West Aurora wins 40th regional title
West Aurora senior Jontrell Walker played his final game on his home court Friday night.
The Blackhawks' all-time leading scorer added 31 points to his total, and more importantly led his team to a 73-59 victory over Plainfield North in the Class 4A West Aurora regional championship game for the school's 40th regional crown.
"He is one heck of a ballplayer," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman told WBIG radio after winning his 23rd regional championship.
The Blackhawks advance to the Class 4A East Aurora sectional Wednesday night where they will play No. 6 seed Geneva (24-5), who rallied from 15 points down to beat No. 3 Bolingbrook (21-5). It's a rematch of last year's regional final at Wheaton Warrenville South that the Vikings led in the fourth quarter before West Aurora rallied.
Walker was the only starter in double figures for second-seeded West Aurora (24-4), who got 11 points off the bench from Myles Wisely and 6 from reserve Konner Jensen.
Trevor Stumpe kept Plainfield North in the game early with his 3-point shooting. He hit three consecutive 3s in the second quarter and finished with a team-high 21 points.
"You have to respect their drive and their shot," West Aurora guard Matt Dunn said on WBIG. "They are great shooters, and great drivers, quick. All practice, the only thing the White team does is kick it out for 3s. That was the key tonight to close out on the shooter."
No. 11 seed Plainfield North (21-8) traded the lead three times with the Blackhawks in the first quarter and were still tied at 14-14.
West Aurora the next 14 points for a 28-14 lead and were up by at least 7 points the rest of the game, including 40-29 at halftime and 55-37 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter West Aurora took 1:32 off the clock on one possession and also hit 12 of 16 free throws as the Blackhawks played smart with the lead.
"We've had big enough leads where we can hold the ball and make people chase us and the kids do a good job of it," Kerkman said.
The Blackhawks shot 56 percent form the field to 42 for Plainfield North and made 24 of 29 free throws.