West Aurora pulls away from WW South late
Wheaton Warrenville South jumped all over West Aurora in the first quarter of Friday night’s DuPage Valley Conference contest.
The momentum was short-lived however, as the Blackhawks eventually regrouped after coach Gordie Kerkman called timeout just two minutes into the game.
The pep talk worked as West Aurora found its rhythm on both ends of the court, leading to a 62-48 victory.
Wheaton Warrenville South (4-14, 1-7) took a 10-0 lead before the first quarter was half finished. The Tigers scored the first six points off 3-pointers by Matt Kienzle and Michael Kramer, both coming off West Aurora turnovers.
“I think we were a little passive in the way we were playing defensively,” Kerkman said. “(Wheaton Warrenville South) didn’t make shots against us last time, and I think we thought that that was going to happen again this time. Kienzle and Kramer are good shooters and they certainly proved that tonight.”
The Blackhawks (15-3, 7-1) climbed their way out of the early deficit and took the lead early in the second quarter on a driving layup by Chandler Thomas that put his team up 17-15. The play was set up by a block from Josh McAuley.
Kienzle’s basket at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter tied the game at 17, but West Aurora began working the ball inside to McAuley and the Tigers never retook the lead.
McAuley scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second quarter to help give his team a 31-25 halftime lead.
“We didn’t start off the game well and coach called timeout within the first couple of minutes and got on us,” McAuley said. “We weren’t playing defense and moving the ball on offense, but once we did that, we got into our groove.”
Jontrell Walker knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to start the second half and lengthened his team’s lead at 37-25.
Wheaton Warrenville South made one final attempt at a comeback, using an 11-1 run in the third quarter that trimmed the deficit to 38-36. Kramer scored 9 of his game-high 20 points during that run.
Kramer cut the West Aurora lead down to 2 one more time when Keishawn Watson threw the ball the length of the court and found him standing underneath the basket for an easy lay-in, making the score 45-43.
The Blackhawks outscored the Tigers 15-5 the rest of the way, netting the first nine points of the fourth quarter.
Wheaton Warrenville South connected on only 2 field goals in that final quarter, both by Brett Struebing.
“We tried to get the game going up and down a little bit,” Kerkman said. “When you make 3-point shooters run, they start losing their legs in the fourth quarter.”