One and done. That’s the proven excitement of high school and college basketball postseason March Madness tournaments. Aurora University advanced last weekend to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division III 64-team tournament, won an exciting game at the buzzer, and ended the season in the round of 32 to Nebraska Wesleyan. Aurora’s Marcus Myers’ outside shot, left side, was in the air when the horn sounded against host Washington University in St. Louis. The ball glided through the hoop and net to break the tie and to provide for an 82-80 victory in the four-team regional. See page 12.
The high schools this week move through elevated exposure in sectional tournaments in the two biggest division, 4A and 3A. The 1A and 2A classes will go to State tournament play in Peoria Friday and Saturday. The 1A field was assembled without Aurora Christian which lost to Annawan, 63-54, in the sectional championship game at Ottawa Marquette High School. It was only Aurora Christian’s second defeat of the season.
Other high school teams include:
• West Aurora, which won the Plainfield South Regional (see scores below on this page) and prepared for a Wednesday Romeoville Sectional semifinal game against Lincoln-Way East, which won its first regional tournament championship in school history. West Aurora, 23-4, has played well and cohesively since Pontiac Holiday Tournament following Christmas. Senior (6-3, jumping guard) Camron Donatlan and (6-5 forward) Jared Crutcher, leading scorer and leading rebounder, are well known. Who are the unsung players? Damian Virgen, Ben Young, and Latrone Kirkwood, Jr. are three. “(Virgen, a 6-0 guard/forward) doesn’t get a ton of recognition for all that he does for our team,” West Aurora head coach Brian Johnson said earlier this week. “He is constantly guarding our opponents’ top guard. He is our third-leading scorer, as well. He has been a senior leader all year long. Young, (6-4 forward) is known as a three-point shooting threat, but it is unfair to limit him to just being a shooter. Ben is our best communicator on the floor, an outstanding defender in the paint, and his daily work ethic is a constant. Kirkwood (5-8 guard) is our first guard off the of the bench. When he is in the game he runs the point, which allows Traevon Brown (6-0 guard) to move off of the ball and become more of a scoring guard. Latrone is our top guard defender.”
Only Brown and Kirkwood, of the players listed above, are juniors. The rest are seniors. If West Aurora was to prevail in the Wednesday game it would play for the Romeoville Sectional championship Friday against Bolingbrook, which defeated Joliet Central, 94-91 in double overtime, Tuesday.
Coaches’ comments from teams which have bowed out of tournament play:
• East Aurora, lost its tournament opener to Yorkville, 46-37, according to first-year head coach Rick Robinson, “Made progress every game, just could not get over the hump and my expectation was to establish a program this year and lay the foundation for the future. I think we met that goal, in the classroom and on the playing floor.”
• Plano, “We had a very up and down season,” said head coach Kyle Kee, whose team finished with a 15-15 record following a 54-33 defeat to Kankakee in the Morris Regional championship game. “We played our best basketball at the end of the year….We started two sophomores.”
More Madness next week!