West Aurora reaches 5th-place game
PONTIAC — West Aurora boys basketball coach Gordie Kerkman was incredulous when assessing his notes in preparation for the Blackhawks’ quarterfinal against Curie Wednesday at the 81st annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
The Blackhawks fought the undefeated and third-seeded Condors tooth and nail, only to fall 60-52.
“I’ll show you the (Curie) shot chart (against first-round opponent Niles West),” Kerkman said. “They didn’t hit a shot farther than (pointing to inside the free-throw line).”
But Curie would make eight 3-pointers in ending the Blackhawks’ six-game winning streak.
“I had a terrible (defensive) game plan,” Kerkman said.
Kerkman wanted to divert the Condors’ trio of talented guards — Jibreel Jackson, Malcolm Bay-Hill and Devin Foster — away from the paint, where Curie has a superb post in 6-foot-9 sophomore Cliff Alexander.
After a sluggish opening offensive start by both teams — the first quarter ended with a 9-9 tie — West Aurora had its 17-12 lead vanquished as Curie closed the first half on a 14-7 run to lead by two at the intermission.
Foster was a nonfactor due to persistent foul troubles, but his backcourt mates more than compensated.
Jackson (18 points) and Bay-Hill (17) combined for 35 points, and the former had two 3-pointers in a third-quarter burst that soon had Curie posting a double-digit lead.
But there was no quit in the Blackhawks, especially Juwan Starks.
“The seniors made a point of making something happen, playing our final time down here,” said Starks, who was brilliant all day with game highs of 27 points and 9 rebounds.
With Curie (10-0) leading 47-37 after another Jackson 3-pointer to start the fourth, Blackhawks senior Brandon Gossett drained back-to-back 3-pointers.
When West Aurora forced another stop, Starks’ bomb from the left wing made it a 9-0 run in three possessions.
“We knew (Starks) was a (heck) of a player,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “He is probably one of the most underrated players in the state. I told our guys it was going to be a game of runs.”
Bay-Hill, a junior transfer from Mt. Carmel, became a West Aurora assassin, however.
With the Condors clinging to a 47-46 advantage three minutes into the quarter, Bay-Hill hit consecutive shots from inside the free-throw line.
One possession later, in an extraordinary feat of athleticism, Alexander tip-dunked a loose ball that Starks had created with one of his 3 blocked shots.
Suddenly, the spread was back to nine when Bay-Hill converted on the next possession.
“That was pretty much the ballgame,” Kerkman said.
Spencer Thomas’ 9 points complemented Starks’ game-high total.
Starks and Gossett were once again front and center as West Aurora had a mental gut-check against Joliet West in the fifth-place semifinal game — the last contest of the night.
Trailing by seven late in the third quarter, West Aurora came to life in the closing minutes to secure a 50-46 victory.
Starks’ tip-in off a driving Gossett layup attempt was later reversed as the former found Gossett all alone for an uncontested layup.
The two scores broke the last of seven ties at 45-45 as Joliet West (8-4) succumbed down the stretch with critical free-throw misses and a moving pick violation.
“Court awareness,” said Starks, who led the team for the third straight game at Pontiac with 16 points, on the keys to his putback and assist to Gossett. “Being aware of where you are on the court (makes all the difference).”
“We were kind of (physically) dead at first,” said Gossett. “We picked it up in the second half.”
Gossett and Jontrel Walker added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Blackhawks (10-2), who will face either United Township or Oak Park-River Forest for fifth place Friday afternoon.