West Aurora explodes for 85 points in DVC win over Naperville North
The good news for Kyra Watson was she set a new career high in scoring against Naperville North Thursday.
The bad news was she fell just two rebounds short of tying her career high on the boards.
Watson, a senior on the West Aurora girls basketball team, scored 32 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in the Blackhawks' 85-47 win against Naperville North in DuPage Valley Conference action in Aurora.
"It was OK," Watson said with a laugh regarding her performance. "I was just trying to crash the boards. It's just what happened. I was working hard."
Watson also added 4 steals and 3 assists in her best game of the season.
"Unbelievable," Naperville North coach Jay Wachtel said of Watson, who posted her career-rebounding high of 27 last year against the Huskies. "Very nice job by her."
"Love her to death," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl added on Watson. "She works so hard. When she sets goals in her mind, she is going to get them."
Watson was on fire right from the get-go. In the first quarter, she scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. The rest of the Blackhawks (6-4, 2-1) were on as well, as they outscored the Huskies 28-10, including a pair of 8-0 runs.
"Offensively, they were patient, they worked the ball around," Siljendahl said. "We pushed the ball today, and they did a nice job of pushing the ball. They met some of the goals we set today."
"Total landslide," Wachtel added. "They just had so much more energy than us. It's like we were standing there watching them run by us…very nice job. Connie had them ready to play."
Things only got better for the Blackhawks as the game went on. They led by as much as 46-22 in the first half for a 49-27 lead at the break.
In the second half, West Aurora saw its lead grow to 30-plus points in the third quarter, when it outscored Naperville North 22-7.
The Blackhawks' biggest lead of the game was 85-41 after a 3-pointer from Madison Whitt with under three minutes remaining in the game.
In addition to Watson, West Aurora was led by Sam Alvis (10 points, 4 assists), Kiara Towles (10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Bri Tye (12 points, 3 steals, 6 assists). The 85 points scored was the most assistant coach Neil Ormond can recall a West Aurora girls team posted in recent times.
For the Huskies (1-8, 1-3), Kaelyn Witkowski scored 13 points, Danielle Witkowski added 10 points and 6 rebounds while Erica Schertz scored 11 with 8 rebounds.