Girls Basketball: West Aurora too much for rival East Aurora

Updated: December 17, 2011 9:14PM

For the first time in the rivalry’s history, the girls basketball teams from East Aurora and West Aurora had the chance to play under the bright lights at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center Saturday.

The spotlight fit West senior Alexis Nelson just fine.

The Blackhawks held East scoreless for the first 11 minutes of the game and Nelson poured in a career-high 24 points in a 42-28 West Aurora nonconference win.

“She hasn’t been feeling very well, so I was surprised, actually,” West coach Connie Siljendahl said. “She just came to play. When she comes to play, she can play with anybody. She can play with the best.”

Both teams were sluggish in the first quarter, but West (4-8) was able to take a 9-0 lead through the first quarter as East (4-8) went 0-for-9 from the field and turned the ball over six times. The Tomcats finally broke into the scoring column with 5:03 left in the second quarter on a Tyshee Towner lay-up, but Nelson was on fire for the Blackhawks.

She scored the first eight points of the quarter for West to push the lead to 17-2. She shot 8-for-12 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, en route to her 24 points.

“Once I hit a shot, I can usually feel my rhythm,” Nelson said. “It’s an amazing feeling, to do it in front of everybody, my family, especially with it being a rivalry game. It feels great.”

Nelson’s three-pointer to end the third quarter pushed the lead to a game-high 20 points, 35-15, as the Blackhawks cruised to the win.

“We had a lot of mental breakdowns,” East Aurora coach William Anderson said. “They were just the better team this evening. (Nelson) was very good and we just didn’t have an answer for her.”

Siljendahl had to make some adjustments to her game plan thanks to the fact that at the Convocation Center floor is larger than a regular high school court. She pointed to a summer camp at the University of Wisconsin that helped the Blackhawks feel more comfortable Saturday.

“As far as the court being long, yeah, as you can see, I got a cramp in my leg,” said Nelson, who was icing her left calf after the game. “But it was great.”

The Tomcats couldn’t pull themselves out of their early hole, though senior Marta Medina sure tried to. Medina was all over the court, scoring 14 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and forcing six steals, though East lost its third straight game.

“She was struggling at the beginning, but she settled down and Marta is always one of those kids that plays with a lot of heart and a lot of intensity,” Anderson said. “We have to put this behind us.”

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