Joliet West falls short in loss to Curie

ROMEOVILLE – The Joliet West boys basketball team took its 10th loss of the season at the Romeoville Shootout on Saturday.

And despite that fact, after a 65-61 loss to Chicago Curie, odds are the list of teams volunteering to try to hand the Tigers future losses likely would be relatively short.

Joliet West (9-10) has played an absolute gauntlet of a schedule to this point of the season with an extremely young roster. In the past two matchups West lost in the game’s waning seconds to Oswego East, a 20-1 team, and Curie, a 17-2 team that is widely regarded as one of the state’s best.

The Tigers haven’t had that breakthrough win yet, but they certainly are getting close.

“Curie is Curie, they’ve earned it. They’ve won Pontiac, and they’ve won a state title,” Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “They have produced Division I athletes. They have the size that we lack, but what I’m proud of is the fight and resilience in our team to fight back and not get blown out by 20 like most suburban teams do when they play a CPS powerhouse.”

It looked like West might be on the verge of getting that signature win Saturday when Jeremiah Fears (13 points) gave the Tigers a 57-55 lead with 3:31 to play in the game.

But Curie had a significant advantage in low-post presence which made life in the paint difficult, particularly in the area of shot blocking. The Condors deflected or altered a number of Tigers shots down the stretch, and on several key possessions Joliet West came up empty.

“When we took the lead and took the momentum of the game they went back to their three quarter court 1-2-2 and the costly turnovers in those moments and those empty possessions that we ended up getting, that really hurt us,” Kreiger said.

During that pivotal juncture, Curie would rattle off the game’s next eight points to open up a 63-57 advantage with a little over two minutes to play.

Joliet West didn’t fold however and forced a pair of Condor turnovers to pull within 63-61 on a Toby Onyekonwu basket with 56 seconds to play in the game. But despite having an opportunity to tie or win the game on the final possession, the Tigers once again couldn’t find a way to avoid getting a shot blocked as Onyekonwu’s 3-point attempt in the final seconds was blocked by Carlos Harris.

Phoenix Bullock sealed the outcome by draining a pair of free throws with less than a second to play.

Joliet West's Toby Onyekonwu goes up for the shot against Curie. Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022 in Romeoville.

Onyekonwu led Joliet West with 20 points, playing in only his fourth game with the Tigers after being cleared to play after a transfer. He’s added a huge offensive spark, but the young Tigers still are in the process of figuring out how all the pieces fit.

“It’s more of us understanding as basketball players where we have to shift and move when a guy drives so we’re more available for a teammate,” Kreiger said. “Toby is a willing passer, it’s just more of a mindset when you are playing Curie: “Am I trying to go get it?”

Aaron Brown also made his presence felt for West, finishing with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first half allowing Joliet West to stay in the game.

“He’s grown so much in the last two and half weeks,” Kreiger said of Brown. “He went from a young man who was getting spot minutes to being a starter over the last four games. Everybody knows he’s an undersized post, but the value he brings for us is his athleticism and his ability to run the floor. I’m super proud of Aaron.”

Brother Rice 58, Romeoville 55

Romeoville faced a double-digit deficit midway through the first quarter and nearly made it all the way back.

The Spartans (9-9) did manage to draw within two points late in the game, but a potential game-tying or game-winning possession ended in a turnover and Nick Niego hit 1 of 2 free throws to secure the win for the Crusaders.

Troy Cicero led Romeoville with 21 points, and Kaharie Logan put together a strong game inside with 16 points.

Ahmad Henderson had 20 points for Brother Rice (16-2).