Starks' block preserves West Aurora's victory

Wheaton Warrenville South junior Reilly O'Toole appeared unassailable while driving for a potential game-tying field goal against West Aurora with less than a minute to play.

Then again, this DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball game in Aurora Friday night was no ordinary affair.

For the first 31-plus minutes, WW South had not converted a single conventional field goal. And Juwan Starks made sure it would stay that way.

The Blackhawks' sophomore standout came out of nowhere to block the Tigers' layup attempt off the backboard to trigger a vital Tyrone Carey deuce at the other end. WW South could only muster a Will Dolatowski free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining; Dolatowski missed the second free throw on purpose, but Starks knocked the ball out of bounds to preserve the Blackhawks' 36-33 victory.

With the win West Aurora (8-8, 3-4) reversed its 1-7 start with its seventh win in its last eight outings to get back to

.500; WW South dropped to 12-5, 5-2.

"I tried to angle (O'Toole) off," Starks said of his key defensive play with 44 seconds to play and West Aurora nursing a 34-32 lead. "D.J. (Vaughn) kind of cut in front of me. I was hoping D.J. wouldn't foul him and put him at the line."

"That's an athlete right there," WW South coach Mike Healy said of Starks' game-changer. "That play kind of typified the way (West Aurora) played the whole night. They were hungrier than us."

The final frenzied minute of play underscored what could only be described as surreal. West Aurora came out in a 1-2-2 zone to start the game, dispatching their traditional man defense for virtually the entire game.

West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman dug out the history books, employing a strategy from his first Class AA Final Four team from three decades ago.

"The 1980 team was the last time we played that much zone," Kerkman said. "(The Tigers) really do have some good 3-point shooters."

West Aurora harassed WW South into a fruitless third-quarter from the field, forcing 9 consecutive misses - including 8 from beyond the arc - in breaking free from a 15-15 halftime tie to lead 24-16 after three. Vaughn led all players with 12 points, and the senior banked home a 3-pointer to close out the third.

Brandon Hayes' bucket gave West Aurora its largest lead at 28-17, only to see WW South storm back with five 3-pointers over the next three minutes and 45 seconds.

But WW South missed all 12 of its conventional field-goal attempts as Starks' 11 points augmented the Vaughn game-high total.

"It is quite an oddity," Kerkman said of the Tigers' failure to score from inside the arc. "I thought they had a 2-pointer in there somewhere."

"We got all the shots that we wanted," Healy said.

Dolatowski had 10 points to lead the Tigers.