Boys basketball: Jeremy Fears Jr. takes over for Joliet West in win over Young

LISLE – If an opponent is going to find a way to beat Joliet West in a close game over the course of the rest of the season they are going to have to find a way to get the ball away from Jeremy Fears Jr.

And he’s probably not going to let that happen.

Fears Jr. took over the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his game-high 28 points in the final eight minutes in Joliet West’s 61-59 win over Whitney Young at the When the Sides Collide Shootout at Benet Academy on Saturday afternoon.

“It was just, you know, the confidence in my game,” Fears Jr. said. “I was just trying to make the best play and do whatever I can to win the game. And I know that my team trusted me and relied on me to make big plays, and to find them in positions to also be able to make a play. And I was just able to do that.”

Winding down from the last four minutes of the game, if Joliet West (17-5) possessed the basketball it was almost exclusively in Fears Jr.’s hands.

After Whitney Young (16-6) tied the game up at 49 at the 3:57 mark, Fears Jr. actively asserted himself. And on the next five Joliet West possessions, Fears either got to the free-throw line, scored on a driving lay-in or did both.

The Dolphins clearly knew what was coming, but they seemed powerless to stop it. And Fears was just riding the wave.

“It’s just a testament to who he is just his willingness to want to come home and play on this type of stage and prove I don’t need to be at a prep school,” Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “I belong at home, in my community, playing with my brother in these big moments. Everybody was here was here for a reason. And they were here to see him do that.”

Fears’ hammer grip on the basketball certainly had a lot to do with how Joliet West was able to secure the win. But the willingness to trust his teammates in one of the scant few moments he didn’t have his hands on the ball ultimately provided the play that effectively sealed the victory.

With just under 30 seconds to play leading 59-57, Joliet West came out of a timeout with just eight seconds left on the shot clock. Fears Jr. inbounded the ball to Matthew Moore who appeared to be on his way to handing the ball back to Fears Jr. Not surprisingly, both defenders, flashed to Fears Jr., and Moore then faked the handoff back to Fears Jr. and instead took a clear lane to the basket for a thunderous dunk and a 61-57 Joliet West lead.

“That play was originally for me to come get the handoff and for him to go slip screen and for me to go baseline,” Fears Jr. said. “But Matt made a great fake handoff and the lane was wide open and he just took off.”

Fears Jr. was an absolute terror in the first half, particularly in the second quarter where he netted 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers and a basket standard rattling dunk. That surge fueled Joliet West to a 34-23 halftime lead and a second quarter where the Tigers outscored the Dolphins 18-8.

But Whitney Young climbed back into the game, outscoring Joliet West 16-8 in the third quarter to turn the game into a back-and-forth affair in the fourth quarter. But despite watching its lead diminish, Whitney Young never claimed the lead, tying the game twice the last time at 51 with 3:11 left in the game.

Joliet West got scoring from just four players, with Justus McNair (17 points, 14 rebounds) and Jeremiah Fears (11 points) joining Fears Jr. in double-digit scoring.

McNair’s performance deservedly drew raves from his coach.

“The main thing we talked to Justice about is he’s caught up in his ability to score and not affecting the game through scoring. And what we explained to him was last year you were projected to be a Division I player because of your defense and your rebounding and then your floor spacing,” Kreiger said. “So once he got back to being true to who he was as a sophomore, it’s changed, two nights in a row. He’s rattled the rim. And that’s the type of athlete he is.”

Daniel Johnson led Whitney Young with 16 points.