Cameron Wilbon doesn’t shy away from the big moments.
The senior swingman scored nine of his 19 points in Friday night’s fourth quarter as Merrillville posted a 66-55 Duneland Athletic Conference win against visiting LaPorte.
“I always want the ball in my hands in the fourth,” Wilbon said. “When the game is on the line, I love having that feeling. The coaches instill a lot of confidence in me and I have confidence in myself that I’ll make the right play.”
The Pirates (14-6, 3-3) led by as many as 20 points a minute into the third quarter, before the Slicers (14-6, 2-4) drew as close as seven with 1:30 left. But Merrillville shot 9-for-10 from the foul line in the final 1:21, with Wilbon going 4-for-4.
“We came together as a team and just told each other to calm down,” Wilbon said.
The Pirates had lost two of their previous three games, including a one-point decision Feb. 2 at Lake Central, and opened against the Slicers like a team on a mission.
Jonah Jackson hit two 3-pointers in the last two minutes of the first quarter to give Merrillville an 18-9 lead. The Pirates used a 10-0 run to build a 28-11 lead with 4:06 left in the first half and led 37-19 at halftime.
“We had a focused week of practice with the guys,” Merrillville coach T.J. Lux said. “It was good to come out with that intensity and physicality and play that way defensively, and just play that way all around.”
When Wilbon nailed a jumper a minute into the second half, Merrillville’s advantage swelled to 41-21.
But LaPorte used an 8-0 run, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Austin Haferkamp and Nik Ormsby’s layup, to draw to 47-39 with 6:29 left.
Wilbon’s three-point play pushed Merrillville’s lead back to 57-45 with 3:07 left, before Haferkamp’s 3-pointer brought LaPorte to as close as 57-50 with 1:30 left.
“In the second half, you could see right away we weren’t at that same level,” Lux said. “We didn’t handle some of their trapping, we got a little sloppy. But we were far enough ahead to keep them at bay.”
Jonah Jackson added 15 points for the Pirates and Johnny Bernard had 12. Valparaiso recruit Mileek McMillan had eight points with Crusaders coach Matt Lottich in attendance.
Haferkamp led the Slicers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Scott Cooper had 13.
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LaPorte coach Tom Wells liked the way his team competed after a rocky start.
“It was evident we were playing an angry bunch of Pirates,” Wells said. “It was obvious they came out and played with a chip on their shoulder and were much more the aggressor. When you combine their athleticism with being the aggressor, you’re going to win a bunch of fights.
“We won the third and fourth quarter, but we dug too big a hole. They controlled the game with their physicality.”
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