Basketball: Joliet Central gets big win over Joliet West

JOLIET – Joliet Central versus Joliet West.

The boys basketball game always is meaningful, something more than just another game.

For Central on Friday night, it carried even more significance than usual.

The Steelmen broke open a tight game with a 9-0 run in the second quarter and never led by less than six points the rest of the way in posting a 67-54 Southwest Prairie Conference victory in the West fieldhouse.

“I love to play in this game, and that’s especially true after what happened the last couple years,” said Central senior guard Don Joachim, a force all over the court and the Steelmen’s scoring leader with 16 points before fouling out with late in the game. “It’s great to win this game senior year.”

“Coach [Lawrence Thompson Jr.] told us they had beaten us the last five meetings, and that’s part of what made this game thrilling for us,” Central senior forward Ryan Saunders said. “This game meant a lot. It’s a battle, it’s competitive. I like a battle.”

There were other elements involved as well for the Steelmen (15-3, 8-0). Not only did they keep pace with Romeoville in the fight for the SPC lead, they were coming off a 65-53 nonconference loss to Bolingbrook on Tuesday night in a game where they led 49-47 midway through the fourth quarter before falling victim to the Raiders’ 13-0 run.

And, they beat the rival Tigers (8-10, 4-4), whose bench included Thompson two seasons ago, when he served as an assistant for West coach Nick DiForti.

“This was a great win,” Thompson said. “This team [West] is well coached and has talent and quickness. We needed this kind of game at this time. We needed to see if we learned anything from the Bolingbrook game.”

The first quarter, as might be expected considering the rivalry, was a helter-skelter, break-neck eight minutes, if not an artistic success. The quarter ended with Central on top, 15-13.

Michael Smith, who led all scorers with 17 points, converted a steal into a layup to get the Tigers within 17-15 early in the second quarter. At that point, the Steelmen, with some reserve strength on the floor, turned up the heat. They forced nine of the Tigers’ 20 turnovers in the second quarter.

The 9-0 run that produced a 26-15 lead included a 3-pointer from reserve senior guard Deodotto McGaughy. He also hit a second three later in the quarter to expand Central’s lead to 29-17.

“He was excited. Making those threes was big for him,” Thompson said. “Our subs did a good job the whole game, especially after Don [Joachim] fouled out. It was a great team win.”

After trailing 33-20 at half, West battled back within 38-32 and 40-34 in the third quarter before falling back to a 45-36 deficit at the break. The Tigers got no closer than eight points in the fourth quarter.

“It’s mental now,” said DiForti, whose Tigers shot 33.3 percent on 15 of 45 and missed several attempts from under the basket. “Many of the layups we missed were uncontested, too.

“But the big thing from tonight was we played with a lot of heart in the second half. Twenty turnovers, that hurt us, but we were able to turn them over, too [the Steelmen committed 18 turnovers]. The big difference is they were able to convert many of the turnovers they created into points.”

Central shot .522 from the floor on 24 of 46 and scored 17 of their 19 two-point baskets from inside the paint thanks to converting turnovers, some good passing and some offensive rebounding.

“We did a decent job in our half-court defense,” DiForti said. “We could have buried ourselves at the half and we didn’t do that. The score was actually closer than it seemed at the end.”

Jayveon Owens joined Smith in double figures for West with 12 points and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, helping the Tigers to a 30-30 draw on the boards. Jamonte Benton chipped in eight points and Trent Howland added six.

Central was balanced as Saunders followed Joachim with 11 points, Johnny Fuller had 10 and Cameron Carter and Cameron Blackmon both scored eight. Saunders and Fuller topped Steelmen rebounders with six apiece.