West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman warned his team about not looking past Naperville Central on Friday night in anticipation of their heralded Saturday night matchup against defending Class AA state champion Peoria Central.
Mission accomplished. The No. 3 Blackhawks put together one of their most impressive performances of the season, pounding the visiting Redhawks 66-41.
“You have to play an almost perfect game to beat them, or just to stay close,” Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said.
West Aurora senior guard Justin Cerasoli dominated early, scoring 11 first-half points to push the Blackhawks to a dominating 30-13 halftime edge.
West Aurora (23-1, 13-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference) had 13 offensive rebounds in the opening half.
“We said we had to shoot well and limit their offensive rebounds,” Kramer said. “We didn’t do either, and they were just a step quicker.”
The win was the Blackhawks’ 40th straight in consecutive.
In the third quarter Blackhawks senior center Shaun Pruitt and senior guard Jaeh Thomas put the game emphatically out of reach. The two keyed a 15-2 run in the first three minutes, opening a commanding 45-15 margin.
Pruitt scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter. “We didn’t talk that much before the game about the Peoria Central game,” Pruitt said. “It was in our minds that we needed to win this game, to give us the confidence going into the Saturday night game.”
Thomas scored all nine of his points in the third quarter. He also added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Pruitt, Cerasoli and Thomas sat out the entire fourth quarter.
Kerkman also credited Cerasoli’s defense on Naperville standout junior guard Kyle Julius, who entered the game averaging 22 points. Cerasoli limited him to seven.
