Chesterton sophomore Jaylon Watts couldn’t have envisioned a scenario like the one that unfolded Tuesday night.
The 6-foot-1 guard moved to the Region from Kansas City after seventh grade, played on the freshman team last season and began this season on the junior varsity team.
“I didn’t see this at all happening, if I’m being honest,” Watts said. “But everything happens the way it’s supposed to, and I’m just thankful for that.”
In a Class 4A Chesterton Sectional first-round game replete with stars, Watts was the biggest difference-maker. He scored a team-high 14 points in the Trojans’ 57-51 win against Portage.
The game featured three Indiana Junior All-Stars from last season: Chesterton senior forward Justin Sims had 13 points, senior guard Tyler Parrish added 12 points and Portage senior forward Jaelyn Johnson had a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds.
But Chesterton coach Marc Urban wasn’t surprised by Watts’ performance, which included 11 points with three 3-pointers in the second half and helped the Trojans (15-9) advance to the sectional semifinals to play Lowell (5-17) on Friday.
“He’s someone who puts in a lot of work,” Urban said. “He stays after practice, he shoots, he shoots on The Gun a ton and he stays ready. In the same breath, if you go back through our schedule, he played in a lot of big moments. We’ve played a lot against very big teams, so this felt more normal to him than it probably did when we were down in Brownsburg or played Penn or played Fishers at Fishers.
“He’s growing up and stepped in, and I felt confident those were going in. Sometimes when you’re in that moment, you’re like, ‘I’m shooting, hoping it goes in,’ where he just shot (Tuesday). Just trust your routine, let it rip, and he was able to step in and put it together.”
With sophomore guard Logan Pokorney sidelined after suffering a broken right index finger, Watts started Chesterton’s last eight games of the regular season. But Pokorney returned for the game against Portage (15-9), which Urban called “a shot in the arm,” and Watts came off the bench.
Watts agreed it was “even more important” to have Pokorney back than have the experience he gained as a starter.
“I didn’t have a problem,” Watts said. “I knew whatever the coaches decided, I felt like that was the right thing to do. Whatever they decided, that’s what I was going to roll with.”
Urban had already decided Watts belonged on the varsity team.
“He played a few JV quarters early because we really didn’t know,” Urban said. “We were extremely young, and we were like, ‘We didn’t even know.’ He developed, took it the right way and eventually started getting minutes.”
Sophomore forward Rob Czarniecki saw Watts’ ability when they were on the freshman team together.
“Last year even, we knew he was good,” Czarniecki said. “It just carried over to this year. It’s been really fun playing with him and seeing him get better.”
On Tuesday, Watts made the shot to give the Trojans the lead for good. After Portage opened a 34-26 advantage with less than six minutes left in the third quarter, Watts hit a 3-pointer with 3:21 left in the fourth to send Chesterton ahead 48-45. He knocked down that shot after terrific ball movement by the Trojans.
“Just step in with confidence,” Watts said. “The Valpo game, I really didn’t look to shoot a lot, and my teammates just encouraged me to step in and shoot every time I got it, and that’s what I did.
“My teammates gave me confidence all week. For these past two weeks, they’ve just been telling me to have confidence. Whenever I get it, shoot it if it’s a good shot, and I was able to do that (Tuesday).”
Watts also helped extend the illustrious careers of Sims and Parrish. Both started on Chesterton’s state runner-up team in 2022.
Johnson was the only senior starter for Portage, which had beaten the Trojans 70-49 in the teams’ Duneland Athletic Conference game on Feb. 9 to end a seven-game losing streak in the series dating to 2018. Chesterton reversed that result.
“It starts with our leadership,” Urban said. “Tyler and Justin have been a lot better since that night. We defended a lot better than we did the first time, we were more connected offensively than the first time and we had a much better collective mindset. It was a lot better. I’m very proud of them because they fought, fought and found a way to get it done.”
It also didn’t hurt to have Watts contributing at a high level with the season on the line.
“It’s crazy,” Watts said. “It’s nuts. It’s definitely different. Especially where I’m from, Missouri isn’t a very big basketball state. I’m not used to it all.
“It was a big change. Everything — the competition, the area — everything was different. Everything up to this point, it just helped me get better at everything.”
