Starks, West Aurora get past Wheaton North

Juwan Starks is developing a fondness for facing Wheaton North.

The West Aurora standout sophomore forward, who had a personal-best 28 points in the Falcons' victory last December, powered the Blackhawks' 70-62 DuPage Valley Conference victory Friday night in Aurora with game highs of 26 points and 15 rebounds.

Starks scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, and his 4 free throws in the last 13 seconds enabled West Aurora to hold off a furious Wheaton North comeback effort led by senior forward Jeff Schalk.

West Aurora (9-11, 4-6) broke free from three third-quarter ties as offensive rebounding was the main storyline. Grabbing 17 of their own misses on the night, the Blackhawks used their dominance on the offensive glass to neutralize the Falcons' devastating 3-point shooting attack.

"Coach (Gordie Kerkman) said that all the games we've lost this year we were out-rebounded, except for one," Starks said.

"As a group we have to be able to rebound the ball," Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos said. "It seemed like we were stuck on 42 for about three minutes (in the fourth quarter)."

West Aurora guard Brandon Hayes' first start paid dividends; the junior had 4 of his 8 points in succession to extend the Blackhawks' 47-42 lead after three quarters to 52-42 early in the fourth. Starks' continued the trend with consecutive field goals to give West Aurora a 58-44 bulge, only to see Wheaton North (8-13. 3-7) forge another rally reminiscent of its second-quarter surge.

Schalk and junior post Nick Barry ultimately scored 18 of the Falcons' 20 fourth-quarter points, and the former had three consecutive 3-pointers to make it a two-possession game with 23 seconds to play.

But Wheaton North, which went 12 of 28 from beyond the arc, would come no closer as Starks' free-throw shooting closed out the contest.

"(Starks) does a lot of things well," Nazos said.

West Aurora reserve Garrett Wells' field goal to close out the first quarter gave West Aurora a 14-11 lead as the West Aurora bench eventually outscored its counterparts 11-0. Starks, held to a lone field goal in the first quarter, scored 8 points in the second quarter, and West Aurora had a 21-9 run bridging the opening two quarters to take a 29-17 lead on Starks' bucket.

Jordan Wayhart answered the bell for Wheaton North, however; the junior guard hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions, and Richard Finley added another as the Falcons closed to within 31-29 at the break.

"Coach told me to stop double-teaming," Starks said of the Blackhawks' halftime adjustment. "It showed that we could come back and play aggressive (defense)."

"They were hitting some tough shots," Kerkman said. "The tempo of the game was such that there were a lot of shots taken."

Schalk paced Wheaton North with 17 points; Barry and Finley added 13 points apiece, with Wayhart finishing with 12. D.J. Vaughn scored all 10 of his points after halftime for West Aurora; Tyrone Carey added 9 points, and Hayes finished with 8.