On January 6, the City of La Porte welcomed local fans and elite prep basketball teams from around the nation for day one of the U.S. Marines NIBC La Porte Invitational hosted at the La Porte Civic Auditorium. This was the inaugural kick off for the La Porte NIBC Series that saw 22 of ESPN’s Top 100 recruits for the Class of 2022 as well as the home team – the La Lumiere Lakers – take the court.
Originally scheduled to start the series, La Lumiere’s contest against the Legacy Early College (S.C.) Lions was moved to 2 p.m. after travel conditions forced Legacy Early College to arrive late the night of January 5. Despite the adversity, both teams stormed the court to provide fans with a fast-paced, high-flying basketball game.
The game started with the Lions winning the tipoff, but it wasn’t enough to hold back the Lakers’ offensive onslaught. In the first quarter, La Lumiere put up 19 points in just eight minutes of play to take a commanding 15-point lead. The Lions revived themselves in the second quarter, scoring 13 points, but were still outmatched offensively by the Lakers. At the half, the score was 40 to 17 La Lumiere. In the second half, the Lakers slowed their pace of play to retain the lead and still managed to put up 34 points through the third and fourth quarters. The Lions fought hard to come back in the second half, putting up 29 points and throwing down dunks with authority. This second-half surge unfortunately wasn’t enough to overcome the first-half deficit, leading to a 74 to 46 La Lumiere win. The Lakers were led to a huge team win by Seniors J.J. Starling and Chisom Okpara and Junior Aden Holloway. This trio was virtually unstoppable on offense, putting together 70 percent of the team’s total points scored.
Following the game, Starling stated that he felt good about the win and that it’s always a great feeling to win with his teammates. Starling’s future team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, were also in attendance for the win. Starling added that it was great to see them in support of today’s game.
“It feels good. I just watched the game last night and I’m staying in contact with those guys. It was good to have them here,” Starling said.
National Interscholastic Basketball Conference La Lumiere vs Legacy Early College (S.C.) 2022
154 Photos
It was undoubtedly a huge day and a great win for both Lakers’ players and fans, but it was an even bigger day for the City of La Porte. La Porte has found a unique opportunity through the U.S. Marines NIBC Series to bring elite basketball talent to the Region. Day one of the NIBC La Porte Invitational went off without a hitch, and the city hopes to continue bringing fans back to the Civic for the next two days as well as in the years to come. Executive Director for the LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau Jack Arnett was thrilled with the turn out and is excited for the potential this event brings to the city.
“This is one of the biggest events for La Porte for this offseason that we’ve had in a long time. We’re really excited about the potential here and looking at the numbers already on a Thursday afternoon, I think we’re going to blow it out of the roof. It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Arnett said. “Having the ESPN coverage, there’s people communicating with us all over the United States. Early indications are that it’s going to be a big hit.”
La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody shared the same feelings of excitement regarding day one of the invitational.
“I feel great. Brett Binversie and Mark Schreiber have done a fantastic job. We’ve been promoting and promoting this, and until you see this in person, nobody can really appreciate how special it is,” Dermody said. “We’ve had people texting us from Florida, from Ohio, watching online on ESPN and saying, ‘It’s so cool seeing the La Porte logo and seeing this talent of basketball.’”
National Interscholastic Basketball Conference Montverde Academy vs Sunrise Christian 2022
17 Photos
As exciting as it was for the city to see a successful launch of the NIBC La Porte Invitational, it was equally as exciting to see the Lakers play well and leave the court with a win. Moving forward, Arnett, Dermody, and the city hope to keep expanding and partnering with La Lumiere and the NIBC.
“That’s our home school, so that was a big deal. They’ve got so many big-name recruits there. I think this is just going to grow for all of us, and I think there’s a lot of things we’re going to do with them locally now that we weren’t doing before,” Arnett said. “We’d like to have a long-term relationship with this conference. This is going to be a big deal for us.”
“They are kind of our La Porte, hometown team here along with the Slicers. They went big, they played hard, and we’re excited to see them appear on ESPN 2 tomorrow night,” Dermody said.
Looking forward to the next two days of the tournament, Dermody is excited to enjoy some great basketball, have fun, and bring more fans to the Civic.
“It’s neat to put La Porte on the map on a national basis. I hope that more people from our community take the shot, take a chance, and come on out. At 20 dollars for four games, you can’t beat it. Come out and enjoy how special this is,” Dermody said.
Moving into day two of the invitational, the La Lumiere Lakers will face off against the Oak Hill Academy (V.A.) Warriors at 8 p.m. Oak Hill Academy had a dominating 91 to 49 win over Wasatch Academy (U.T.) to open the invitational, and the Lakers are excited for the opportunity to compete against a great team.
“It’s a tough team. They’ve been playing really well together. They’ve got some really good players, so it all starts on defense and just getting each other involved,” Starling said.
Excitement is in the air at the Civic Auditorium. Day two of the NIBC La Porte Invitational starts with Sunrise Christian (K.S.) taking on Wasatch Academy (U.T.) at 2 p.m. CST. All of tomorrow’s games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
For more information about City of La Porte, visit its website here. For more information about the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, visit its website here.
