West Aurora 47, Wheaton Warrenville South 29
Tyler Thompson is giving the opposition a new look.
Not to mention the West Aurora boys basketball team as well.
The tallest and most physical of the Blackhawks, Thompson continued his excellent play on the perimeter to lead West Aurora past Wheaton Warrenville South 47-29 Friday night in DuPage Valley Conference action.
With the victory in Aurora, the Blackhawks (16-4, 8-2) can forge a three-way tie atop the league standings with Naperville Central and Wheaton North with a win Monday against Glenbard North in a makeup game.
Wheaton Warrenville South, which failed to eclipse 30 points for the second time this year against West Aurora, fell to 12-10 overall, 4-6 in the league.
Thompson hit three 3-pointers in the opening half, as well as a number of other mid-range jumpers, to lead all scorers with 22 points.
"I've always worked on my outside game," Thompson said. "I've always been the 4-man (power forward) here. My job has been to be an inside presence. If the shot's there, I'm going to take it."
After a sluggish opening quarter which ended with West Aurora leading 8-6, Thompson scored 8 points in the second quarter as part of a 16-5 Blackhawks run that culminated with Marquis Stewart beating the first-half buzzer with a 15-footer.
West Aurora led 24-11 at the intermission, and Thompson, who personally matched the Tigers' team field goals, scored twice early in the third to maintain the Blackhawks' double-digit lead.
On a night when WW South would struggle mightily from the field, going 9-for-41 overall and connecting on a mere 3 conventional field goals, Byron Given was the lone bright spot for the club.
The senior forward scored all 15 of his team-high points on five 3-pointers to keep the Tigers within striking distance.
"They're not a real easy team to defend," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said in trying to explain how his squad surrendered 53 points to WW South in two games.
"I thought their ball movement and player movement was very good."
WW South closed out the third quarter with a 10-3 run to slice the deficit to single digits entering the final quarter.
But West Aurora guards Marcus Cocroft and Stewart scored on back-to-back possessions, and a Given 3-pointer with 4:23 to play was the lone field goal for the Tigers in the fourth.
"We just didn't shoot it well," WW South coach Mike Healy said. "For us to play West Aurora and have 8 turnovers, we'll take that. It's a step forward for us."