Although he is a senior, Joliet West’s Ryan Lipke was a newcomer on the Tigers’ varsity team this year. He spent the first three years of his high school career at Providence before transferring to West for his senior season.

So despite his experience with the Celtics, this season has been one of adjustment for Lipke as he has gotten to know and trust his teammates, and he has earned their trust as well with his play.

Case in point, Monday night’s 55-42 win over Southwest Prairie Conference East rival Plainfield South. Lipke had a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds, and he got the crowd on its feet early in the fourth quarter.

Aamir Shannon (10 points, 11 rebounds) had hit a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 38-25 lead to start the fourth, then he got a steal as the Cougars tried to get the ball up the court. Shannon sped toward the basket, but instead of laying the ball in, he bounced it off the backboard so that the trailing Lipke could grab it and slam it home, which he did to the delight of the Tiger faithful. This came on the heels of Lipke’s buzzer-beating dunk Tuesday night to give them the win against Oswego East.

“We’ve tried that lob before in practice,” Lipke said. “I was behind Aamir calling for him to throw it off the backboard. I don’t know if he heard me or not, but it came off the backboard and I went and got it. It was awesome. I loved it.

“I have been able to turn up my motor for the second half of the season. I’ve been pushing myself more. I think the biggest thing for us right now is that we had to believe that we could come together and be a good team. We are learning more and more to believe that. I think we can play even better than we are right now, but we have improved a lot since the start of the year.”

The last time the two teams played on Dec. 6, Joliet West (16-8, 10-2) came away with a 52-25 win. The Cougars (7-16, 3-9) made sure this one wasn’t nearly as one-sided.

Plainfield South got a pair of quick baskets from Isaiah Robertson to take a 4-2 lead, but West outscored the Cougars 9-2 the rest of the quarter to take an 11-6 lead into the second. Luke Grevengoed (12 points) had three points in the stretch.

The Tigers increased the lead to 19-8 midway through the second on a putback by Abrey Robinson (8 points). The Cougars answered with a 9-2 run of their own, capped by a 3-pointer from sophomore Ayden Foston (team-high 12 points), to pull to within 21-17 at halftime.

To start the third quarter, Plainfield South’s Khalil Truman (11 points) made three free throws to bring his team to within 21-20, but the Cougars never got any closer. West answered with a pair of Grevengoed free throws, followed by a dunk by Lipke to stretch the lead to 25-20. Late in the third, Truman made two more free throws to cut the lead to 31-27. Grevengoed and Kaden Brown (4 points) traded baskets before Deven Triplett scored at the buzzer to give West a 35-29 lead entering the fourth.

Lipke’s dunk off of Shannon’s backboard pass put the Tigers up 40-29. South’s Isaiah Sepulveda hit a 3-pointer before a Lipke putback, then Truman scored to get South to within 42-34. West them put it away with a 9-0 run, started by a 3-pointer from Robinson and capped by a pair of free throws by Lipke.

“We hung in there for three quarters,” South coach Jeff Howard said. “Last time we played them, they beat us by 27. This time, we had it down to one possession at times in the second half. That shows how much our kids have improved.

“We did have some mental mistakes that hurt us. Against a team that plays with the pressure that Joliet West does, it wears you out both physically and mentally. They came out and played hard for 32 minutes. We played well in spurts, but we didn’t have enough consistency. But, I am pleased with how far we have come.”

It might not have been their prettiest game, but the Tigers will certainly take the win.

“We got a win against a conference opponent,” West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “And we held them to 42 points. We shared the ball well and played great defense. We are going to lean into our defense, try to disrupt the other team’s offense, get in passing lanes and make every shot tough for them.

“Aamir Shannon is like our Swiss Army knife. He’s a big guard at 6-4, so he’s a tough matchup. If they try to guard him with little guys, he can post them up. If they try to guard him with a big guy, he’s quick enough to go around them.

“We have definitely gotten better since the start of the season, and that’s what we want. We want to be playing our best basketball in February and March.”