West Aurora edges out East Aurora
It was a typical East Aurora-West Aurora boys basketball game Friday night for the series that played out at No. 221.
There was not a seat to be had at the historic gymnasium at East Aurora. But the 4,000 fans in attendance were glued to their seats until West Aurora junior Caleb Siler tipped in DaVion Cross' miss with less than six seconds to play.
East Aurora had a desperation shot at the buzzer, but its archrival emerged victorious with a 58-57 victory when the ball bounced innocuously off the backboard.
Cross' twin brother, DaQuan, gave West Aurora its first lead of the game since early in the first quarter with a putback with a few ticks less than a minute to play.
The Siler tip-in was the Blackhawks' second lead since Ben Young hit one of his four 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 16 points in giving West Aurora a 7-6 advantage midway through the first quarter.
"I was just counting for someone to tip it to me," said Siler, one of four West Aurora in double figures with 15 points. "I was ready to go up strong."
West Aurora (6-13, 3-3) stormed back from a 12-point deficit to earn the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory.
"It was special," West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said of his first game at the Tomcats' famed gym. "You feel the energy. Our guys persevered. We're playing with a lot of juniors and sophomores."
But West Aurora sophomore Cam Donatlan is no ordinary underclassman. Donatlan scored 10 of his 13 points in the final quarter to jump-start the Blackhawks' comeback win.
The 34-24 East Aurora lead at halftime shrunk by only a pair of points as West Aurora approached the fourth quarter. But Donatlan and Siler combined for 17 points in the final quarter for the Blackhawks.
DaQuan Cross' score off an offensive rebound gave West Aurora a 55-54 lead with 58 seconds remaining.
"It turned the momentum," DaQuan Cross said of the field goal. "It's a big win for us."
DaQuan Cross was the fourth player in double figures for the Blackhawks with 12 points.
East Aurora star guard Franklin Montgomery had a 3-point play as part of his game-high 20-point to give the Tomcats (6-13, 0-6) their final lead 31 seconds to play.
But Siler tipped-in DaVion Cross' miss to give West Aurora the victory.