Latest news with #DownersGroveSouthRegional
Chicago Tribune
01-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Despite changing roles, Kael Adkins enjoys the ride as a senior for West Aurora. ‘It's been a crazy roller coaster.'
West Aurora's Kael Adkins was well aware that all good things must come to an end. It didn't make this finish any easier to take, however. The 6-foot-5 senior guard earned an opportunity early this season that he wasn't expecting and then made the most of things despite changing roles for the Blackhawks. 'It's been a crazy roller coaster, certainly not like the year before,' Adkins said. 'My junior year, I watched the team play really good basketball but was at the back of the bench, the last to go in. 'Our season started off, and it was bad and good at the same time. I thought I'd be the sixth or seventh man, and I was one of the go-to guys with everybody out with injuries, grades and stuff.' Adkins proved he was ready again Friday night, scoring the first and last baskets for fifth-seeded West Aurora on 3-pointers and finishing with a team-high 15 points in a 52-45 loss to Downers Grove North in the Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional championship game. It was the first loss of 2025 for the Blackhawks (21-9) and snapped a 16-game winning streak that coincided with Jan. 4 return from injury by senior forward Terrence Smith, an Iowa football recruit. 'I thought Kael played well,' West Aurora coach Michael Fowler said. 'He's a good breed. He's fun to be around — fun to have in the program. He's always upbeat, and he came to play.' Fowler mixed and matched his lineup for the first two months and Adkins took advantage. 'He stuck with us and deserves it,' Fowler said. 'He shows up and comes to work. He understands what's going on. He came out ready to play. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough.' Smith scored 10 points and sophomore point guard Travis Brown added nine for West Aurora. Fourth-seeded Downers Grove North (25-8) advances to a 7 p.m. Tuesday semifinal in the Class 4A Benet Sectional against top-seeded Bolingbrook (27-4), which beat Oswego East 49-40. The Trojans gave West Aurora's offense trouble, clogging up the passing lanes with their length. Bobby Grganto, a 6-6 senior forward, was a force inside in scoring a game-high 20 points. Grgnato benefitted from the absence of senior center Gabe Gonzales, who was in foul trouble all game for West Aurora after picking up a pair in the first two minutes. Downers North pulled away in the third quarter, sparked by runs of 7-0 and 9-0. 'I just thought we had a stretch in the third quarter where it got away from us,' said Fowler, whose Blackhawks trailed 43-30 entering the fourth. 'Once that team gets ahead of you, they're gonna make you pay with their patience and make you work at the offensive end. They made us pay.' Adkins said those spurts took the Blackhawks out of their game. 'We were trying to force up threes,' he said. 'I definitely shot one I should have pump-faked on and driven. They were closing out hard on the threes. 'They went on their run and stalled the game out. We knew that's what they'd try to do and knew it was important to keep the lead. They hit a few tough shots in that third quarter.' Losing Gonzales for stretches also hurt, according to Adkins. 'They called a charge on him that I thought was a block,' Adkins said. 'We couldn't get Gabe and Terrence going in the high-low action we hoped to use.' Still, Adkins enjoyed the season and hopes to play next season somewhere in college. 'It was a great run, especially when Terrence came back,' Adkins said. 'I stopped worrying about scoring and tried to play more of the defensive, rebound, take care of the ball and pass it role. 'It was fun dousing coach with water in the locker room after several big wins. He'd have to get the mop out, but he loved it.' Originally Published: March 1, 2025 at 12:33 AM CST
Chicago Tribune
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
West Aurora's Travis Brown shares mentality of a point guard with his coach. The end result? ‘We just get the win.'
Safe to say, Travis Brown and coach Michael Fowler speak a language all their own. It's not completely foreign to his West Aurora teammates, but Brown and Fowler's common bond — point guard — gives them a special connection that continues to grow and pay dividends. Brown, a 6-foot sophomore, was named the Upstate Eight West's player of the year last week after leading the Blackhawks to the conference's division title. 'We have that point guard connection, the way that we talk to each other, the way we figure out stuff,' Brown said of Fowler. 'We can just put our minds in one, and we just get the win.' They came up with another one Wednesday night as Brown scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Blackhawks to a 54-47 win over the host Mustangs in a Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional semifinal. West Aurora (21-8), seeded fifth in the Benet Sectional, won its 16th straight game to advance to the 7 p.m. Friday regional final. Fourth-seeded Downers Grove North (24-8) beat Yorkville 51-38. How fun was that? 'Playoff basketball is really exciting,' Brown said. 'We've gotta play like it's our last game every game.' Senior forward Terrence Smith added 13 points with four dunks for West Aurora, while senior center Gabe Gonzales chipped in with eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Brown, who also had four rebounds, five assists and three steals, keyed a 12–0 run that broke a 10-10 tie in the second quarter. It helped the Blackhawks take control 27-14 at halftime. After Downers Grove South rallied to within six points in the final 90 seconds, West Aurora relied on some clutch free-throw shooting. Brown made 3 of 4 before fouling out with 16 seconds left. 'Sometimes, I wish he'd use his brain a little bit,' Fowler said. 'I told him we were gonna get the ball back with the lead, there's no need for that.' Brown also caught some grief for not getting out quickly enough on a 3-point shooter. 'That goes for everyone across the board,' Fowler said. 'We expect a lot out of them, defensive-wise. We can't lose people on defense. 'I will give a little leeway on offense because offense will come and go, but we can't be lackadaisical on defense.' Fowler was the starting point guard as a senior, averaging 7.7 points and 4.5 assists for West Aurora's Class AA state championship team in the 1999-2000 season. Brown entered the postseason averaging 13.8 points and 4.0 assists. 'We got off to a slow start, but he had a good second quarter,' Fowler said of Brown. 'Travis is someone who can just make plays, and sometimes, you gotta let him go and make plays.' Brown did just that with a spinning drive down the lane, sinking a floater that led to a 3-point play that capped West Aurora's spurt in the second quarter. He then dribbled out the clock before calmly letting fly a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key. 'That's Travis — tons of respect,' said Smith, the Iowa football recruit whose return from a knee injury coincides with a winning streak that dates to Jan. 4. 'He works on those moments a lot in practice. 'He went to his bag of moves on that drive, and that three, that's his shot. It was nothing new.' As for Smith's dunks, three came on lobs from Brown. 'Our connection is pretty tight,' Smith said. 'It took a little bit to get going, but after a while, we connected and it was up from there.' Just like the connection Fowler expects will continue with Brown. 'Our relationship is still growing,' Fowler said. 'Hopefully, he's like me on the floor as far as what I want done once he's a senior and moving on toward his college career.'
