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Boys Basketball: Juwan Starks, West Aurora down York
| Corey R. Minkanic~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 23, 2011 10:45PM
No matter how much West Aurora seemed to control its game Friday against York, there was the feeling that the visiting Dukes could get back in the contest.
That’s what the three-pointer can do for a team oriented around its guards. York used its outside shooting to hang around before the Juwan Starks and the Blackhawks pulled away for a 67-42 victory.
“That sure looked like better than a 4-5 team to me,” West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said of York. “Those two kids [David Cohn and Jake Rzeszutko] can really shoot.”
Starks led the way with 23 points, and Chandler Thomas added 11 points and nine rebounds as West Aurora improved to 8-1 in preparation for its annual trip to the Pontiac tournament next week.
Former DePaul and Gordon Tech star Tom Kleinschmidt is a first-season head coach at York, and his lack of weapons near the basket has led to a three-guard, perimeter-based offense.
Nearly every time West Aurora pulled away, Cohn or Rzeszutko shot the Dukes back into the game. Cohn scored 25 points on six three-pointers, and Rzeszutko had 15 with three three-pointers. The two guards accounted for all points but two free throws for York (4-5).
For the game, the Dukes were 9-for-22 from behind the arc, but only 5-for-25 on two-point attempts.
York’s final run came early in the fourth quarter, when Cohn and Rzeszutko each hit a three-pointer to pull the Dukes within 44-37.
But Starks hit a foul-line jumper, Thomas scored on a feed from Jontrel Walker and Jayquan Lee drained a three-pointer to put the Blackhawks up 51-37 as they closed the game on a 16-3 run.
West Aurora’s Josh McAuley, a 6-foot-6 junior center, scored six points — all in the second half, but shut down York’s inside game with five blocked shots, while altering other attempts.
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