Seven combined players finishing in double figures?A freshman emerging from obscurity to nearly tip the scales for the road team?The schools’ student sections trying to one-up one another on a frigid Saturday afternoon?These ingredients essentially have one common denominator at a January boys basketball game in Aurora: yet another fabled encounter between two of the oldest high schools in thestate.

PONTIAC – West Aurora and St. Charles North exited the iconic Pontiac Holiday Tournament with identical fates on Thursday.The former mounted a spirited comeback against Oak Park-River Forest in the first fifth-place semifinal game, only to drop a heart-rendering 60-58 verdict.The North Stars, unlike the Blackhawks, led at halftime after doubling the second-quarter scoring against Joliet West but were eliminated from further competition with a 61-53 defeat.

The West Aurora hopes of containing the lethal shooters for New Trier unraveled in a hurry Wednesday afternoon at the famed Pontiac Holiday Tournament.The Blackhawks’ boys basketball team had their six-game winning streak unceremoniously snapped by the Trevians’ unstoppable efficiency from the perimeter.Three different New Trier players drained 3-pointers on consecutive first-quarter possessions, and West Aurora never recovered as the Trevians breezed to a 53-32 victory in the PHT quarterfinals.

The third consecutive 3-point jumper Josh Pickett drained to start the fourth quarter was truly a gift from the basketball gods.But the West Aurora emerging sophomore star was not about to relinquish its significance as the Blackhawks earned a sixth straight victory to open the Pontiac Holiday Tournament Tuesday morning.

Scouting Fox area boys basketball holiday tournaments

Here’s a look at the boys basketball season in the Southwest Prairie