Boys basketball: Defense gets Joliet West going in rout of Plainfield South

JOLIET - A 6-foot-10 senior forward with three years of varsity experience is quite a luxury to have. Joliet West has just that in Drew King, who embraces his biggest role as a huge defensive presence inside.

When Plainfield South was getting some easy baskets at the rim early in Friday night’s game, King took it personally. He got to work on doing his thing and shutting down the Cougars the rest of the way.

“That’s my main purpose on the team, I feel like,” King said. “Everyone relies on me to help defensively. Whenever they get beat, I’m there and I can do whatever I can to alter the shot.”

On a night when things were not always clicking offensively, the host Tigers used their defense to pull away, turning a six-point halftime lead into a 63-35 rout in a Southwest Prairie Conference game.

“Drew’s a game changer for us,” Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “Anytime you have a serviceable big man down low that’s huge, and now add to that the fact that this is his third year of varsity experience. When you can put a lid on the rim and make offensive players second guess going to the basket, it changes the game for us.”

Valparaiso recruit Justus McNair led Joliet West (5-1, 2-0) with 19 points and six rebounds. King added 11 points and eight rebounds, Tristian Saunders scored eight points and Aamir Shannon chipped in seven points.

Jeremiah Huerta and Jeremiah LeSure scored seven points each for Plainfield South (2-5, 0-2), while Kareem Parker added six points and eight rebounds.

The Cougars hung tough early, trailing just 12-11 after one quarter and 22-16 at halftime.

McNair knew the best way for his team to take over was on the defensive end.

“I’ve got to lead, picking my team up, picking their energy up,” McNair said. “Energy’s contagious. Playing defense picks everybody up. Everybody gets hyped. The bench gets hyped. That turns into points.

“We had to find a way to find energy and bring up the defensive intensity because defense always makes a team go no matter what.”

The Tigers turned defensive stops into baskets on the other end and quickly pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Cougars 23-9.

“We always want to try to control the game defensively,” Kreiger said. “Right now, playing with the youth we have, we just want to understand the fundamentals of defense.

“Over the course of four quarters, we can wear our opponent down and stretch the game out through defense and getting in transition. Then we can continue to learn how to be a half court offensive team.”

Not only is McNair looking to be a scoring leader after taking a backseat to Jeremy and Jeremiah Fears last season, he is also transitioning to point guard.

“It’s a big role but I’m ready for it and I’m embracing it,” McNair said. “The coaches are teaching me well. It’s about doing everything - seeing the floor, calming the team down, taking control, making the right reads, kicking the ball out when there’s early help and pushing the ball down the floor when you have the opportunity to.”

King scored eight second-half points as the Tigers pulled away. That’s one part of his game that he feels can make a bigger impact this season.

“Last year and the year before, I was pretty much just a defensive presence, but now I can score a bit and spread the floor,” King said.

Although there are many new faces around he and McNair, King sees it all coming together.

“There’s a lot of potential on our team,” he said. “I feel like everybody can play and everybody has a purpose. That’s something we talk about is knowing your purpose and committing to that purpose. I’m liking what we’re doing so far.”