On a cold winter night, the community of La Porte, Indiana gathered to celebrate one of Indiana’s most treasured pastimes: high school basketball. Day two of the U.S. Marines NIBC LaPorte Invitational took place inside the historic halls of the La Porte Civic Auditorium, and the star power of La Porte’s own La Lumiere School was on display.
The La Lumiere Lakers earned a win of 70-56 over the talented Oak Hill Academy Boys Basketball Team, but tonight was not just about basketball; it was about community and showcasing the City of La Porte.
The star of tonight’s game was La Lumiere’s Aden Holloway, leading all scorers with 22 points while adding four rebounds and two assists. Holloway shot a perfect 4-4 from the three-point line, and 5-7 overall.
The Lakers as a team were impressive handling the ball tonight, ultimately shooting 46.8% from the field for the entire game and 46.2% from the three. The flip side of that story is the deference of La Lumiere being able to hold Oak Hill to 37% from the field and a staggering 1-14 from the three.
Jeremy Fears was another Laker who had a great performance on the national stage. The Michigan State commit looked like a true floor general tonight scoring 12 points with eight assists, four rebounds, one block, and one steal. Fears was a spark plug for the Lakers offense, finding his teammates and scoring himself.
This win puts La Lumiere at 11-1 for the season and has many asking if they are the best high school team in the country.
The atmosphere in the Civic Auditorium was electric. With a sold-out crowd and a loud student section, tonight’s match-up had the feel of a Division 1 college game.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody. “This is something that is so special when you bring the nation’s best in players and teams here.”
Tonight was not only about basketball, it was also about being able to showcase the City of La Porte on national television. ESPN broadcasted the game on ESPN 2, so the entire nation was able to witness La Porte gathering to celebrate their pride and show off the La Porte Civic Auditorium.
National Interscholastic Basketball Conference La Lumiere vs Legacy Early College (S.C.) 2022
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“Everybody’s thrilled to be able to showcase this building,” said Gail Johnson, financial manager for the LaPorte County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. “It was built in 1929 and has so much historic pride because we used to have our high school games here.”
“We want to make sure the nation knows how special La Porte is,” said Mayor Dermody. “We expect to win and to compete with the best.”
With basketball teams from around the country competing in this event, it brought many new people to the City of La Porte. The surge of new faces has been an exciting thing for the community.
“The community is really excited to have this event and have visitors from all over the county,” said Johnson. “I’ve met people from all over the country, like Texas, Missouri, the East coast, Utah, and Kansas.”
For more information about the City of La Porte, visit its website at www.cityoflaporte.com. For more information about La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, visit its website at laportepartnership.com.
