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Boys Basketball: Juwan Starks sparks West Aurora past Naperville North
Updated: February 17, 2012 10:26PM
It may have been Naperville North’s senior night Friday but Juwan Starks, West Aurora’s lone senior starter, made it his own.
The 6-foot-3 Blackhawk wing lit up the Huskies for 13 first-quarter points on 5 of 8 shooting that included three from beyond the three-point line and had 20 of his game-high 23 points by intermission in leading West to a 64-53 victory.
“Hats off to West Aurora, it was evident who came out ready to play,” said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers, whose team dropped into a tie for first place in the DuPage Valley Conference with the Blackhawks. Both are 10-2 with two games remaining.
West shot 64 percent (16-25) from the floor in the first half, including 6 of 10 from beyond the three-point line and finished the game 55 percent (23-42) from the floor.
“We looked like we didn’t know Starks could shoot,” continued Powers. “By the time he got to 20 we decided to play some defense.”
By then, it was too late.
The Blackhawks led 19-7 after one quarter and 38-22 at the break. The home team won the second half 31-26 but never cut it closer than nine points in the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks, 20-4 overall, held them off by making 11 of 13 free throws in the final eight minutes.
“He’s a guy who really can shoot,” West coach Gordie Kerkman said of Starks. “He had 21 in the first half against Naperville Central. You should see him in practice some days.”
Starks said a newspaper story in which Powers said he thought North senior guard Kyle Lindberg was the best defensive player in the league, if not the area, “got me motivated because they thought he was gonna shut me down. I think you could tell by the look on my face. (Assistant) Coach (Paul) Kieffer made sure I read that story.”
Lindberg picked up his second foul with 6:05 remaining in the opening quarter and spent nearly the remainder of the first half on the bench. Powers’ second-quarter zone press didn’t slow down the visitors, who duplicated their 19-point first quarter, but it did get his offense untracked.
Joining Starks in double figures were Jontrel Walker with 13, and Jayquan Lee and Chandler Thomas (five rebounds) with 10 each. Starks had a team-high six boards and West claimed a 25-22 edge.
“He makes you a better player,” Starks said of Lindberg’s tough man-to-man defense. “He makes you play harder and you can show what you can do.”
Senior guard Matt Stacho led the Huskies, scoring 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half when he did a nice job of attacking the basket. David Sinickas came off the bench to add 12 for North, which is 17-7 overall.
“They got us spread out (in the second half) and went hard to the basket, but we didn’t want the three to kill us, either,” said Kerkman.
“I’m not a big game plan guy but we had an idea of what we needed to do. It’s all about execution. If you play defense, rebound and don’t turn the ball over you should be OK.”
Both teams control their conference destiny, needing to win out to claim a share of the DVC crown, which West hasn’t won in six years and North in 14. The Huskies play crosstown rival Naperville Central tonight and Glenbard North next week. West plays West Chicago at home tonight and at Glenbard East on Wednesday.
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