Bolingbrook denies West Aurora at Hinsdale Central
In perhaps a more forgiving world Reggie Jordan's 30-foot running 3-point try would have banked in.
It was the perfect setup. DaQuan Cross rebounded a missed free throw with 3.9 seconds left - West Aurora trailing Bolingbrook by a point - and passed the basketball to Jordan headed downcourt.
Instead the long one-hander bounced off the backboard, deflected off the rim and away, and Bolingbrook claimed a 50-49 victory at Tuesday's Class 4A Hinsdale Central supersectional, earning its first state semifinal berth, on Friday against Stevenson.
"It looked like it was going in, but when it hit the hoop it didn't go in. Wish I had a little more time, get down the court quicker," said Jordan, whose putback basket pulled the Blackhawks within 50-49 with 1:50 left to play.
West Aurora (22-9) was denied its first downstate trip since 2006 though the odds against the Blackhawks, and the encouraging student section sporting St. Patrick's Day green, made this one-possession loss a moral victory.
Earlier on Tuesday West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman was told 6-foot-6 forward Roland Griffin, who averaged 17.3 points and 8 rebounds and starred at the East Aurora sectional, would not play due to a disciplinary situation.
West Aurora played its last three games without point guard Matt Dunn for undisclosed reasons and, what's worse, on Monday night it discovered sixth man Drake Spears suffered a broken right ankle probably Friday against Hinsdale Central.
All this left 6-foot-3 Tommy Koth in the paint against Bolingbrook's 6-9, 260-pound center Julian Torres and 5-10 forward DaQuan Cross starting his third varsity game. At one point Kerkman had Cross and fellow sophomores Caleb Siler and Trevon Avery on the court together. They entered the supersectional with 3 combined varsity appearances, none by Avery.
Few at Hinsdale Central would have predicted a 1-point margin.
"Extremely proud. They probably don't believe this because I get on their butt all the time, but extremely proud all year long," said Kerkman, who ended his 39th season with a record of 805-313.
"Not that we've had a great record or anything like that," he said, "but I think it's a pretty good record, and we've had some adversity not just this week but in the past. They don't seem to buckle, they just keep coming after you."
As when Bolingbrook (24-6) led 45-32 with 3:45 left in the third quarter. Spanning the third and fourth quarters West Aurora forced 7 turnovers and held Bolingbrook scoreless until 5:09 of the fourth.
Capping a 13-0 Blackhawks run, Marquis Howard hit his team-record 85th 3-pointer of the season to knot the score 45-45 at 6:48 of the fourth quarter.
"It felt great," said Howard, whose 16 points were followed by Jordan with 12. "I really thought we were going to take this win. Take the lead, get a stop, but the ball didn't roll that way."
Still floundering, Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost called timeout. The Raiders' next two possessions saw 15-point scorer Prentiss Nixon, Colorado State recruit, scoring open layups to reclaim a 49-45 lead.
"Guys were open ahead and we were decking (dribbling) it too much," Brost said. "That was causing us to turn it over. So if we could get the ball ahead then we're going to get easy baskets. That's exactly what happened."
Koth capitalized on a steal to trim the deficit to 49-47, but after a Bolingbrook miss Torres got the offensive rebound, was fouled and made a free throw for his game-high 17th point and a 50-47 lead. After Jordan's putback Koth forced another turnover but the Blackhawks couldn't find the mark.
"We knew everybody had to step up ... and we tried our best," Howard said. "And one point short. I'm proud of my teammates."