FORT WAYNE – Even though they didn't go to high school together, Whitko senior Logan Irwin and Warsaw senior Jordyn Coon definitely know each other. Despite going different ways in high school, both attended elementary school within Warsaw Community Schools and have been playing AAU basketball together since the third grade. Saturday in Fort Wayne, the two were on the court together once more, helping the Indiana team defeat the Ohio squad 99-81 in the 20th Annual Nancy Rehm Border Wars Classic at University of St. Francis University. The all-star game pits prep stars from northeast Indiana against some of the best players from northwest Ohio. "Going out with a win is always a good thing," Irwin said. "That's what we wanted." Irwin finished his prep career as one of the state's most prolific scorers, ranking 12th all-time with 2,230 points, but in all-star games he's more of a distributor. While he likes playing with other scorers, playing with a longtime friend is even better. "It's more fun playing point guard rather than having to score all the time," he said. "It's fun playing with a guy like (Coon)." The two did hook up in the second half, as they got out on a fastbreak, with Irwin assisting Coon on a layup. And even though the bucket was good for two points, it wasn't as spectacular as Irwin would have liked for it to have been. "We had that give-and-go, which was kind of old school," he said. "He finished with the lay-up instead of the dunk, so I was kind of disappointed. That was fun though." Irwin finished the game with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting, while also posting three assists, three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. After winning the three-point competition earlier in the night, Coon went on to score 11 in the game on 4-of-8 shooting, posting three rebounds as well. But outside of the stats, both had a leg up on the competition, knowing exactly what the other was going to do. "Just playing with him for so long, we both know where we like to get the ball," Coon said about playing alongside Irwin. "I know what he's going to do when he's driving, and he knows what I'm going to do, which is spotting up. "He gets to the rim, and he's great at that," he added. "When he gets cut off, I just spot up, which is what I did in AAU. He knows where I am, sitting in the corners. He gets it to me and hopefully I make it." Having played in his final prep-oriented game, Irwin’s next step is moving to Florida to play at Stetson University, while Coon will stay in the area, playing in Mishawaka at Bethel College. In the Border Wars, he teamed up with four other Mid-Central College Conference players, including Fort Wayne Wayne's Kendan Lewis (St. Francis), Norwell's Kyle Fillman (Grace), Norwell's Caleb Featherston (Grace) and Churubusco's Tyler Arrowsmith (Huntington). "We'll be playing against each other and being rivals, so that'll be fun," Coon said. But before worrying about college, Irwin and Coon had a chance to share the court again in competition outside of a pick-up game, and came out on the right side of the score. "Going out with a win and playing with my friend from forever is nice," Coon said.
