W. Aurora blows out Hinsdale S.
Hinsdale South picked the wrong night to face West Aurora.
At the Class 4A Oswego boys basketball regional semifinal Tuesday night, the Blackhawks made a defining statement after losing the DuPage Valley Conference championship on the last day of the regular season.
West Aurora, the fourth seed of the East Aurora sectional complex, torched the Hornets with 14-for-20 field-goal shooting in the first half en route to opening a 22-point lead at the break.
The Blackhawks slowed somewhat in the second half, going a pedestrian 10 of 19 in cruising to a 59-36 victory.
West Aurora will face either Naperville North, which bested the Blackhawks by one game for league supremacy, or host Oswego Friday night for a berth in the sectional.
Hinsdale South had its season conclude at 15-13.
“(Losing) the conference championship hurt,” said West Aurora reserve guard Brandon Gossett, who scored 12 points, putting back his only missed shot in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t want to stop playing. We were setting good picks for each other and knocking down shots.”
Phil George forged the only tie of the night when he offset a Jontrel Walker game-opening 3-pointer with a downtown jumper of his own.
Unfortunately for Hinsdale South, though, the Blackhawks played at a different level during their first-half demolition.
Gossett ended the first quarter by canning his opening shot, and the Blackhawks’ sixth man drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the early moments of the second quarter to give West Aurora a 24-13 lead.
With Brock Benson, the Hornets’ 6-foot-8 post the only player to score for Hinsdale South in the second quarter, West Aurora (22-5) was operating on cruise control as Walker and backcourt mate Jayquan Lee hit all 4 of their second-quarter shots.
Lee, who scored all 9 of his points in the opening half, drained a 3-pointer, the last of the Blackahwks’ seven in 11 attempts for the half, to give West Aurora a commanding 39-17 lead into halftime.
“We were ready to come back and redeem ourselves (for losing the regular-season finale to Glenbard East),” Lee said. “We were pretty pumped up.”
Hinsdale South, meanwhile, struggled in shooting 7-for-21 in the decisive first half.
“I think (West Aurora has) a chance to go a long way,” Hinsdale South Vince Doran said. “Obviously they’re very well coached. We knew that they were capable. You picked your poison with them.”
Juwan Starks, the Blackhawks’ four-year standout who is 49 points shy of surpassing current Ball State coach Billy Taylor for all-time leading scorer in the storied history of West Aurora, hit three 3-pointers in scoring 11 points on 9 shots.
Walker, who tied Benson for game-scoring honors with 13 points, hit all 3 of his first-half field-goal attempts, including two 3-pointers for West Aurora.
“We came out ready to play,” West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said.
George finished with 12 points for Hinsdale South.