Boys basketball: McNair, Martin come up big for Joliet West in win over Yorkville

JOLIET — In the first three quarters of Joliet West’s 64-56 Southwest Prairie Conference win over Yorkville on Friday night, Jeremy Fears, Jr. and younger brother Jeremiah had combined for 15 points. That’s not normally a recipe for success for the Tigers.

However, Justus McNair scored 16 of his 17 points in the first three quarters, and Jayden Martin scored 10 of his 14 in the same time frame, helping the Tigers (16-5, 8-1) score enough to keep the pesky Foxes (18-4, 7-3) at bay.

“We call them our four J’s,” West coach Jeremy Kreiger said about the quartet. “Jeremy, Jeremiah, Justus and Jayden. If we can get good performance from at least three of those four, then we feel we will win the game.”

During the first half, it was McNair and Martin who took center stage rather than the Fears brothers. Martin played bigger than his 6-foot-2 frame would indicate and more than held his own against Yorkville’s 6-10 Jason Jakstys and 6-3 LeBaron Lee when he was called upon to guard them. In addition to frustrating the bigger Foxes on defense, Martin found himself open for shots with the Yorkville defense focused on the Fears brothers.

“We had watched film on Yorkville, and we saw that Justus and me could get some mismatches,” Martin said. “Jeremy and Jeremiah share the ball really well. They are very unselfish and if anyone’s open, they will find them.

“We always play as a team, and we did tonight.”

The second quarter belonged to McNair, who came out of the break hot and hit two straight 3-pointers to push West’s lead from 10-8 at the start of the quarter to 18-12 with 5:45 left until halftime.

Yorkville, though, battled back and gained a 23-22 lead on a pair of free throws by Jakstys, who finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

Then, the momentum shifted.

Jeremy Fears drove along the baseline, drew a pair of defenders and dished to McNair under the basket. Despite standing flat-footed when he received the pass, McNair jumped straight up, and kept rising until he dunked the ball home for a 24-23 West lead. A few seconds later, Fears stole a Yorkville pass at midcourt and went uncontested for another slam, bringing the crowd to its feet with 50 seconds left in the first half. Yorkville’s Dayvion Johnson scored on a short jumper before halftime, bringing the score to 26-25 in favor of the Tigers.

“I was hyped for that dunk,” McNair said. “I just got the ball and went up strong. It felt good to hit the 3′s, too. We were able to get some mismatches.

“Our pressure defense was good in the full court. We made some plays on defense and that led to some baskets in transition for us. That’s how we want to play.”

Martin and McNair combined for nine points in the third quarter, and Jeremy Fears began to assert himself as well. Fears, who finished with a game-high 24 points, hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the third to extend the lead to 41-30. Once again, Yorkville countered, scoring five straight points before Fears scored again before the end of the quarter.

“We stuck with them most of the way,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “Their pressure got to us early and we had to fight uphill most of the night. The problem is you use so much energy to get it close or tied that you don’t have enough to get over the hump.

“They are a good team and were able to stop our runs. We’re still a good team, we just have to get over this one and keep on going.”

Jeremy Fears gave Yorkville a quick glimpse of hope early in the fourth quarter when he missed the first of two free throws. After that, though, he made his next nine as he continuously drove to the hoop and drew fouls. After a few trips like that, he dished to Martin the corner, who put the seal on the victory with a 3-pointer.

“That one felt good,” Martin said. “I think I was 1 for 14 on 3′s my last few games, so it felt real good to have one go down.”