It’s not about wins and losses for Joliet West this year, according to coach Breanna Blackmon.

It’s about the lessons learned along the way.

So even if the Tigers’ 42-33 win over Romeoville on Thursday wasn’t the prettiest, it still was win No. 2.

“A win is a win,” Blackmon said. “We try not to focus too much this season on wins and losses. We keep our focus on wisdom and lessons while staying away from all the chatter and whatever narratives are out there.”

Again, it was far from clean. There were more total turnovers than shots made, the two teams combined to shoot 20% from the line, and the score was only 7-6 after one quarter.

All that matters for Joliet West (2-7) is the victory and stockpiling the wisdom and lessons Blackmon talked about.

“It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish,” Blackmon said. “We’re just focused on where Joliet West is going. We were a little shaky in the beginning tonight trying to get a conference win at home, but once we settled in the second half, we realized this is our win and did what we had to do.”

Like Joliet West, Romeoville (0-8) is focusing on wisdom and lessons as it seeks win No. 1.

“We came together and brought what we’ve been doing in practice into the game today,” senior Jada Thompson said. “We worked together tonight and stuck with what we said we were going to do. It played out where we played together. When we don’t play selfish, it works in our favor.”

While ultimately the stat line may not have been flattering, the game had an air of excitement nonetheless. It was a one-possession contest almost the entire time, was wide open until the end and saw both teams play with emotion and fire.

Romeoville stretched its lead to 10-6 on a 3-pointer by Aaliyah Adams, who led all scorers with 19, early in the second period.

Thompson later tied the game 10-10 with Temperance Jackson pushing the Tigers in front 13-12 on a free throw.

The Spartans moved back ahead on a putback by Shay Adebayo, but a 3 by Keniya Foster with 30 seconds left in the half put the Tigers up 16-15 at the midway point.

Joliet West stretched its advantage to 22-16 on another 3 by Foster early in the second, but an Adams 3-pointer tied the game at 23 midway through the third. Romeoville went on a 6-0 run from there, but Jackson’s late free throws brought Joliet West within 29-26 entering the fourth.

The final period was when Joliet West flipped things up. Foster knotted the game at 31 with 6:13 left to trigger a 9-0 run for the Tigers that lasted until two minutes remained.

Romeoville managed to break the run late, but two baskets in the closing moments gave Joliet West its final score.

Again, it’s a growing year for both programs. Romeoville coach Devon Friend says he just wants his young team to keep learning throughout the year.

“We have a very young team,” Friend said. “We have one senior, one junior, and the rest are all sophomores and freshmen. We have a nice foundation to build from. We’re trying to get everyone to buy into the culture, work hard and learn lessons each and every day.”