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West Aurora knocks off East Aurora

As usual, there was not a seat to be had when the East Aurora boys basketball team took the floor Friday night at West Aurora in an Upstate Eight Conference Valley contest.

East Aurora was searching for its first win of the season, but in the 223rd meeting between the storied rivals the Tomcats left the Blackhawks' gym empty-handed.

West Aurora put on a clinic with its mid-range shooting to hand the Tomcats a 76-59 loss.

There are few basketball players in the area who can match the sheer athleticism of the Blackhawks' Cameron Donatlan.

The defending Class 3A track and field high jump state champion scored in a variety of manners - from pull-up jumpers, to twisting layups to two of the Blackhawks' three 3-pointers - to lead all scorers with 27 points.

The junior converted all 11 of his free-throw attempts as well in scoring 16 first-half points to give West Aurora a 39-28 lead at the break.

"My teammates were giving me the ball, and my shots were falling," Donatlan said. "We knew (the Tomcats) were going to come out in a little zone, so we were practicing our mid-range game."

Donatlan had a driving field goal late in the second quarter to extend the West Aurora lead to 35-24.

The Tomcats (0-7, 0-1) would never draw within single figures for the remainder of the contest.

In addition to Donatlan, West Aurora coach Brian Johnson marveled at the play of senior forward Caleb Siler.

Of the half-dozen buckets Silver converted during his 14-point night, each field goal came on a mid-range jump shot.

"That's his game, the mid-range game," Johnson said of Siler. "He was excellent today. He usually guards the other team's best player. He's one of those guys that every good team needs."

"I was feeling confident with my shot," Siler said. "I was working on a higher release."

"Mid-range is a lost art in this game," East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said. "In this day and age, if you throw out 10 basketballs on a court nine out of 10 kids are going to go past the 3-point line to shoot."

"We prefer the mid-range game to 3-pointers," Johnson said.

West Aurora (5-1, 1-0) welcomed back two-sport (football and track) all-stater DaQuan Cross.

The senior, continuing the game-long West Aurora trend, scored both field goals on mid-range baseline jumpers. He made his season debut after recovering from a football-related thumb injury.

"It's nice having (DaQuan) back," Johnson said.

East Aurora was led by sophomore standout Traevon Brown, who scored 19 points.

"I thought the kids played hard," Jeffries said. "It's hard to win on your opponent's home floor without your senior captain, Michael Stewart."

The senior suffered a knee injury of undetermined severity in the opening quarter.

Davonta Faulkner added 10 points for the Tomcats.

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