Joliet West comes back to earn senior night victory over Plainfield East, clinch SWPC East crown

JOLIET – Friday night’s boys basketball contest between Joliet West and Plainfield East was always going to have special significance. It was senior night for the Tigers with Zion Gross, Nasir Sears, Tristian Saunders and Diego Salas being honored.

It was also an opportunity for the Tigers to officially clinch the Southwest Prairie Conference East Division title. Early on, though, it looked like the game was headed toward an upset.

If you were nervous after the first half, you clearly haven’t seen a lot of Joliet West games this year.

The Tigers overcame a slow start in which they trailed virtually the entire first half to dominate the Bengals in the second for an 80-55 win. The Tigers are now the SWPC East champs with one regular season game remaining.

“It feels great,” Salas said. “I feel so grateful for the opportunity to play with these teammates that I love. I’m just glad I got to live this moment (winning the division) and I can’t wait to see what we do next.”

Early on, it didn’t look like the Tigers would be feeling so good by the end of the game.

After the Tigers (19-9, 12-3) took a 5-2 lead, it was all Bengals for a stretch. A 3-pointer by Joshua Stone put Plainfield East up 14-6 midway through the period while the Bengal defense held Joliet West without a point for four minutes and without a field goal for five. The Tigers managed to cut their deficit to 20-15 by the end of the quarter.

Things remained in favor of Plainfield East (12-18, 7-8) for much of the second. A layup by Stone gave the bengals a 31-20 advantage with 5:09 to go before the Tigers began to fight back.

A contested jumper by Zion Gross pulled Joliet West back within three points and a pair of free throws by Aamir Shanon with 1.8 seconds to go until halftime brought West within one point. The Bengals led 34-33 at the intermission.

A layup by Mickeis Johnson tied the game early in the third before a free throw by Gross gave West a lead they’d never let up. Gross later hit back-to-back layups to give the Tigers a double-digit lead with two minutes left until the fourth. West outscored the Bengals 24-9 in the third, including a 3-pointer by Aamir Shannon with two seconds left in the quarter to hand West a 57-43 lead.

It was all Tigers in the fourth as well. A Johnson layup with six minutes to go extended the lead to 20 as the Tigers put the pedal to the metal.

“We just realized that we weren’t paying to our highest potential,” Shannon said. “We went into the locker room, came out, executed what we needed to and took off.”

The Tigers were led by Gross' 19 points, but in typical Joliet West fashion, it was a team effort. Johnson and Ethan Hillsman each scored 18, Shannon added 13 and Saunders had eight.

“We always talk about wanting to earn a conference and regional championship,” coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “I think more than anything, on senior night, we want them to step off the floor knowing they left it all on the floor. For Diego, Zion, Tristian, Nas and even our senior managers, this moment means so much.”

Stone led the Bengals with 14 points, Nan Atakorah-Yanzu added 12 and Kobe Jordan chipped in 10.

“We’ve been playing better,” coach Kanwer Sarkari said. “I’ve seen a lot of growth from our juniors and sophomores, but we’ve got to put together four quarters. That’s going to be important for us, especially when we match up with Benet in about two weeks or so (in the regional tournament).”

Both teams will play once more in the regular season with West visiting Plainfield Central on Tuesday and Plainfield East hosting Romeoville the same night.