Niallie Evans is the more the exception than the rule this season for West Aurora.
The Blackhawks didn’t have a lot of experience coming in, but they did have one advantage. The one position on the court where they did have experience was point guard.
That’s Evans, to be specific, and West Aurora looks to their senior during tough times, which the host Blackhawks were facing at halftime Thursday night against Oswego.
“I knew I had to come out in the second half and be more aggressive,” Evans said. “I knew in the first half I wasn’t really applying that.”
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Consider it done. Evans quickly scored the first two baskets of the third quarter to tie the game and West Aurora never looked back for a 44-32 Southwest Prairie Conference victory.
Evans scored a game-high 14 points with nine rebounds for the Blackhawks (1-5, 1-1). Brooklynn Johnson added eight points. Harmony Rush had seven points and nine rebounds.
Oswego (1-7, 0-2) was led by 11 points from Ahlivia East, while Kendall Grant chipped in with eight.
West Aurora coach Teresa Waldinger, who knows her team looks to Evans for guidance, was happy with how Evans took control of the game in the third quarter.
“Being a little bit of a leader and taking ownership, we had a little chat at halftime,” Waldinger said. “That lit that fire.”
Without getting into too many specific details, Evans confirmed that halftime featured some fireworks in the locker room.
“We got screamed at,” Evans said. “We kind of needed that to get more pumped up. We knew we had to be more aggressive because they came out aggressive and we didn’t.
“That’s what brought us back into the game.”
Evans wasted little time.
With West Aurora trailing 20-16 at halftime, Evans scored on the first possession. After a defensive rebound, she raced down the court and scored again to force a tie. It started an 18-4 spurt that lasted deep into the fourth quarter and opened up a 13-point lead.
“I felt like I set the tone for that, and once I did that, the rest of the team fell in line,” Evans said. “After (the first two baskets) we were tied, and I just knew we had the game.”
Looking for its first conference win in two seasons, Oswego came out strong.
East scored eight straight points to end the first quarter and Kaelyn Stager hit a 3-pointer to start the second, giving the Panthers a 16-11 lead. From that moment to the 2:46 mark of the fourth, however, Oswego only scored seven points.
“We cannot put a full game together,” Oswego coach Dave Lay said. “I think part of it is being young. We are frustrated right now. We had a pretty solid first half. We came out flat in the third quarter.
“I don’t know what it is. We started losing our composure and things went sideways.”
Having a veteran point guard like Evans allowed West Aurora to take advantage of that as she guided the comeback.
“She’s always been a very quiet leader and she’s always had somebody else that could do the scoring like Aspen (Weeks),” Waldinger said. “We knew coming into this year she really had to step up, and she’s really focused on that.”
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Despite only shooting 6 of 17, Evans remained focused on making winning plays as the Blackhawks earned their first victory of the season.
She also had a late steal, rebound and free throw to help seal the win.
“Just don’t stop shooting,” Evans said. “Even though I didn’t shoot well, I still came out with 14 points. I didn’t lower my confidence or get discouraged with the shots I missed.
“I just felt like we needed the first win. We were really hungry for this.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.