West Chicago threatens, but West Aurora pulls out win
Only one won, but both teams took something good away from Saturday night's boys basketball game at West Chicago.
West Aurora (9-5, 3-2) escaped with a 48-40 victory to prevent an 0-2 weekend in the DuPage Valley Conference. The host Wildcats, meanwhile, learned that they can play with the likes of the Blackhawks, even after falling behind by double digits in the first half before rallying for a 25-23 lead at the intermission.
West Chicago (8-9, 2-3) trailed 12-5 after one quarter and 20-10 midway through the second quarter. But instead of letting West Aurora run away and hide like it has in years past, the hosts rode the strong inside play of center Tyler Griffith to a 15-3 run to close out the first half.
"In the past a 20-10 lead for them could turn into something like 40-10," said Griffith, who was 5 for 6 from the floor while scoring 11 of his game-high 22 points in the Wildcats' big second quarter. "But this team is different and we made a run, got the lead and that was a confidence boost."
The Blackhawks, however, picked up their intensity at the start of the second half and quickly reclaimed the lead. Speedy guard Marcus Cocroft converted a steal into one basket, drove hard to the basket for another, and Jamal Blackmond added a fastbreak basket as the Blackhawks opened the third quarter with three quick scores for a 29-25 lead. Cocroft finished the night with 14 points and 4 steals as West Aurora forced 12 turnovers in the second half, with untimely giveaways late preventing the Wildcats from pulling out the victory.
"We have a lot of speed and we took advantage of it in the second half," Cocroft said. "Even when we missed some layups and some free throws, we'd sneak up from behind and smack the ball loose. Coach told us at the half that we had to play as hard as we could."
Al Robbins and Charles Jacques each hit timely 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Wildcats tried to counter the visitors' fast start. But Griffith was limited to one field goal in the third quarter as West Aurora switched up its defense and did a better job on Griffith, who had 15 points in the first two quarters.
"Last night we didn't play with any kind of emotion," Blackhawks coach Gordie Kerkman said of his team's loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. "Last night and part of the first half, particularly the second quarter, were alike."
West Chicago coach Kevin Gimre, whose team suffered a loss to Glenbard East on Friday, was disappointed by the number of key turnovers in the second half.
"That second quarter, hey, that's how we want to play basketball," he said. "But we didn't get anywhere near that the rest of the game. We had opportunities, but those late turnovers killed us."