Nevaeh Wright leads Joliet Central to first win over Joliet West since 2019

JOLIET – It had been a while since Joliet Central won a girls basketball game against District 204 and Southwest Prairie Conference rival Joliet West. In fact, the last time the Steelmen beat the Tigers was in 2019.

On Monday, the two teams squared off in the SPC opener for both clubs, and Central picked up its first win of the season by holding off the Tigers, 54-51.

This was no fluke win. Central led virtually the entire game, except for a few second in the first quarter when West held a 2-0 lead until Central’s Elena Moody hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 6-2 lead that the Steelmen never relinquished.

It was thanks to a strong defense and a sound fundamental offensive that the Steelmen (1-4, 1-0) earned the win. Of course, it didn’t hurt to have junior point guard Nevaeh Wright running the show. Wright finished with a team-leading 22 points and six rebounds while also handling the ball against West’s pressure, distributing to teammates and not leaving the floor. Moody finished with 13 points, while freshman Melani Tua-Link scored seven and Alexis Bradley added six, including three free throws in the fourth quarter to help keep the Tigers (1-5, 0-1) at bay.

“This was a very fun win,” Wright said. “Very exciting. The game plan was to go out there and give 110%, whether you were on the court or off of it, everyone had a lot of energy tonight. The girls on the bench were supporting whoever was on the floor.

“It has been a while since we have beaten West, but we were confident that we could do it. We have been working hard, and it all starts with our defense. And Elena hit those big shots for us to get us ahead early. That gave us a lot of confidence, too. I hope we can keep building off of this.”

Wright scored four points in the first quarter to help her team take a 13-9 lead at the break. She added five more in the second quarter as the Steelmen took a 28-22 lead into halftime. Early in the third quarter, Wright went on a 6-0 run to move her team to its biggest lead of the night at 37-24 before West began to chip away.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since we beat West, but it has been a while,” Central coach Laura Brumfiel said. “We had a lot of energy tonight and the girls really wanted to win. Nevaeh did a great job. The whole team did a great job of protecting the ball late when we had the lead, but it’s nice to have a player like Nevaeh to take the ball in those situations. Elena Moody hit some big shots, and we know that she can do this every night. She just needs the confidence, and this should give her a good boost.

“Our defense played well. Joliet West has a great offense, and we got some big stops and rebounds when we needed them. We are so young, and it was nice to see us keep our composure and take care of the ball down the stretch.”

Central took a 43-36 lead into the fourth quarter, but West wasn’t about to go quietly. Makayla Chism (24 points, 18 rebounds) score 10 of her points in the fourth quarter. Her basket with 1:32 remaining pulled West to within 51-48, but Bradley made a free throw with 1:28 remaining, and Tua-Link added one at the 1:14 mark to make it 53-48. Chism made a free throw with just under a minute to play to make it 53-49 before Bradley iced it with a free throw with 21.4 remaining. Chism’s putback at the buzzer provided the final score.

“Give credit to Coach Brumfiel and her staff,” West coach Bre Blackmon said. “They had their kids prepared and they played well. We have some things we have to clean up, but we’ll get there.

“We are a young team with a lot of players new to varsity basketball. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. We are still learning to trust each other on the floor and figuring out who plays well together. We just need to trust the process and know that we are going to get better. I know we will.”