West Aurora prevails in front of 6,000 fans
West Aurora and East Aurora had Northern Illinois' Convocation Center shaken to its core Saturday night.
And that was when the sophomore game went into overtime. The Blackhawks' underclass team went on to victory, and the varsity game was equally compelling.
In a game dominated by runs, West Aurora had a series of breakouts for easy conversions and held off an inevitable East Aurora thrust spearheaded by Ryan Boatright to win 72-66 Saturday night in DeKalb.
The schools' 213th meeting was witnessed by a massive crowd estimated to be close to 6,000 strong.
West Aurora (7-8) seemed to be in serious trouble when standout sophomore forward Juwan Starks picked up his fourth foul trying to deny Tramell Weathersby with six minutes to play. Weathersby converted the 3-point play to draw the Tomcats (10-5) to within one, but that is when the Blackhawks made their run to the promised land.
D.J. Vaughn and Mike Neil burned the East Aurora defense for scores on four consecutive possessions. The Tomcats failed to get back on defense three of the times as West Aurora exploited their pressing defense for uncontested layups.
Vaughn, who hit four 3-pointers on the night to lead West Aurora with 18 points, was ever the opportunist. Starks checked back in moments later, and his baseline jumper restored the Blackhawks' double-digit lead with over two minutes to play.
"Juwan Starks' shot was the dagger," East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said. "I was saying myself, 'bad shot, bad shot.'"
But Starks' 20-footer found nothing but net, and West Aurora survived a furious Tomcats' comeback attempt that sliced the game to a two-possession contest in the last half-minute.
As he has been all season, East Aurora junior superstar Ryan Boatright was the Tomcats' primary catalyst. The junior point guard blocked shots, trigged the fast break with his lightening quick hands and feet and scored 14 points in the third quarter alone as East Aurora staved off a West Aurora double-digit lead to start the second half.
Boatright and Snoop Visor (16 points) were electrifying off the bat for the Tomcats; the squad raced to an early 19-8 lead. But one of the hallmarks of the unrivaled series is the penchant for unknown players to come to the fore at the most unlikely of times. Brandon Hayes was the designated successor in DeKalb.
After seeing only sparing playing time midway through the season, Hayes came off the bench to score 10 of his 16 points in the second quarter. West Aurora outscored East Aurora by 12 in the frame to take a 38-29 lead into the intermission.
"I think it was just heart," said Hayes. "I'm only a junior. I'm dedicating the rest of my year to the seniors. We started off 1-7, and I wanted to make something of this season."
"Brandon has got a lot of ability," said West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman. "What he needed was some confidence."
Starks added 17 points for West Aurora.