Streaking West wins 9th straight

West Aurora's girls basketball team came out running and pressing Thursday night, and visiting Glenbard North just wasn't up to the challenge.

It was a case of the Blackhawks (14-6, 7-2) having too much quickness, too much talent, and too much Kyra Watson. The senior scored 23 points and pulled down 17 boards to lead her team to a 65-36 win in DuPage Valley Conference action.

"We just wanted it, and when we want something we go and get it," Watson said. "That's what I like about my team."

West Aurora's defense set the tone in the opening minutes as Tyronza McGowan and Briannica Tye ball-hawked their way into a series of first quarter steals that in turn sparked the Blackhawks' offense.

"We're a pretty quick team, so we try to pressure the ball as much as possible to get teams to make mistakes," Tye said. "That feeds into our offense."

McGowan was a force at both ends of the court, finishing the game with 13 points, 6 steals and 6 assists.

"She has a great work ethic and leads by example," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said. "Both (McGowan) and Briannica have a lot of energy out there."

After hitting 5 of their first 7 shots, the Blackhawks were up 10-4, and by the midway mark of the first quarter all five of West Aurora's starters had scored.

"We're really blending well as a team," Siljendahl said. "Everybody was ready to shoot the ball, and we have to have that balance."

Leading 19-9 after one quarter, West Aurora blew the game open, thanks in part to 3-pointers by Devin Vaughn and Sam Alvis. By halftime, the Blackhawks enjoyed a 34-13 cushion.

"We did some things tonight that we've been working on," Siljendahl said. "I love our enthusiasm out there, and they're working hard."

But Glenbard North (5-15, 2-6) regrouped and showed improvement at the start of the second half. Led by Megan Ney, who finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds, the Panthers were able to go toe to toe with West Aurora for most of the third quarter.

"We let it get away from us in the second quarter," Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn said. "After that it's pretty hard to get back in the game against a team that's quicker than you."

Despite the Panthers' best efforts, West Aurora's lead grew to 52-27 after three quarters, and the final 8 minutes belonged to Watson, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.

"We've matured so much since last year," Watson said. "We're like a different team."

Boys basketball

East Aurora 58, South Elgin 53:The South Elgin Storm struggled offensively after the first quarter as the East Aurora Tomcats stepped up the pressure for a 58-53 Upstate Eight Conference win.

After a 17-8 lead for the Storm turned into a 29-26 deficit at the half, the Tomcats (11-7; 2-3) went on a 6-0 run to start the second half with Andrew Dockery providing all of the points.

"We told him to take it to the big guy (Storm's Daniel Lopez)," said East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries. "He wasn't going to the basket hard the first half which he did the second half."

After a 5-point first half, Dockery finished with 15 in the second half to lead the game with 20 points for the Tomcats charge.

"I was trying to work on finishing in the second half," Dockery said. "We just started taking our time."

For the Storm (8-10, 2-4), they were able to finish the first quarter on a 9-2 run keyed by two baskets from behind the arc from Adam Hodge, who led the Storm with 18 points, and Josh Glenn as well as a three-point play by Hodge to take the 9-point lead.

"We were attacking the basket the first quarter," said South Elgin coach Chaz Taft. "We have to attack them. You can't let them get us on our heels."

Once the second quarter started it was apparent the Tomcats were going to pressure the rest of the way getting into the faces of their counterparts taking a 9-3 run with Dockery tallying his 5 first half points.

"We were working on their pressure all week in practice," Taft said. "We went sideline to sideline and not baseline to baseline."

The Storm did rally near the end after the Tomcats took the largest lead of the night at 49-38.

With 53.4 seconds remaining, Glenn nailed a pair from the line while Lopez hit a 3-point play cutting the deficit to 56-51 with 31 seconds left.

However, two missed rebounds from missed East Aurora free throws in the final seconds ended any hope of a Storm comeback.

"I think the key was that we missed 2 big free-throw block outs near the end," Taft said.

For the Tomcats, the win comes after a tough 67-64 loss to Bartlett the previous Saturday.

"We needed a win here tonight," Jeffries said. "We had a 2-game losing streak and a tough loss at home on Saturday."

-- Seth Hancock

Men's basketball

Aurora 93, Rockford 70: The Spartans leaped out to a 19-0 lead. The first Regents basket came with 14:58 left in the first half.

The Regents never quit, going on a 24-6 run to cut the AU lead to 25-24 with 6:30 left. But Aurora took control for good with a 16-0 run to finish the half.

Five players scored double digits for the Spartans including sophomore forward Shane Roland's 18 points. Mike Leonard contributed a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, junior guard Chad Trudo finished with 12 points, and Doug Lambert scored 14. Jarrett Starwood paced Aurora with 20 points.

Waubonsee 69, Morton 64: DeAndre Jackson scored a game-high 19 points as the Chiefs raised their overall record to 7-8 and 2-2 in the Skyway Conference. Torrien Minor added 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Women's basketball

Waubonsee 63, Morton 41: The Chiefs used a 23-0 run in the middle of the second half to earn their first conference win of the season. Star Robinson scored 28 points and Ashlee Jones had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Women's softball

Perez to Judson: Bringing her class of 2009 to six players, Judson University softball coach Becky Bruns has signed Victoria Perez (St. Charles East) and Shelby McGlasson (Coal City).

Perez, from South Elgin, plays softball for the Saints. She plays at first base, pitches and is an outfielder. She is an academic All-Conference selection. She also plays for the Bartlett Silver Hawks summer team under coach Eric Ray. She is the daughter of Vincent and Tina Perez, has two siblings (Martin and Antonio), and wants to major in education or science.

The 2009 season will be the first in the new softball field that is being built for the Chicago Bandits. The field will feature new dugouts, stands, scoreboard and field.

Kyle Fredericks won both the 200 meter and 500 meter freestyle events for the North Stars. Matt Baumann won the 200 IM ands finished second in the 100 breaststroke.