This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Wheaton South Perimeter Assault Dooms West Hoops

Wheaton Warrenville South converted an astonishing 16 3-point field goals to race past West Aurora 76-59 Wednesday night at the Blackhawks' Class 4A boys basketball regional.

West Aurora was not prepared for the barrage of 3-pointers Wheaton Warrenville South drained Wednesday night.
Meeting for the second time in a week, in the semifinals of the Blackhawks’ Class 4A boys basketball regional semifinals, the Tigers’ Travis Kern and Riley O’Toole combined for an astonishing 15 3-pointers to lead WW South over West High 76-59.
“It was demoralizing,” said West High senior post Kyle Pilmer, who had six points and three blocks in his final game at the school. “They just couldn’t miss. They’re usually a slow-tempo team. They were really pushing the ball, and nothing was falling for us.”
Juwan Starks offered early evidence West High could reverse its two regular-season losses to the Tigers.
The junior forward scored the first nine points for West High, taking his team to a 13-10 lead after the opening quarter.
The Blackhawks’ standout was aggressively pursuing his shot against the Tigers’ defense. But Starks’ shot selection did not always please coach Gordie Kerkman.
“Too aggressive,” Kerkman said of Starks’ approach to begin the game. “There were times when I thought he took it too hard when he should have passed for a better shot.”
But Starks continued his hot play in the second quarter, draining his second 3-pointer and a jumper from the free-throw line.
Unfortunately for West High, O’Toole and Kern hit 3-pointers on six second-quarter possessions to take the team to a 30-23 lead at the break.
O’Toole, an Illinois football recruit, then personally closed the season on West High in the third quarter, scoring 13 points in the frame.
As if he were not hot enough, Kern connected on three more 3-point bombs as part of his 24-point night.
O’Toole would ultimately finish with a season-high 31 points for Wheaton/Warrenville South.
But there were bright spots for the Blackhawks in the second half.
Kenny Battle Jr., the son of the Blackhawks great, came off the bench to score 16 points for West.
The junior guard slithered inside on several nifty drives, and Starks, who led the team with 23 points, had a big fourth quarter after missing much of the third with an aggravated knee injury.
Other than Starks, though, the other four starters struggled for West.
Tommy Goulding, Brandon Hayes and Jonathan Dennison, all playing in their final game for West, were limited to two points each.
“We didn’t follow the game-plan (offensively),” said Kerkman. “I thought we could have executed better.”
It marked the fifth straight year West failed to win a regional, after a stretch of 11 titles in a 12-year span from 1994 to 2006.
The five Elite Eight appearances during the run were highlighted by the 2000 Class AA state championship team and a runner-up finish three years earlier.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?