For most of three quarters, Bruce Grissette supressed the urge to shoot, and for all his willpower, East Aurora was still behind rival West Aurora.
The 6-foot-2-inch senior forward scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half, including 3 for 3 on three-pointers, as East`s Tomcats came back for a 62-56 victory at home.
”Once the game started, coach (Scott Martens) told us to look for layups,” said Grissette, whose 14 points were second to teammate Warren Brookson`s game-high 22. ”I just concentrated on defense and rebounding. After my first three-pointer, coach said we needed to step up, and I took it upon myself to do that.”
The electricity of the usual East-West game was lacking. East`s 5-2 record and West`s 3-5 mark going in didn`t draw the typical crowd in the 184th meeting between the rivals.
Of course, in an East-West game, all records are moot. It was a good thing because in the first half it was hard to tell the 5-2 team from the 3-5 team. The only Tomcats who looked like they had any spark were Brookson and Martens, and West took a 27-22 lead at the half.
East fought back to a 43-41 lead after three quarters before Grissette got hot. He hit a three-pointer with just 4 seconds gone in the final quarter, followed by a rebound basket a minute later and then another three. Eight points in 90 seconds gave East a 51-41 lead, and the Tomcats led thereafter.
”Bruce was pretty awesome in the second half,” said Martens, pleased the way his team came back after a Tuesday loss to Larkin. ”We have to tell him not to shoot most of the time.
”The one to start the fourth quarter was just his shot. We had two out-of-bounds plays set up for him, and he hit both of them. He`s one of the conference leaders in three-pointers.”
East, which trailed early and late in the first quarter, fell behind 27-20 with 1:52 left in the half. West, after sputtering briefly in the first quarter, had little trouble breaking the Tomcat press. Clark Burnett led West with six of his eight first-half points in the second quarter as West took command.
Brookson kept East in the contest with 13 first-half points. The 6-4 center had nine of the 12 East points in the first quarter, but the Tomcats`
12-7 advantage turned into a 13-12 deficit when West scored six straight points in the last 1:19 of the quarter.
West, with Damon Burrell scoring 14 and Rich Janas adding 11, fell behind 36-34 on Grissette`s first three-pointer midway in the third quarter. The Blackhawks came back to regain the lead in the last minute, only to lose it on a three-point play by Booker McKinney with :29 left in the quarter. Then Grissette took over.
”We were aware 44 (Grissette) could shoot,” said West coach Gordy Kerkman. ”When we scouted him, he was a little reluctant to shoot. He was hesitant tonight until he hit three in a row. That was a big part of the ballgame.”
