Illinois State football commit Brady Goken’s big game helps power Wheaton Warrenville South past Wheaton North

WHEATON – Brady Goken spent last fall as one of Luca Carbonaro’s top targets on the Wheaton Warrenville South football team.

That connection apparently carries over to basketball.

[ Photos: Wheaton North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South ]

Goken, a rugged 6-foot-4 senior forward and Illinois State football recruit at tight end, rarely roams far from the basket in basketball. He spent the majority of Friday’s crosstown game floating the baseline, making himself available behind a zone defense – sort of like a football tight end.

When he got his touches, he didn’t miss.

Goken scored a game-high 24 points, several of his baskets coming off Carbonaro assists.

Wheaton Warrenville South rode that effort, and a strong defense that held visiting Wheaton North without a made field goal in the third quarter, to a 58-41 win to sweep the DuKane Conference season series.

“I know my teammates trust me and I trust them. It’s a back and forth,” said Goken, who shot 11-for-12 from the floor, all layups, and also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out two assists. “We practice really well for that type of defense. What I did tonight, that’s what coach tells me to do and that’s what we do in practice.”

Carbonaro added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals and Zach Rogers eight points and three assists for WW South (19-7, 9-2). Cal MacKay scored 15 points and Henry Schlickman 10 for Wheaton North (11-14, 4-7).

Goken’s played in plenty of crosstown games across multiple sports, but the environment Friday was especially electric.

Not a seat was to be had in WW South’s gym, Wheaton North students in blue jammed on one side and WW South’s in white stuffed across the way. The lights went out as both teams took the floor.

“I’ve been in front of big crowds,” Goken said, “but this one was the biggest by far. It was fun.”

The two teams exchanged the lead four times in a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with the Tigers ahead 16-13.

But WW South’s defense locked in from late in the second quarter on. A Rogers basket with 3:28 left in the half gave the Tigers the lead for good, 21-19, and WW South held Wheaton North without a made field for a nearly 14-minute stretch bridging the end of the second quarter into the fourth quarter.

“It helps when they miss the open ones, but I thought our guys played well, did a lot of good things and did a lot of good things on the offensive end,” WW South coach Mike Healy said. “We limited turnovers, made good decisions and Goken was a stud and our other guys did a great job of getting him the basketball.”

Wheaton North struggled shooting as it was 3 of 16 from 3, but also missed its share of shots near the rim. And the Falcons also missed seven free throws, what Wheaton North coach Dave Brackmann noted is not the recipe for success in this particular place.

“They’re too good of a team to miss so many layups and free throws. That hurt us,” Brackmann said. “They have one of the best, if not the best player in the league [Carbonaro] but you can’t shoot yourself in the foot at this place. They don’t lose here often. Our inability to score dipped into our defensive intensity a little bit.”

Carbonaro, for his part, shot just 1 for 10 from distance, but helped set up Goken, including a baseball pass for a Goken layup late in the third quarter.

“Which we knew would happen,” Brackmann said. “That’s what [Goken] does, he hangs around the basket and guys find him. They’re a hard team to get stops against. Best player in the league makes everyone better.”

When Goken wasn’t finishing himself, me made a couple nifty passes to set up teammates for easier looks, like one to Sean Doherty to end the third quarter ahead 38-26.

“He did a great job finishing, and he did a great job rebounding,” Healy said. “He was outstanding tonight.”

And Goken is enjoying his last season playing basketball before going full-time football at ISU.

“I’ve been playing basketball since I was 4 years old, been with these same guys. I love the sport, love the competitiveness and the last few years have been great with coach Healy,” Goken said. “It’s always going to be a back and forth game with our rivals. We just needed to lock in on defense and it would lead to offense.”