West Aurora fighting back

A year ago at this time, the West Aurora boys basketball team was in the middle of an unheard of seven-game losing streak.

With high expectations entering the season, the Blackhawks entered the new year with a 10-4 record after a strong third-place finish at the Pontiac Holiday tournament.

But West Aurora appeared snake-bit throughout much of the second half of the season, dropping one close game after another as the losing streak hit seven.

So when the Blackhawks lost a pair of heartbreakers recently to Naperville Central in two overtimes and Naperville North in a game that West Aurora led late, senior Tyler Thompson told his team what happened in 2006-07 was not going to repeat this campaign.

"We met as a team and I told them we're not doing what we did last year," Thompson said. "That was an unfortunate streak we had. That was not fun for everyone -- the coaches, the players, the community, the team."

West Aurora made sure this streak stopped at two with its come-from-behind 49-40 victory over Quincy on Saturday at Night of Hoops.

Thompson led West Aurora with 14 points, and Marquis Stewart added 11.

"Being able to finish game was the big thing," Stewart said after the Blackhawks outscored Quincy 18-5 in the fourth quarter.

West Aurora will try to regain its winning ways in the DVC when the Blackhawks host Wheaton Warrenville South on Friday night.

"The two Napervilles I thought played good basketball against us. I didn't think we played bad," said West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman. "I just thought they played better than us. I didn't really think it was a skid, though I thought we were seeing it in their (the players') head a little. I think they were starting to think a little bit about last year."

Friday also is Hall of Fame night for the Blackhawks, who will induct Danny Iniguez, Kirstine Jensen, David Lee and Bob Plaskas.

Still impressive: Batavia's 68-65 loss to Simeon at Night of Hoops was the fourth for the Bulldogs this year. If there is such thing as a "good loss," this was it.

"(Simeon was) very athletic, they have a great coach (and) they fed the ball to (Stan) Simpson when they needed to," said Batavia senior Nick Fruendt.

Fruendt was frustrated and disappointed after the game, even though he led all scorers with 29 points.

Still, the Northwestern-bound Fruendt made an impression on Simeon coach Robert Smith.

"I was really impressed with Nick," Smith said. "I like him a lot. I had the chance to meet him earlier in the summer, and we had a good conversation. All (the Bulldogs) are real competitive. They gave us a good game."

This won't be the last time Fruendt will play against Simpson. The 6-foot-9 center is heading to Illinois next year.

Looking ahead: Thanks to Friday's cancellations, this week is busier than usual. Tonight, Batavia gets back on its home court after its near upset of Simeon when the Bulldogs host Glenbard South. St. Charles East also is in action, traveling to Burlington Central.

Batavia is involved in the biggest game this weekend when it hosts Geneva. The Vikings handed Batavia its only loss in the Western Sun Conference in the teams' first meeting, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes to beat Batavia 76-73 on Max Cary's jumper with 16 seconds left. It was the first of eight games Batavia played without Fruendt.

The Vikings are 2 games behind Batavia in the Western Sun Conference and need to beat the Bulldogs again to have any realistic chance at a conference title.

That's not the only rivalry game Friday. Aurora Central hosts Marmion in the teams' third meeting. The Chargers own 2 narrow wins over the Cadets this year and need this victory to keep their share of the Suburban Catholic Conference lead.

An ideal situation: What if some of the area's best rivalry games took place in one day in one arena?

Imagine West Aurora vs. East Aurora, St. Charles North vs. St. Charles East and Geneva vs. Batavia battling in back-to-back-to-back games -- perhaps somewhere like the Convocation Center at NIU.

It's a vision Gordy Kerkman has -- and wants -- someday to happen.

"I think it would be pretty good," Kerkman said. "I think it's something we are going to work on. Whether it gets done or not, I don't know."