Game Report: Portage 67 Michigan City 56

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Night three of our Prep Hoops Indiana trip through The Region took us to the historic Wolves Den at Michigan City High School. We had this one circled on our calendar as a chance to watch Michigan City take on undefeated Portage High School. The game certainly lived up to the hype.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='2957590' first='Michael' last='Rivera'] got the game started with a three-point shot for the Indians and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2141015' first='Josiah' last='Brown'] connected on three triples in the opening quarter. However, freshman guard [player_tooltip player_id='3033288' first='Larry' last='Upshaw Jr.'] came off of the bench to score eight quick points, including a pair of deep three-point shots, to help give the Wolves of Michigan City a 19-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Portage got rolling in the second quarter and started to pull away a little bit. Both Rivera and Brown connected from deep once again, Dennis Moran III got a couple of buckets, and [player_tooltip player_id='2538890' first='Bryce' last='Kobe'] got himself on the board after being held scoreless in the opening quarter. The Indians turned in a 16-4 period to take a 34-23 lead into the halftime locker room.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third quarter proved to be a quarter of runs. Michigan City started leaning into their size advantage to spark a 9-0 run. That was led by six points from TQ Van Buren and three from [player_tooltip player_id='1561100' first='Colson' last='Dobre']. However, [player_tooltip player_id='2957590' first='Michael' last='Rivera'] stopped the slide with a layup and Portage answered with an 8-0 run over their own. They ultimately held on to a 48-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Michigan City had another big run left in them to start the fourth. [player_tooltip player_id='1561100' first='Colson' last='Dobre'] was dominating inside for the Wolves as they tied the game at 48 following a 9-0 run. Soon after, with the score in Portage's favor 52-50, what looked to be an And-1 for [player_tooltip player_id='2812791' first='Brian' last='Jackson'] was waved off and Michigan City could never get back over the hump. The Kobe brothers took over down the stretch for the Indians as they moved to 16-0 on the season with a 67-56 win over Michigan City.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2141030' first='Karter' last='Kobe'] led all scorers with 19 points in the game including 13 in the second half. Fellow junior guards [player_tooltip player_id='2141015' first='Josiah' last='Brown'] and Dennis Moran III each added 12 points for Portage. Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='2538890' first='Bryce' last='Kobe'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2957590' first='Michael' last='Rivera'] were in double-figures as well finishing with 10 points a piece.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6'7" unsigned senior center [player_tooltip player_id='1561100' first='Colson' last='Dobre'] finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in the loss for Michigan City. Senior forward TQ Van Buren added 10 points for the Wolves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->