Harris, Oswego East shoot down West Aurora in OT
West Aurora discovered at the wrong time why Jay Harris is considered the top unsigned senior basketball player in the state.
The Oswego East guard torched the Blackhawks for five 3-pointers in the opening 11 minutes of the teams' first-ever meeting, the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley regional championship, in Aurora on Friday night.
But West Aurora discovered a temporary solution, shutting down the Wolves' explosive off-guard until the beginning of the fourth quarter.
"They have a legendary coach (Gordie Kerkman) over there," Harris said. "They played great defense on me in the second half."
But Harris would have the final blow; the senior tied the game twice late in regulation to force overtime and then scored 8 of his 39 points in the extra session to power the Wolves' 66-62 victory.
Fifth-seeded Oswego East (23-4) earned its first regional title in its short history and advances to Neuqua Valley to face top-seeded Glenbard East (26-1) on Tuesday.
Thirteenth-seeded West Aurora (13-16) suffered its first losing campaign since 1992-93 in dropping its fourth consecutive regional final.
Harris' brilliant performance overshadowed an equally compelling effort by West Aurora sophomore Juwan Starks.
The Blackhawks' standout forward was electrifying all evening, and he personally led a 12-0 second-quarter-closing that Kyle Pilmer capped with a putback with one second before the intermission to give West Aurora a 28-26 lead at the break.
Starks connected on 8 straight shots during one extended stretch, dazzling from long range with two second-quarter 3-pointers as well as draining jump shots along the baseline or free-throw line area.
"We wanted to win this for the seniors," said Starks, who tied his personal high, set last December against Wheaton North, with 28 points. "Coach was getting on my butt about taking it to the basket. He said, 'Don't be scared to take your shot and be confident with it.'"
Starks had a pair of smooth jumpers to augment an earlier putback to start the second half, and West Aurora hounded the Wolves into missing 13 of its 17 third-quarter field-goal attempts.
Starks' fourth-quarter baseline jumper and a later 3-pointer from senior guard D.J. Vaughn twice extended the Blackhawks' largest lead of the contest to 7 points.
But Harris, who last scored three minutes into the second quarter, was unleashed; the senior converted 8 straight free throws in the final quarter. West Aurora, conversely, had 5 critical misses and hit two more bombs from beyond the arc.
Harris' seventh 3-pointer tied the game at 54-54 with 1:24 to play, and he canceled Starks' go-ahead basket on the Blackhawks' ensuing possession with two more free throws.
Neither team scored on its final possession in regulation.
Harris' consecutive field goals in transition to start overtime were the difference as 3-pointers by Tyrone Carey and Vaughn were all the offense West Aurora could manage.
"When you're having fun, the game comes easy to you," Harris said.
Kerkman cited the Wolves' second-chance points after halftime as the difference.
"That's what I told (the team) after the ballgame," Kerkman said. "Rebounds in regulation killed us. (Starks) had a heck of a game, but Harris, unfortunately, had an ever better one."
"Harris and Starks did not disappoint," Oswego East coach Jason Buckley said.
Vaughn and Carey closed out their West Aurora careers with 15 and 13 points, respectively.