West Aurora needed someone to step up.
With two key starters out and facing a hot team Friday night at South Elgin, the Blackhawks got big efforts from several players in a 55-42 Upstate Eight Valley victory.
Junior forward Damian Virgen scored a team-high 15 points for West Aurora (16-7, 6-1), while Jared Crutcher and DaVion Cross added 14 apiece.
It was the Blackhawks’ first full game without leading scorer Camron Donatlan. The junior point guard will be sidelined three to four weeks after spraining his right knee Jan. 28 at Batavia. West also missed Caleb Siler, who was ill.
“It was a lot of guys who were involved,” West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said. “We talked about making a team effort.”
The loss snapped a six-game win streak by South Elgin (14-7, 3-4). The Storm’s last loss, a 64-46 decision, was Jan. 13 at West Aurora as Donatlan poured in 31 points.
“We came out with intensity, winning six in a row,” South Elgin coach Brett Johnson said. “We were ready to play. I’m proud of the boys, how hard we played. Last time they just wiped the floor with us, and this time they didn’t.”
The Storm led 14-11 after the first quarter but trailed 24-22 at halftime.
“We moved the ball really well early on, we were patient for shots, we got some easy baskets,” Brett Johnson said.
West Aurora took control in the third quarter behind three long shots by Cross, who scored 11 points in the quarter, and a stifling defense.
“DaVion hit a lot of big 3s,” Brian Johnson said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
It was Cross’ first game starting at point guard this season, after starting there all last season. Donatlan offered Cross advice from the bench.
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“He was telling me I was open the whole time and once I’m open, just shoot it, because he said I was making good shots,” Cross said.
In the fourth quarter, the Blackhawks outscored South Elgin 18-10 as Virgen scored nine points.
Crutcher, who had two steals, four blocks and two deflected passes, added a steal and layup to start the fourth to put the Blackhawks up 39-32.
“It was just to keep putting our foot on the gas, getting good shots and playing smart,” Crutcher said.
Virgen’s consecutive layups in the last two minutes gave West Aurora a 49-38 advantage.
“Damian is naturally aggressive, so him stepping up and going at their zone defense is one of the things that he usually does,” Brian Johnson said.
Logan Atkins scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the third quarter for South Elgin.
“We were knocking down our shots in the first half,” Atkins said. “They just kept hitting, we started pressing and they got the momentum.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.