Boys basketball: West Aurora turns up pressure, races past South Elgin to snap 6-game skid

Looking for its first victory of the season after six straight losses, West Aurora basketball coach Mike Fowler admittedly felt a bit of déjà vu after his team fell behind South Elgin by 11 points in the opening quarter Tuesday night.

“I thought it was, ‘Here we go again,’” said Fowler.

The Blackhawks quickly regrouped, pulling within 21-19 after one quarter, and then relied on their suffocating pressure defense to go on a 24-5 second-quarter run to build a 43-26 halftime advantage.

West Aurora (1-6, 1-1) never looked back, cruising to a 72-42 Upstate Eight West triumph over South Elgin (1-5, 0-1).

“I’m proud of them,” said Fowler. “We didn’t have a lot of energy coming out in the first quarter, but we stuck with it and cut the lead down. Then, we held them to five (points) in the second quarter. I thought that was the turning point there.”

Led by Travis Brown (5 steals), James Baker (5 steals), Caelan Reynolds (4 steals), and Amon Greene (4 steals), the Blackhawks forced 11 Storm turnovers during the decisive second quarter that included 7 points from Brown and 5 points from sharpshooting Drew Lundberg.

“We try to pressure everybody — get turnovers and get our energy up,” said junior point guard Brown, who finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

“Our press bothered them,” said Fowler.

Lundberg (13 points), Reynolds (10 points), Greene (9 points, 6 rebounds), and Jaden Thomas (7 points) joined 13 West Aurora players in the scoring column.

“Everybody got some minutes,” said Fowler. “It is a relief but the celebration is going to be quick because now we’ll focus on Larkin Thursday. Hopefully, we can keep stacking some wins here.”

The Blackhawks’ home opener was a rousing success.

“It’s great to get back here and great to get to play in front of our home fans,” said the coach.

Brown served as the team’s sparkplug, energizing his teammates along the way.

“As a leader, you have to take charge,” he said. “This feels great.”

“He’s our rock,” Fowler said of Brown. “He’s the person we’re going to rely on to make plays on both ends of the floor.”

West Aurora led 57-35 after three quarters.

Coming off a tough 56-54 overtime loss to UEC crossover foe Glenbard South last weekend, South Elgin managed just 21 points in the final 3 quarters against West Aurora — equaling its point total in the first quarter.

Junior forward Kyle Mann led the Storm with 10 points, while Aman Chiluka and Ilija Babic contributed 6 points apiece.