Yorkville and West Aurora, two of the area’s most talented teams, had tumultuous seasons. Both flashed major potential while losing more games than expected.
That resulted in low seeds in the loaded Class 4A East Aurora Sectional and a playoff showdown that was expected to be one of the closest regional semifinals in the state.
But it wasn’t any of the talented seniors that made the difference in West Aurora’s 64-53 victory against the Foxes on Wednesday in Yorkville. Gabriel Gonzales, a 6-7 junior, scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while dueling in the post with 6-10 Illinois recruit Jason Jakstys, Yorkville’s best player.
“We really needed [Gonzales] to come up big tonight and stop Jason and that’s exactly what he did,” West Aurora guard CJ Savage said. “[Gonzales] fouled out for us and gave it everything he had.”
Jakstys had 13 points. The Foxes were undone by turnovers. West Aurora (21-10) led by four at halftime and took control with a 7-0 run to open the third quarter.
“[Gonzales] went toe-to-toe with [Jakstys],” Blackhawks coach Mike Fowler said. “You need someone to step up and be big and he did. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Fowler had a talk with Gonzales on the bus ride over to Yorkville.
“I told him he needed to focus on defense and rebounding,” Fowler said. “I didn’t think he was going to put up 17. But he was around the hoop getting dropoffs and scoring.”
The talk resonated with Gonzales.
“Something just clicked tonight and I was able to help my team win the game,” Gonzales said. “Coach was telling me that when he was in high school one year he averaged like four points and when the playoffs hit he went crazy and scored double-digits in like every game.”
Savage, the veteran point guard, stepped up late to seal the win. He scored eight of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
“It has been a frustrating season for us because we know how good we can be,” Savage said. “But we just need to stay connected now. This is the playoffs.”
Jordan Brooks added 20 points for West Aurora, which will face No. 1 seed Bolingbrook in the regional final on Friday in Yorkville.
“We made plays, locked in on defense and stuck to the game plan,” Fowler said. “We wanted to limit inside touches with [Jakstys].”
Senior Bryce Salek led the Foxes (18-12) with 14 points and senior Kaevian Johnson added nine.
Yorkville started the season in the preseason Super 25 for the first time in school history, but then battled through injuries and rarely featured a full lineup, especially early in the season.
