St. Charles East surprises West Aurora
St. Charles East senior Cody Mitchell said a collective fire in the belly ignited a 67-55 victory over red-hot West Aurora at the 26th Annual Jim & Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops at Batavia on Saturday.
Coming off Friday's upset loss at Glenbard North (3-15), the Saints received some direct talk from assistant coach Michael Murphy, a friend of head coach Pat Woods since the two were college roommates 30 years ago.
"He said there's only one way this ship goes from here," Mitchell said. "It either sinks or it goes."
Mitchell and fellow seniors Nate Ortiz and Mark Musial later took turns keeping St. Charles East (12-11) above water.
Mitchell scored 11 of his 22 points in the first quarter, Ortiz scored 10 of his 17 in the second and Musial scored 10 of his 22 in the third to end a 3-game slide.
"After this string of losses, we knew we had to bounce back in a big way," Mitchell said. "What better way to do it than against a great opponent like West Aurora?"
Musial's 3-pointer with 3:18 left in the third quarter gave the Saints their biggest lead of the game, 44-29, but West Aurora (19-4) did not go down without a fight.
The Blackhawks played the first 19 minutes without senior guard Marquise Walker due to what coach Brian Johnson termed "a team violation." Nevertheless, they were able to pull within 9 points after three quarters, thanks to a drive by Kelvin Balfour. He scored 12 of his 22 points in the period.
Balfour's bucket started a 13-0 run that vaulted West Aurora to the lead. The 6-foot-3 junior tied the game at 50-50 on a baseline drive with 5:02 left.
Hezzy Salter's transition layup off a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Walker with 4:37 left gave the Blackhawks their first lead since the first quarter.
"Basketball is a game of runs," Musial said. "That's just going to happen. The biggest thing is to respond."
Ortiz responded immediately. He calmly drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 4:10 remaining that gave his team the lead for good.
Following a missed 3-pointer at the other end by Walker, Mitchell was fouled in the lane and sank 2 free throws to restore a 3-point lead.
Musial subsequently scored the next 6 points on 4 free throws and a transition bucket with 2:42 to play to cap a decisive 11-0 run.
"I like the way we bounced back," Woods said. "It'll be a good step for us. It was a big win that we needed after a day like (Friday) when we did not play so good and we learned a valuable lesson: If you're not ready to play, it doesn't matter who you're playing against because you're going to get beat."
The loss was the first for West Aurora since a setback against Oak Park-River Forest at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27th.
"Every single team we play, they're going to give us their best and St. Charles wanted this win," Johnson said. "That's a win that will build momentum for them and they're a good team. They were ready for this game. They've played a great schedule."
Traevon Brown scored 10 points and Salter finished with 9 for West Aurora.