Griffin comes alive against Oak Park

PONTIAC - Roland Griffin was not terribly pleased with his first game of the holiday season Monday against Lockport.

"I didn't have a very good game," the West Aurora senior standout said. "I missed like my first 8 shots or something."

But the Illinois State recruit was an entirely different player against Oak Park-River Forest Tuesday evening in the third quarterfinal of the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.

Griffin scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter alone and dominated both ends of the paint with a career-high 18 rebounds.

OPRF held Griffin scoreless from the field in the final quarter, but it was not enough as the Blackhawks never trailed in their 68-59 victory.

West Aurora (8-4) advanced to the Pontiac Final Four for the fourth consecutive year with the victory.

Longtime Pontiac nemesis Simeon (7-1) awaits in the second semifinal on Wednesday afternoon.

"I knew I was going to bounce back," Griffin said. "That is how I get going both offensively and defensively: crashing the boards."

The game could not have had a more peculiar start.

West Aurora had six different players score to open the game before OPRF (6-5) had even found the desired range once.

But the Blackhawks' 18-0 lead was short-lived as the Huskies roared back with a 17-0 run to end the first quarter and open the second quarter.

"There were times when we played great, and they played terrible," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said. "Then there were times when they were great, and we were terrible."

West Aurora did have the final say in the zany opening half as the club scored the final 6 points to lead 34-23 at halftime.

That is when Griffin took over the game.

The 6-foot-6 forward had 6 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and 3 free throws as he was personally responsible for 16 of the Blackhawks' 20 points in the third quarter.

"He's very capable of that," Kerkman said of Griffin.

"(Griffin) put them on his back and dominated," OPRF coach Matt Maloney said. "He had a monster game."

Griffin scored the final pair of buckets of the quarter to give West Aurora a 54-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

OPRF would never go quietly, however.

Dallis Flowers' tip-in sliced the Huskies' deficit to 63-57.

That is when Matt Dunn came to the Blackhawks' aid.

The senior guard followed a layup off a gorgeous Reggie Jordan feed with a 3-point play in the paint on back-to-back possessions.

West Aurora proceeded to salt the game away from the free-throw line.

"I had a rough first half," Dunn said. "I had to do something to contribute to the team. I had to put the ball in the basket."