West Aurora's big comeback falls short

It would have been a comeback for the ages.

The West Aurora boys basketball team was down 24 points to three-time defending Pontiac Holiday Tournament champion Simeon entering the fourth quarter.

Six-plus minutes of playing time later, however, the Blackhawks had the reigning three-time state finalists' lead to 5.

But the Wolverines had one final burst which West Aurora could not match and triumphed 55-45 in opening-round action of the storied tournament on Monday morning.

"We weren't playing as scared as we were in the second and third quarters," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said.

The Blackhawks (5-4) had their modest three-game winning streak snapped and will face Joliet (7-3), which surrendered a late lead to Curie to initiate the 16-team, double-elimination tournament, in consolation play this morning.

Simeon (3-5), the No. 3 seed, exerted its will on the defensive end to take command early in the second quarter. The Wolverines closed out the first half on a 19-7 run to snare a 30-18 lead at the break, and West Aurora senior Jamal Blackmond scored the Blackhawks' lone third-quarter field goal.

After missing 8 shots and turning the ball over nine times in the quarter, the Blackhawks were staring at a 44-20 deficit. In the first three minutes of the deciding quarter, though, Bryson Hughes' improbable 3-pointer culminated a 15-2 West Aurora burst that featured 7 points from forward Juwan Starks. The freshman ultimately led all players and two other teammates - Blackmond and Markus Cocroft in double figures - with 18 points. "I was kind of nervous to start," Starks said. "Nobody gave up. We wanted to make it a game."

"(Starks) made a lot of defensive mistakes," Kerkman said. "When you have a freshman up (on varsity), you want to give him as much time (to develop as possible)."

Simeon star junior Jeremy Jones' baseline jumper restored its lead to 13 points, but the Blackhawks made further inroads. West Aurora extended its run to 23-4 when Cocroft (10 points) found Starks with a brilliant bounce pass to reduce the Wolverines' cushion to 48-43. With slightly less than two minutes to play, the Blackhawks squandered golden opportunities to get closer as Simeon iced the contest from the free-throw line.

"The game changed, but we messed up when we cut the lead (to 5) with two minutes left," Cocroft said.

"(West Aurora is) a good ball club, growing by the day and very well coached," Simeon coach Rob Smith said. "We needed a game like that for later in the season."

Jones led eight Simeon players who found the scorebook with 12 points. Blackmond also had 12 points for the Blackhawks.

"Obviously, I'm very pleased with (the way we fought back)," Kerkman said.