeMonte Price finished with nine points each for Chesterton, and 6-foot-6 freshman Matt Holba had six points and 12 rebounds.

Taylor had 10 points for Michigan City, which was missing starter Jabbar Washington because of injury.

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