West Aurora wins despite bad 2nd half

The way West Aurora guard Corbin Spearman sees it, Saturday's 49-40 boys basketball victory over host Lake Park in Roselle will be a win the team can learn from.

The Blackhawks let down in the second half after rolling to a big halftime lead and had to hold off the Lancers in the waning moments.

"In the first half we came out strong, but in the second half we let the scoreboard get to our head," Spearman said. "We didn't play well as a team. (The Lancers) played hard and gave it to us good (in the second half)."

"I don't know what happened," said West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman, whose team managed only 4 field goals in the second half. "All of a sudden, we stopped playing. We didn't know where the basket was. It's hard to get much satisfaction out of that one."

Despite the second-half struggles the Blackhawks improved their record to 7-0.

Spearman was one of the catalysts in the first half, pouring in 14 of his game-high 17 points. In the first quarter he tallied 6 points, as did Marquis Stewart, and West Aurora raced to a 17-2 lead by pushing the ball up the court.

Stewart scored 11 points in the game. Lake Park was ice cold from the field and shot only 1 of 11.

In the second quarter the Blackhawks kept rolling and extended their lead to 38-14 advantage at halftime. Spearman poured in 7 points in that period as did Bobbie Hickson.

"We've had a four-game losing streak and our confidence was shaken," said Lake Park coach Cray Allen. "We stood around and watched them play. West Aurora is so athletic."

Allen was pleased with the sense of urgency shown by his team during key stretches of the second half. The Lancers (2-6) outscored West Aurora 10-4 in the third quarter and 16-7 in the final quarter. Center George Manos hit some big shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to finish with a team-high 10 points. Matt Drufke and Jason Sotira also chipped in 8 and 7 points, respectively.

Lake Park kept chipping away and never gave up. A jumper by Derrick Dunklin pulled the hosts to within 48-40 with about a minute to play. The Lancers had a couple of chances to cut into the Blackhawks' lead more but were unable to connect. They had to foul to stop the clock.

"We would like to play with the same sense of urgency for 32 minutes as we did for four- and eight-minute stretches," Allen said.

"They were playing to win," Kerkman said. "We weren't playing."