Boys basketball: Downers North seniors lead Trojans over West Aurora
Bobby Grganto, Jack Crowley and Downers Grove North’s senior class, 11 men strong, have lived in the shadows of the last two classes to come through the program.
This group was part of that success, but not much was expected of the Trojans this season after back-to-back sectional championships.
“Beginning of the year, nobody thought we were going to do too much,” Downers Grove North coach Jim Thomas said. “This was their opportunity to prove their worth.”
As Thomas stood on the ladder in front of his team, whipping the regional net before hanging on the empty rim, it was clear they met the moment.
Grganto was dominant inside, Crowley hit big shots to help the Trojans pull away in the third quarter, and Downers Grove North locked down defensively to beat West Aurora 52-45 to win the Class 4A Downers Grove South regional title.
“Every day we just came to work,” Crowley said. “We have a plaque on our board that says ‘win the day.’ Day by day, we’re focused on one day and one day at a time. I’ve been playing with these boys, I’m looking around, since second grade Wolfpack. We love each other, and it’s a blast playing with each other.”
Grganto, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound UW-Stevens Point commit, had his way throughout. He tag-teamed with fellow post Aidan Akkawi to score 18 of Downers Grove North’s 25 points in the first half, and finished with 20 points and five rebounds. Akkawi had eight points and nine rebounds for the Trojans (25-8).
“Bobby is super physical, man. He plays through his feet, he has a really strong body – he is going to be a hell of a player up at Stevens Point," Thomas said. “Any time you get the ball in his hands around the rim, he’s a walking bucket.”
West Aurora (21-9), which saw starting post Gabe Gonzales pick up two quick fouls, didn’t have the size to handle him.
“The big guy got two fouls early, we had more size, kept throwing it into me. I’m relentless,” said Grganto, who shot 8-for-14 with his makes all coming at the rim. “I just keep going up, teammates keep finding me.”
West Aurora, which entered Friday riding a 16-game winning streak since the return of Iowa football recruit Terrence Smith, matched it early in a back-and-forth first half.
Sophomore guard Travis Brown and Kael Adkins each hit two 3s in the first half, taking West Aurora into the break down 25-23.
The Blackhawks, though, managed just seven points and three field goals over the first 12 minutes of the second half. Back-to-back Grganto baskets ballooned Downers Grove North’s lead to 47-30 with 4:16 left.
“They’re a tough defense to crack with their zone that they play,” West Aurora coach Mike Fowler said. “You have to make sure that when you get the opportunity, you knock shots down, but they make it tough for you. They make you search for shots for a long time.”
Crowley, who scored nine points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Jack Richtman, who also scored nine, added a third 3 during a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to double figures, 41-28.
“We tried to go inside-out with Bobby, and luckily I caught two on the wing and let it fly,” Crowley said. “They are so good defensively; you can’t beat them with one pass. We started working them down low slowly, started on the inside and in the second half we found our rhythm from the outside.”
West Aurora picked up its pressure defense late to make a late charge, and Smith scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. But Downers Grove North kept distance by hitting five free throws late, the final margin the closest it got.
The Trojans, who Thomas noted also won a regional back in 2019 at Downers Grove South, advance to face top-seeded Bolingbrook on Tuesday at Benet in a rematch of last year’s sectional final.
“All year we have been doubted,” Grganto said. “Every day we come out, battle. We played inside a lot more tonight, got a lot of looks from my teammates. West Aurora is very physical, but we played through it and got a regional championship.”
Adkins scored 15 points and Brown nine for West Aurora.
The Blackhawks started 0-4, dropped their last two games of December and then ripped off their 16-game win streak that included an Upstate Eight Conference title.
“It was a crazy rollercoaster,” Adkins said. “We started awful, everybody said we were bad, even our own fans, we got it together. Pretty happy with how we finished.”