Boys basketball: Romeoville takes over in fourth quarter to top Joliet West

ROMEOVILLE – As the only senior on the Romeoville roster, guard TJ Lee knows he has to show his young teammates the way this season.

“We’ve been trying to get closer as a family,” Lee said. “I’ve had to step up and take a bigger role this year, being a leader as the only senior on the team. I’ve been growing into that role and I like it.

“I’m being a lot more vocal. I feel like everyone loves to play with me. I love to play with my teammates. It’s a family.”

Against rival Joliet West, Lee helped the Spartans close out an important Southwest Prairie Conference win Tuesday night, scoring 13 points as host Romeoville took control in the fourth quarter for a 61-54 victory.

Sophomore guard Mickeis Johnson had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead Romeoville (6-1, 3-0 SPC). Junior center Adam Walker added 11 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots, while junior guard DJ Porter contributed nine points and six rebounds.

Aamir Shannon finished with 12 points and six rebounds, Tristian Saunders scored 11 points and Zion Gross contributed 10 points for Joliet West (5-3, 2-1).

It was a frustrating night for Tigers star Justus McNair. The Valparaiso recruit did not make a shot from the field and scored eight points, all on free throws.

“We wanted to limit the dribble-drive for Justus,” Romeoville coach Marc Howard said. “He’s been eating everybody up. He’s a great player, a Division I player, and we just wanted to force him to take more jump shots, and I thought we had a good team defensive effort.”

Joliet West led 43-39 early in the fourth quarter and 47-46 with five minutes to go, but the Spartans took command down the stretch.

Lee and Johnson got the job done at the free-throw line, each going 4 for 4.

“That’s something we work on every day in practice, making those clutch free throws,” Lee said. “If we miss them, we have to run, so we make them.”

Lee scored on a drive to the basket to make it 59-52 with 1:32 to go and essentially seal the win.

Howard was proud to see Lee step up in the scoring department, but he’s become accustomed to seeing the senior do everything else well, too.

“TJ is a three-year varsity player,” Howard said. “He’s played in so many big games in his career at Romeoville. He knows what it’s like to be out here in those situations. He’s helping the youngsters, letting them know what to expect. Then he’s leading by example in games. He’s doing the little things that don’t show up in stats.

“It’s impressive to have a guy like that leading us into battle.”

The 6-foot-11 Walker was also a major difference-maker for the Spartans, especially on the defensive end. His biggest highlight came when he blocked a McNair layup late in the fourth quarter, sparking a huge roar from the Romeoville crowd.

“Adam changed the game for them,” Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “His ability to block the rim and affect shots and the motor he had, he was awesome.”

Kreiger hopes the Tigers can grow after a night when their star struggled and others stepped up to keep it close.

“As competitors, we don’t like to lose,” Kreiger said. “But in the grand scheme of things, it’s the seventh game of the year, and you learn from it. We hope that, through our failures and successes, we learn things that will carry us through the postseason.”

Johnson, meanwhile, is seeing all the pieces start to come together for Romeoville, which is integrating two impactful transfers into the lineup in Porter and guard EJ Mosley.

“They’re not a cancer to the team,” Johnson said. “They mesh right in. Everyone is building that chemistry and getting closer. I feel like, after this game, we’ve really built that strong bond.”