Keontaye Bell’s road to regionals hasn’t been without detours.
The junior guard didn’t mince words as he summarized his East Chicago Central career to this point.
“I feel like I wasted my freshman year,” Bell said. “My sophomore year, I wasted it too. But I came out my junior year, and now I’m getting my game back. I feel like I’m not all the way back yet. But it’s going to come back.”
Even if the 5-foot-9 Bell still doesn’t believe he has reached his peak after playing on the junior varsity team as a freshman and missing all of last season, he has been quite effective for the Cardinals (22-4), who have won their first sectional title since 2017. He’s averaging 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals.
East Chicago Central will play Mishawaka (19-7) in the Class 4A Michigan City Regional on Saturday. A win would secure the Cardinals’ first title at that level since 2007, when E’Twaun Moore, Kawann Short and Angel Garcia led them to the 4A state championship.
“He’s just a high-energy guy,” East Chicago coach Alaa Mroueh said of Bell. “He gets his teammates going in that department. He gets me going too. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. We butt heads sometimes, but that’s what point guards and coaches do.
“Some of the things I’ve seen he can do, I’ve kind of sat back and gave him that green light — just do what he does and go out and play with that energy, and the rest will take care of itself. Next year is going to be an even bigger season for him.”
This season has been pretty big for Bell, too, particularly during the Cardinals’ sectional run, when senior point guard Jemeil Rich Jr. was dealing with ankle and Achilles injuries.
“He had to play a little bit bigger role, and that bumped his confidence up,” Mroueh said of Bell. “Both of them are going to be playing at an all-time high.
“Having a senior like Jemeil with him, that really helps him. Him and Jemeil are close, and I try to be as close to both of them as those two are with each other. You need to have the best connection with your point guards in order to have success. Sometimes you don’t get along, but that’s what it’s all about. You see success, and you buy into the success, and that goes for both the coach and the player.”
Rich got hurt in the first quarter of the sectional opener against Merrillville and sat out the semifinal against West Side. He didn’t expect to play in the final against Munster. But with the way that game was going after the first quarter, he “pushed through it,” Rich said, albeit at much less than 100%.
Bell scored 11 points against West Side. He hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the waning minutes against Munster as East Chicago Central won its 16th straight game. Its last loss was against Chicago Kenwood on Dec. 23.
“He’s like my Robin,” Rich said of Bell. “That’s my partner.”
Bell’s freshman season was something of a struggle. He credited Mroueh, who was his JV coach at that time, for keeping him on track.
“He was really the only person I had,” Bell said. “He was making sure I was doing what I had to do. He made sure I was able to play. Me, on the other hand, I wasn’t really helping myself.”
Circumstances came to a head for Bell last season, and he was unable to play.
“I’m not going to lie, it was hard to focus in school,” he said. “I was playing around too much, getting myself into trouble. But they convinced me to focus and come back and do what I needed to do, and now I’m doing it.
“It just feels good to know I can come back and do what I needed to do. This is what I was meant to do. This is what I was supposed to be doing freshman year. But now I really am with my brothers. I’m just happy to be back.”
Star junior guard/forward Dominique Murphy is among those who are happy Bell has returned.
“He’s a dawg,” Murphy said. “He plays hard. He plays with passion. The same way his personality is off the court, it is on the court. He’s a key piece to our team. He’s a key to our success.”
Mroueh saw Bell’s potential before he started high school.
“Even as an eighth grader, we’ve known he was the best guard in the whole city,” Mroueh said. “The best point guard in the city, and he’s finally been able to showcase that, obviously playing along side another elite guard with Jemeil. They’ve both been able to showcase that. Our backcourt is pretty strong.”
After Bell’s absence last season, he rejoined the Cardinals over the summer and started fulfilling that potential.
“In the last summer league game we played, that was when he really locked in and put all his eggs in a basket,” Mroueh said. “He had a big fall after that, and obviously he’s had a big season. He’s played a big role.
“He’s just a great teammate, a good guy in the locker room. He’s continuing to put in the work, and he’s reaped the benefits. He’s having a great season, and he’s going to continue to have success. I’m just proud of the way he’s stepped up.”
