Junior guard Kenneth Cooley has been listening to his coaches in what might best be described as an elevator ride of a season for East Aurora.
Five straight losses to open, followed by six straight wins, set the early tone for the Tomcats.
Ever since?
They win some. They lose some. Play very well, then struggle mightily.
“It’s like coach said, we take our steps forward and then back the next week,” Cooley said. “And that’s the problem.”
The Tomcats capped another up-and-down week Saturday with a deflating 68-54 loss at home to Naperville North that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicates.
It came in the Ernie Kivisto Hoopsfest, with East Aurora (11-13) trailing by as many as 35 points midway through the third quarter before slicing it down to the final margin.
Luke Williams, a 6-foot junior guard with 15 Division I football scholarship offers as a wide receiver/defensive back, was the primary antagonist in scoring 33 points for the Huskies (15-9).
“He can ball,” Cooley said.
East Aurora coach Rick Robinson, who attends the same church as Williams’ family, was impressed.
“He played the game how it was supposed to be played,” Robinson said. “He didn’t force any shots and is just out there playing. Evidently, we had no answer for him.
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“I thought we were ready for that 1-3-1 (zone) and it was just the opposite.”
Earlier in the week, East Aurora couldn’t hold a 15-point lead in a 74-66 loss at Bartlett but bounced back with a 71-67 win over Glenbard South.
Senior guard Ralph Clark, the team’s second leading scorer, missed all three games after having surgery to place a screw in a broken metacarpal bone in his shooting hand.
He had tried to play through it, scoring 11 points three weeks earlier in the high point of East Aurora’s season — an 82-80 win over West Aurora.
“We miss Ralph something terrible,” Robinson said. “Ralph has been kind of the glue that held us together for a while there. He’s been with the program, came up through the youth program and knows our style. He also shows leadership when he’s out there.”
Clark hopes to return. For now, it’s a change in role for Cooley.
“Ralph was one of our main scorers, and I have to step up and try to take his role,” Cooley said. “It’s really next man up, that’s all it is. Step up to be what they left, that’s the expression.”
The 5-foot-11 Cooley, who had 11 points against Naperville North, has shown flashes. He scored 19 points in an early season loss to Metea Valley and added 17 at Bartlett.
“He’s definitely stepping into that role of scoring more, but he just has to shoot more,” Clark said of Cooley. “He likes to pass, but he should get more shots up.”
Cooley, who has started all season, likes to play off the ball. He has also been learning the finer points and nuances of his point guard position.
“Kenneth is not a true point guard, but I have my assistants working with him on a constant basis,” Robinson said. “He’s played it a lot, but to understand it, you have to understand time and possession and be able to go different speeds, change of directions, things like that.
“He’s getting it, but it’s not there yet.”
Robinson believes Cooley will get it, pointing to the five interceptions in football last fall that helped him earn all-conference and all-area recognition.
“He’s got heart,” Robinson said. “Watch him on the football field. He understands reads, knows where to go and goes up high and gets (the ball).”
Cooley knows the drill.
“I always have work to do,” he said. “I feel like I can do better off the ball, but this is the role and you’ve got to take it and go with it.”