Breathe easy, Yorkville.
Jory Boley is, and that’s very good news for coach John Holakovsky
More Top Picks Best Blue Light Glasses For Gaming
and the Foxes, who appear to be getting back on track after a difficult start to a season that started with great expectations.Boley may downplay it, but the 6-foot-3 senior guard/forward was hospitalized for two days with an asthma attack and sidelined seven days in all.
“I’ve had it since I was little,” Boley said. “Every time it gets cold outside, my asthma may kick in. It wasn’t anything serious. I had to miss a couple of games to get back healthy.
“They just wanted to keep looking at me and make sure I was all good.”
He is now.
Boley started Tuesday night against Plano and drained a pullup jumper from the lane six minutes into the game. It was one of eight baskets the host Foxes made in a 19-0 run at the start that left little doubt about the outcome in a 63-38 nonconference victory.
Every starter had a basket in the spurt for Yorkville (6-5), while fellow seniors Jason Jakstys and Bryce Salek led the way with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Junior center Isaiah Martinez, who stands 6-10 like Jakstys, matched the Illinois recruit basket for basket and scored a game-high 17 points for Plano (5-7).
“This is my first time playing against him,” Jakstys said of Martinez. “He’s a pretty good ballplayer. I’m used to playing against tall guys on the AAU circuit.
“He’s a young guy, but he’s got a lot of potential.”
So too, as expected, do the Foxes, who struggled out of the gate with Jakstys and Salek missing time. They have won three straight games after starting the season 3-5.
“You can tell we’re the team we were over the summer,” Jakstys said. “What we had at the beginning was really a step back for us, but now, we’re back in the groove, healthy and strong.”
Getting the band — and that core trio of seniors — back together appears to be the spark Yorkville needed.
“It was definitely not the start we thought we’d have,” Boley said. “We’re just trying to get it back together.
“I think my role is kind of similar to last year — putting the ball in the basket, talking and also playing good defense.”
Boley, who grew up in Chicago, moved to Yorkville to start high school and attended Yorkville Christian his first two years before transferring last season and averaging 10.1 points for the Foxes.
“Before the season started, we always knew he had asthma,” Jakstys said. “He’s always had his inhaler, so we have always been aware of it.
“After the Thanksgiving tournament, coach told us Jory would be out. It was just a surprise.”
Boley said his father also had asthma before outgrowing it and his older sister also has it.
“It happens almost every winter,” he said. “It’s not real bad. You know when you wheeze when you’re sick? It’s like that. Sometimes, it’s hard to get air in, but I’ve had an inhaler my whole life it seems.”
Boley said he may use the inhaler before a game, and an assistant coach always has it available for him on the bench.
“It wasn’t exercise induced and apparently never has been,” Holakovsky said. “He came back the following Tuesday with limited minutes. You could tell he was feeling it and wasn’t himself. He just looked gassed.
More Top Picks Best Lighted Reading Glasses
“The following Friday he was a little bit better, and the last two games he’s been back to normal.”
Boley and senior guard Dayvion Johnson each scored eight points against Plano.
“He brings energy and offense for sure,” Holakovsky said. “Jory can score from three and he can go to the basketball. He’s a big scorer for us, and he and Bryce (Salek) can get downhill and create things for other guys.
“Having them be able to do that opens up other things for us. You can’t pay as much attention to Jason (Jakstys) if those guys are cutting to the basket and getting to the rim.”