From the time Portage senior Michael Wellman started playing basketball, this is where he wanted to be.
Family legacy and civic pride have fueled his pursuit of postseason glory.
“Ever since I could really remember, since I was just this tall,” he said, with his hand extended about waist high. “It’s all I could think of — winning a sectional title for this city.”
Reaching that goal has motivated Michael Wellman day in and day out.
“Every time I’d get in the gym, it was on my mind,” he said. “It pushed me every single time I was in the gym, thinking about winning that trophy and getting up on that ladder and cutting down that net.”
Michael Wellman and his teammates finally experienced that thrill over the weekend. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward scored 17 points, exceeding his team-leading 14.5 average, as Portage beat Merrillville 83-62 in the Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional championship game on March 8.
The Indians (20-5), who won their first sectional title since 2001, will play Crown Point (21-2) in the Michigan City Regional on Saturday. The two teams shared the Duneland Athletic Conference title after Portage beat Crown Point 64-40 on Feb. 6.
“Our goal every year has been to cut down some nets, and our goal is not just one net,” Michael Wellman said. “It’s multiple nets, and that continues to be our goal.”
Portage coach Bryon Clouse said the adversity the team’s senior quartet have experienced, including a loss to Chesterton in a sectional opener last year, enabled their success this time around. Senior guard Garrett Clark scored a team-high 19 points, senior guard O’Mari Evans had 17 points and Michael Wellman’s twin brother Sam, a senior guard, added 15 points.
“Another year of maturity, another year in the weight room and another year working on their skills and talent,” Clouse said. “They’re good, man.”
Michael Wellman, a Grace commit, said he wanted to make sure the early postseason exit last year didn’t define this group.
“It was the way people talked about us, about how we were a letdown last year for not winning a sectional,” he said. “It’s been on our minds to prove people wrong and to not underestimate Portage.”
Sam Wellman, a Bethel commit, noted the longtime connection they have to the program.
“This has always been a goal,” he said. “For Michael and Garrett and me, we were all ball boys for the high school team when we were little kids. Growing up, we always wanted to be out on that floor and eventually win something.”
Sam Wellman said their father Nick added some friendly banter to the mix over the years. Nick Wellman, an assistant for Portage this season, was the quarterback for the 1994 Class 5A state runner-up in football.
“He always told us that he never lost on a Friday night,” Sam Wellman said with a laugh.
But there was no joking from Nick Wellman after the sectional championship game. He had to pause a few times as he talked about his sons.
“I’m super proud,” Nick Wellman said. “They worked their tails off, but they’re not the only ones. I’m just so happy for them, that they get to experience something like this. They’ll remember it forever.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
