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Boys Basketball: West Aurora holds off Glenbard North
Updated: February 3, 2012 10:21PM
There’s something to be said for building a cushion early.
West Aurora did just that Friday in a DuPage Valley Conference battle at home with Glenbard North with a share of first place on the line. The Blackhawks (17-3, 8-1) then survived nine fourth-quarter turnovers and held off the Panthers 63-54.
“It’s ridiculous,” West coach Gordie Kerkman said, glancing at the turnover stats that also showed six of his team’s 20 coming in the second quarter.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them. They’re a nice ball club with a lot of quickness and some athletes out there, but we just did a poor job of making proper decisions, executing proper fundamentals, making passes we shouldn’t be making.
“We practice almost every day against a six-man zone press but you’d never believe it. When these players get tight, they have a tendency to stand.”
Senior forward Juwan Starks had 10 of his game-high 30 points in the opening quarter as the West built a 15-point margin (22-7) at one point. The Blackhawks held a 14-7 rebounding advantage and 22-10 lead after one quarter. The visitors (10-8, 7-2) took advantage of mounting fouls on West’s big men in the second to claim a 12-6 advantage on the boards and cut the deficit to six, 31-25, at intermission.
“They key was keeping everybody out of the lane,” said Starks, who finished the half with 18 points and the game with five three-pointers. “They had a lot of height and athleticism and we had to be good with our help side defense.”
Panther senior Josh Fleming didn’t score until midway through the second quarter when he made a three-pointer on his seventh shot of the game. He had five points at the half and finished with 15, making five of 21 shots.
“I thought we did a nice job on him,” said Kerkman. “Chandler (Thomas) started on him but Booker Ross came off the bench and had him some, too.”
Both, of course, were getting plenty of help.
West was up 49-38 entering the final period and 56-45 midway through the frame when the turnovers began to mount under North’s press. Sophomore Chavares Flanigan had a three-point play and Fleming sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to six again (56-50) but the visitors could get no closer.
Flanigan, who is 6-3, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan Krueger, who is 6-8, had nine points and nine rebounds.
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