So, how do you overshadow a coaching legend like West Aurora’s Gordie Kerkman on the night he gets his 800th career win?
Come off the bench and score 46 points while flirting with a state record for 3-pointers in a game. That’s what senior guard Marquis Howard did Friday, going 14-for-20 from beyond the arc to lead the Blackhawks to an 82-64 Upstate Eight Valley win over South Elgin.
“He had some kind of game,” said Kerkman, now 800-312 in his 39th season.
Kerkman then provided some insight into how he’s been able to reach that milestone — by going with the flow and showing a willingness to adapt to both his talent and the times.
“I have become a devotee of the three-point shot with these guys,” Kerkman said. “If it’s a good shot and the guy is a good three-point shooter, I’m really not concerned about it.”
Howard made four straight threes to open the game and was 5-for-7 in the first quarter to help stake the Blackhawks to a 21-15 lead.
That was after he and three other regulars — Matt Dunn, Roland Griffin and Camron Donatlan — rode the bench for the first 2:15 of the game. Kerkman was sending up to as many as nine of his players a message after they were absent from school for Thursday’s single-digit temperatures but showed up for practice later in the day.
Senior Tommy Koth (11 points) was the only regular on the floor when the game began, joined by first-time starters Jordan Pitts, Antwan Ahmed, Sam Kolb and Jalen Clark.
The Blackhawks (17-8, 9-4) trailed the Storm (9-19, 4-9) by a 4-1 margin when Koth was joined by the other starters and Howard began shredding the Storm’s 2-3 zone. West led 21-15 after one quarter.
He had two more threes in the second and the Blackhawks held a 39-36 lead at the break.
South Elgin junior Matty Smith, honored before the game for reaching the 1,000-point mark for his career, had 12 of his 15 points in the first half. Teammate Justin Howard, no relation to Marquis Howard, made four threes in the second half to finish with 12 points but West gradually pulled away. Anthony Lynch added 10 for the Storm.
Marquis Howard opened the third quarter with two quick threes, the second from 25 feet.
“If you catch it in rhythm and get shooting in rhythm you don’t even realize where you are,” he said.
He closed the third quarter with his fourth three for a 61-52 West lead entering the fourth. He added three more in the fourth before making the first of two baseline layups with 2:33 remaining. He left to a standing ovation with 1:00 left.
“I can’t even explain it right now,” an overwhelmed Howard said later.
Sycamore’s Andy Thomas holds the state record for threes in a game, going 16-for-29 against Geneva on Jan. 29, 1993, according to the Illinois High School Association website.
“Probably the last three he took we did not need because we were looking for layups,” Kerkman said of Howard. “But there was no question in his mind if he got the ball in the corner it was going up.
“As (former West Aurora coach John) McDougal used to say, ‘Never kick a bird in the butt when he’s singing,’ and he was singing.”
Twitter: @RickArmstrong28
