Thursday, for the first time in years, Joliet Central and Joliet West gathered their boys and girls basketball teams together for a single night doubleheader. With the West and Central boys wrestling teams occupying Joliet West’s gym, the Steelmen played host with the girls up first.

While the doubleheader was different from normal, the result was the same as it was both times last year.

Joliet Central got 18 points from Nevaeh Wright, 20 from Elliana Fowler and eight each from Elena Moody and Taneisha Robinson. The Steelmen dominated from the second quarter onward en route to a 79-36 win over the Tigers.

Joliet Central (11-10) came into the year with high expectations after a 15-17 season last year that included a postseason win. It’s been similarly up and down this season with a four-game win streak followed by a three-game losing streak and interchanging wins and losses since.

On Thursday, at home against their crosstown rival, though, the Steelmen were as up as they’ve been all season.

“We’ve been working on kids believing in themselves,” coach Laura Brumfiel said. “They need to believe that they belong on the floor so they can produce for us. That’s huge.”

The usual suspects of Wright and Fowler were in top form as expected. What was impressive, though, was Fowler’s resiliency. She was held without a point until 13 seconds remained in the opening period before exploding in the third quarter for 10. Malasia Chandler scored seven points in the first to help Wright keep the squad up.

“I feel like as I sat on the bench and talked to my coaches they were telling me to just take my time,” Fowler said. “I just had to not rush anything and then keep going.”

As for Joliet West, (3-16), the loss marked its sixth in a row and ninth in its last 10. As coach Breanna Blackmon has said throughout the year, though, the Tigers aren’t focused on wins and losses in 2025-26. They’re focused on “wisdoms and lessons.”

“It’s all about controlling your emotions,” Blackmon said. “Shoutout to Joliet Central for the confidence that they had on their home floor. They’re a great program with a great coaching staff, but we all know how it goes. They’ve got to play us again.”

The first quarter was competitive most of the time. While the Steelmen jumped out to a 7-2 lead, Jada Thompson was able to cut the deficit to 7-6 and later 11-9 with shots off the glass, the second coming with 1:19 to go in the period. The final 78 seconds were thrilling as both teams exchanged a flurry of baskets with Central leading 17-13.

From the second quarter, on, though, it was all Steelmen. They went on a 20-2 run the first four minutes of the second to seize total control. Thompson got it back to 20 with a late jumper, but Fowler hit a triple and a turnaround jumper to put Central up 45-23 at the midway point.

The Steelmen were even better in the third. They held Joliet West to six points, all on free throws as the Tigers couldn’t make a basket. Fowler scored 10 points in the first four minutes before resting much of the remainder of the game.

The edge was 65-29 at the end of three and the clock ran in the final period.

Joliet West was led by Thompson (14 points) and Keniya Foster (11).

The teams will face off once again on Tuesday at Joliet West with the Steelmen looking to make it four wins in a row over West.