Girls basketball: Joliet Central’s young guns take care of Plainfield Central

JOLIET – They may not be long on experience, but the Joliet Central Steelmen showed they have both a wealth of talent and the ability and willingness to work as a team Friday night in a 54-36 win over Southwest Prairie Conference rival Plainfield Central.

The Steelmen (4-7, 2-3 SPC) got contributions from up and down the roster, including a game-high 21 points from freshman Isabel Sanchez, which included five 3-pointers. Junior Aubrey Weems scored 12 points and had a game-high 16 rebounds. All four of her baskets in the second half came on offensive rebounds and putbacks. Sanchez added seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, freshman Navaeh Wright chipped in with nine points and four rebounds and junior Sakia Pruitte provided a big-time spark off the bench, using her quickness and ball-handling ability to deliver 10 points to go with four rebounds.

“We finally played to our potential,” Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said. “We are so young, and we knew it would take a while, but I think we are getting there.”

It didn’t take long for the Steelmen to assert themselves.

After Plainfield Central’s Aaliyah Frazier (team-high 15 points) scored off the opening tip, Joliet Central got a basket from freshman Elliana Fowler and a 3-pointer from Sanchez to take a lead they never relinquished. Plainfield Central’s Abigail Kearney hit a pair of free throws to make it 5-4, but that was as close as the Wildcats (4-6, 1-4) got the rest of the night.

Weems sandwiched a pair of baskets around a free throw by Plainfield Central’s Na’Kiyah Robertson before Sanchez drained her second 3-pointer of the quarter, and Wright followed with a triple of her own to make it 15-5 at the end of the first.

“It was all thanks to my teammates,” Sanchez said about her 3-point barrage. “They saw I was open and got the ball to me. It’s all about passing and finding the open person.

“We are starting to have very good chemistry between us, and it’s nice to get a big win like this. Maybe we can go on a run now.”

Pruitte entered the game in the second quarter, and suddenly the speed of the game turned up a couple of notches. She grabbed a rebound and went the length of the court for a basket, drawing a foul in the process and completing the three-point play. She then assisted on a bucket by Wright for a 20-5 Steelmen lead before the Wildcats got back-to-back baskets by Kearney (seven points) and Frazier. Pruitte then drove the lane for a basket to curb the Wildcat momentum a bit. However, three points by Robertson and a basket by Frazier cut the lead to 22-14 before Sanchez hit another 3-pointer to make it 25-14 en route to a 27-16 halftime lead for Joliet Central.

“Sakia Pruitte was a game-changer,” Brumfiel said. “She is so fast, and she plays with a lot of composure and control. She made a big difference when she came in.

“Also, Aubrey Weems boxed out very well tonight. She works so hard, and she really gets us going. We knew with Plainfield Central’s height that we had to box out well, and she was the leader for that. It was nice for us to get out that early lead, especially the way we did it. We were sharing the ball and playing as a team, making the extra pass. The girls played very well tonight.”

Plainfield Central stayed within shouting distance, outscoring Joliet Central 15-10 in the third quarter to make it 37-31 entering the fourth. However, Weems opened the fourth with another putback bucket and Wright scored in the lane to give the Steelmen a 10-point lead at 41-31. After a pair of free throws by Frazier, Sanchez sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers – each with an assist from Pruitte – around a Frazier trey to put the Steelmen ahead 47-36. Another Pruitte three-point play led a 7-0 run to end the game.

“We dug ourselves a big hole with a five-point first quarter,” Plainfield Central coach Armond Frazier said. “Kudos to them for making their 3-pointers, but we didn’t make it very hard on them by not closing out as well as we should have. Coming back from that far down is almost impossible when you aren’t making shots, and we weren’t making a lot of shots.

“Those 3-pointers are like dunks. They can be game-changers as far as momentum goes. We have to learn that basketball is a game of runs. The other team is going to make a run. We need to learn to withstand it and make a run of our own.”