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Boys Basketball: Big plays spark West Aurora past WW South
While the game was far from being over, two huge plays from West Aurora junior Chandler Thomas saved the night Friday against Wheaton Warrenville South.
The Tigers had just taken a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run when Thomas stepped up out of a timeout and hit a shot from the wing. He then came up with a steal on the defensive end, which led to a Jayquan Lee three-point play.
That helped propel the Blackhawks to an ugly, 42-38 DuPage Valley Conference win.
“It turned things around a lot,” West coach Gordie Kerkman said of that stretch. “The game wasn’t over yet. If we don’t hit our free throws down the stretch, or have another turnover, they could hit a three in there, a lot of things could have happened. But it was a big swing at that time.”
Jontrel Walker hit a three-pointer to start the fourth to give West (15-3, 6-1) a 33-27 lead. But Wheaton South (6-12, 3-5) answered with a 7-0 run to take a 34-33 lead, the Tigers’ first lead since holding a 10-8 advantage late in the third quarter. Kerkman then called a timeout to plot strategy.
“It did not go as we intended,” Thomas said. “We drew it up to get it to Juwan (Starks) in the corner. It didn’t work because they overplayed that, so we swung it back and found me open. That was my time, my opportunity to shoot it, and I shot it. We basically turned it around and felt that we were going to get the win.”
Two free throws apiece from Lee and Walker down the stretch helped keep the pesky Tigers at bay. It was typical of how Wheaton South often plays, a slow, methodical pace with three-point shooters that can make teams pay. Friday, however, the Tigers hit only 4-of-16 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 20 times.
“They can make it interesting because they can shoot threes,” Kerkman said. “As long as they can stay close, that three can put them right back into the ballgame.”
It was the first game in 13 days for the Blackhawks, who were unable to practice Thursday due to a power outage. The rust was evident. Starks, one of the top players in the area, was held to seven points on 2-for-9 shooting from the field, though he had a solid floor game that included five steals and five rebounds.
As a team, West missed its first eight three-point attempts, not connecting until Walker banked one in at the 6:12 mark of the third quarter. The Blackhawks hit only 2-for-12 from the arc in the game.
Yet they still managed to eke out a win to stay in the DVC race.
“We’re a team here,” Thomas said. “We play as a team. Our best player wasn’t scoring, so we all had to contribute and pick our team up.”
Wheaton South’s Tim Zyburt led all scorers with 15 points and Matt Kienzle added 11 off the bench. West was paced by Josh McAuley’s 10 points.
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