On Cue: Pryor, Johnson Step to the Forefront

It is one of the true hallmarks of the East High-West High rivalry in Aurora.

For the schools’ historic rivalry, the oldest in the state, there has been a decades-long penchant for the series to produce the most unlikeliest of heroes.

Saturday night at East High before a frenzied crowd in excess of 4,00, Patrick Pryor and Dominique Johnson were the selected ones during the Tomcats’ thrilling 74-66 victory over their archrivals from the West Side.

The history books will one day show Ryan Boatright torching his former middle school teammates for 41 points, or that Snoop Viser turned the tide with his four 3-pointers in collecting 16 points.

But it was Johnson, the Tomcats’ defensive stopper, and Pryor, recently permitted to play after academic issues, who turned the defensive screws on West High standout junior forward Juwan Starks.

The Blackhawks’ 18-point-a-night man was limited to two in the opening half as East High put its defensive focus on the slithery small forward with accompanying smooth jump shot.

“(Starks) is hands-down their best player and an all-stater in my book--and I do have a vote (on the coaches’ all-state team) and I’m going to vote for him,” East High coach Wendell Jeffries said. “It was a key to the game and we thought we had to do a good job on him.”

Jeffries noted that former head coach Scott Martens’ scouting report was pivotal to the Tomcats’ collective effort, which included incorporating man and zone defenses, in holding Starks to six points under his average.

Pryor not only was assigned to Starks on certain occasions, but the 6-foot-5 forward had four critical field goals while West High mounted several inevitable second-half comeback attempts.

The Tomcats knew from experience that no lead is safe in this peerless rivalry.
Not after blowing leads the past three years, including last year when the game was staged at Northern Illinois University before 7,000 fans.

“I just think their players, especially the seniors, wanted it more,” said Starks. “I was trying to help the younger guys understand the atmosphere of what an East-West game is like.”

West High seized an eight-point lead after one quarter, largely on the basis of its second-chance opportunities. But at critical times, the team unraveled under the Tomcats’ team-wide quickness and athleticism.

“We don’t have a very good court awareness,” West High coaching legend Gordie Kerkman said after the game. “I told them before the game that to combat this type of quickness you have to use a lot of fakes. I didn’t see too many fakes out there.”