Walker unstoppable in first East Aurora-West Aurora game
Marquise Walker took an instantaneous liking to the iconic East Aurora gym Friday night.
The West Aurora senior shooting guard had a four-possession sequence late in the first quarter that had to rival some of the greatest moments in the 105-year history between the two boys basketball teams of the original two Aurora high schools.
Walker drained his first four shots, all from beyond the arc, in the opening quarter in the schools' 226th meeting at East High.
The Blackhawks never looked back with their fifth straight win, an 83-76 Upstate Eight Conference triumph.
Walker finished with six 3-pointers in leading four other West Aurora players in double figures with a career-high 29 points, 22 of which came in the first half as the Blackhawks built a 45-32 cushion.
In remaining perfect in league play, West Aurora (9-2, 6-0) holds a 138-88 advantage in the series that began in February 1913.
Jules Williamson scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Tomcats (2-10, 2-4).
"(My teammates) told me it was the best rivalry in the state," said Walker. "It was probably one of the best games I have ever been to. I love (the Tomcats') gym. It was a big atmosphere. I love big crowds. It lived up to expectations. The game was going to slow for me, so I had to pop a couple 3s."
With the Blackhawks leading 11-10 as the first quarter wound down, Walker barely touched the rim on his four straight 3-pointers.
West Aurora reserve Logan Mont made it five consecutive possessions with a 3-pointer as the Blackhawks erupted for 26 first-quarter points.
"(Walker) got more and more confident where he started shooting it further and further," said West Aurora senior point guard Traevon Brown, who finished with 15 points. "He had our whole bench electric. He had the whole crowd electric."
East Aurora coach Ricky Robinson could only wonder what might have been without the Walker onslaught.
"We won the second half, but we could never get any closer from the points of the four 3s that (Walker) hit," Robinson said. "That turned out to be the difference-maker right there."
Starting forwards Hezzy Salter and Kelvin Balfour finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for West Aurora. Sixth-man Dimitrios Bazos added 10 points.
"We had a really good day passing the ball," Bazos said. "If you looked at previous games, we were pretty stagnant. Whenever we're moving the ball, we can have six, seven guys in double figures."
Julian Acosta (13 points), Josh Pryor (12) and Darius Cooper (10) all had double-digit games for the Tomcats.
In the schools' girls game, West High senior forward Ana Karanovic had a reverse layup at the buzzer to cement a 64-50 victory.
The West girls scored 16 of the first 19 points of the game as Keva Tomas' 18 points paced three other players in double figures.
Freshman call-up Riley Mont had 10 of her 13 points in the second quarter for the Blackhawks (9-4, 5-3).
Dajour Miles added 11 points; Olivia Vanderwoude finished with 10 from her post position.
Tatiana Ocasio had a career-best 29 points for East Aurora (7-8, 4-4).