Jayden Riley scores 1,000th career point at Yorkville Christian, gets 34 in win over Marquette

YORKVILLE – Jayden Riley was toasted with a short postgame ceremony, and carried out of the gym a sign commemorating his moment.

True to form, though, he dished out the names of others on his night.

The junior point guard on Tuesday became the fifth Yorkville Christian player to score 1,000 career points, part of a 34-point game in the Mustangs' 79-54 win over visiting Marquette.

Riley, in his second season at Yorkville Christian, reached 1,000 there with a short turnaround jumper in the lane late in the third quarter.

“It’s kind of crazy, especially that I had it in two years,” Riley said. “I’m in the conversation with guys like Jaden Schutt, Noah Lewis, a lot of people don’t know, first person here to score 1,000, and then Christian Sovern. Pretty cool to be in the conversation.”

Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern has coached some good ones – notably Schutt, whose 2022 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year poster is prominent in the gym.

Sovern, though, believes Riley is overlooked in the conversation for Illinois' elite players.

Riley entered Tuesday averaging 22.8 points and 7.6 assists per game, and had five points and an assist in the Mustangs' 14-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters that blew open what was a nine-point game.

“He’s under the radar, absolutely,” Sovern said. “I think he’s the best point guard in Illinois, top player, certainly top 10. I know I’m biased but I see him every day and the little things he does.

“He does plenty of flash but it’s the little things, the stuff that doesn’t get you excited. His ability to read defenses is so undervalued and he does that amazingly, and he can score.”

Riley added five assists, six rebounds and two steals in the win for Yorkville Christian (7-3). Tray Alford scored 19 points and Zach Marini 17. Alec Novotney and Griffin Dobberstein each scored 16 for Marquette (4-6).

Riley, it seems, can get to the basket whenever he wants to, and his three 3-pointers in the second half Tuesday indicate a developing perimeter game to make defenders honest.

But he doesn’t hunt his shot, and prides himself most on his passing. In the first half Tuesday he passed up an open look at the basket to whistle a pass out to Alford for an open three. Next trip, Riley delivered a gorgeous lookaway to 6-foot-6 Noah Aguado for a dunk.

“It’s a lost art being a true point guard,” Riley said. “A lot of coaches they look for someone who can pass the ball first. You need something to separate you from somebody else. I feel like my vision is different.”

Sovern knows it. Riley, who was 15-for-20 shooting Tuesday, set a program record with 18 assists in a game earlier this season.

“He’s always looking to pass and that’s something we don’t take for granted,” Sovern said. “Our shooters understand that, and our big kid understands that. He’ll look to score when he has to, he’ll probe and he’s looking for the pass when he’s probing.”

Marquette went zone to slow down Yorkville Christian, and did hold the Mustangs to 4 for 20 from three in the first half to trail 33-28 at half.

But there was no answer for Riley, who scored 22 of his 34 in the second half and didn’t miss a shot.

“They wore us out, they spread you out and they have three good shooters on the court – and the point guard is as good as advertised,“ Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. ”He is really good and is very unselfish and he can shoot it."

It got away from his club late, but Hopkins likes where the Crusaders are headed.

“We didn’t play scared or tentative. I feel like we are growing as a club,” Hopkins said. “If we can play with that tenacity and clean up a few things we’ll be just fine.”

Sovern feels the same way, with greater depth, four players averaging in double figures and a sophomore in Alford who’s made huge strides. And the Mustangs have an ace in the hole they didn’t have last year in Aguado, who had 12 rebounds Tuesday.

The Mustangs, seeded sixth in the Plano Christmas Classic, open with Hinckley-Big Rock.

“I like where we’re headed. We’re not there yet,” Sovern said. “Normally we are playing our worst basketball going into Plano. I feel different about this team.”