Caleb Siler was in the right place at the right time.
An obstructed view on his team’s bench Friday kept West Aurora coach Brian Johnson from seeing the junior forward’s game-winning shot, but the reaction from the near-capacity crowd at East Aurora’s Ernie Kivisto Gym told him everything he needed to know.
Siler grabbed his sixth rebound off a missed shot by DaVion Cross, who came up with a loose ball in a mad scramble just outside the lane. The 6-foot-3 Siler then scored with five seconds remaining to lift the Blackhawks to a 58-57 Upstate Eight Valley win over their crosstown rivals in their 221st meeting.
West Aurora (6-13, 3-3) now holds a 133-88 edge in the series with East Aurora (6-13, 0-6).
“Caleb was just outstanding. I wish I could have seen that last putback, but the referee was in the way,” Johnson said. “(Siler) had an excellent game. He’s been solid all year.”
Notorious for his sideline pacing, Johnson was confined to his seat from the middle of the second quarter after drawing a technical foul.
“I just made sure I put it in off the glass,” said Siler, one of four Blackhawks in double figures with 15 points. “It was great to turn (the score) back around.”
The Tomcats’ Franklin Montgomery had a long, desperation 3-point attempt that beat the final buzzer but was off the mark.
East Aurora trailed 7-6 midway through the first quarter but took the lead on a Montgomery layup and held it for the next 26:42.
Center Ron McBride scored 10 of his 14 points as the Tomcats built a 34-24 halftime lead.
“McBride was a stud,” Johnson said. “He was hard to guard.”
Sophomore Benjamin Young kept the Blackhawks in it. He made three 3-pointers in the first half, when he had 12 of his team-high 16 points.
“We just chipped away,” Johnson said. “We talked about winning the third quarter.”
West Aurora did just that, with a 14-12 edge, but still trailed 46-38 entering the fourth.
McBride took an inadvertent elbow to his glasses with 3:56 remaining, went to the bench for all but the final 1:15, and was limited after that.
“It pushed the lens into my (left) eye,” said McBride, who was unable to open his eye after the game because it was sensitive to light.
Montgomery, who did a tremendous job defensively on West Aurora scoring leader Camron Donatlan, tried to pick up the slack. But the Blackhawks defense intensified.
“With Ron out, we couldn’t run some of our sets,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery had 10 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, when the Tomcats were outscored 20-11 and committed eight turnovers. Six came on Blackhawk steals, three by Donatlan. He made all six of his fourth-quarter free throws and finished with 13 points after being held to one point in the first half.
DaQuan Cross (12 points) gave West its first lead since the first quarter at 55-54, when he scored on a putback with 1:00 remaining.
“East played great,” DaQuan Cross said. “I don’t like them, but I like playing against them.”
Montgomery answered with a driving layup, was fouled and made the free throw for a 57-56 lead, setting the stage for Siler.
“Franklin played very inspired,” East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said. “It was huge, losing Ron. Your sets and plays are a little different. We basically went with four guards — five really — and struggled to execute. And West Aurora kept coming.”
Twitter @RickArmstrong28
