Girls basketball: Joliet West rolls past Joliet Catholic for first win

JOLIET – Joliet West coach Breanna Blackmon has made it clear to senior point guard Christina Keoborakot that it is her responsibility to lead the Tigers this season.

Keoborakot embraces that role. She feels it’s one she has earned.

“It’s not a lot of pressure,” she said. “It’s more that I take a lot of pride in it because I worked so hard to get here. It’s not like it was just handed to me on a silver platter. I got here myself, and the fact that I get to keep it going, I really like it.”

Keoborakot helped Joliet West get going Friday night, scoring 10 of her game-high 15 points in the second half as the Tigers pulled away for a 65-44 win over Joliet Catholic in a WJOL Tournament pool-play game at Joliet Junior College.

Makayla Chism added 12 points and nine rebounds, Maziah Shelton finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Brooke Schwall pulled down 10 rebounds for the Tigers (1-2).

Sophomore Symone Holman led a young Joliet Catholic (0-3) team with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Abby Dulinsky scored 10 points, and senior Camryn Kinsella had 10 rebounds.

As far as Keoborakot goes, Blackmon saw her high expectations met.

“I lean on her for everything,” Blackmon said. “I learn on her for energy. I lean on her for the game plan. I lean on her to translate what I’m delivering on the X’s and O’s. To see her facilitate that made my heart feel pretty good.”

Joliet West took a 10-0 lead before Joliet Catholic battled back within 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. It was still a tight game at halftime, with the Tigers leading 29-23, before Keoborakot sparked Joliet West early in the third quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup.

“I‘m always trying to be aggressive,” Keoborakot said. “In the first half, I definitely had to find my groove, but once I found it, I was ready to get going. I’m glad I found it.”

She’s also glad the Tigers found the win column after a couple frustrating losses to start the season.

“It’s kind of like, ‘Finally,’ because I know our team is going to be good this year,” Keoborakot said. “We’re a force to be reckoned with, so the fact that we’re finally here, stepping on the gas and getting going, it’s really good.”

Chism, who had a big first half with eight points, was also key in defending Joliet Catholic inside and pulling down rebounds.

“It’s a really big relief,” Chism said. “We were 20-12 last year, so we’re usually a winning team. Going 0-2 at the beginning of the year gave us a fire to finish it out (Friday) and get the win.

“I know a lot of the Joliet Catholic girls. It’s just a friendly rivalry and that makes it even better to get the win against them.”

Tahira Henderson added nine points, and Ingrid Troha, who transferred from Joliet Catholic for her senior year, scored seven points for Joliet West.

Sophia Mihelich scored seven points for the Angels.

Chism is confident the Tigers have a team that is capable of another successful season.

“We have fire, we have intensity, our defense is always there,” Chism said. “We just have to play through all the quarters and finish off the game.”

Blackmon echoed some of those sentiments.

“I tell them all the time that it doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish,” Blackmon said. “We have to be game closers. I think offensively we got going. JCA is a really sound team, and they played really well fundamentally.

“We knew we had to stay organized and disciplined and stay focused on the target goal no matter what the score was. Our point guard did an amazing job being a floor general, and our shooters showed up.”