After going through a rough stretch of games following the holiday break, senior guard Camron Donatlan needed a boost of confidence.
He got that and more Friday night against Bartlett, scoring a career-high 36 points for host West Aurora in a 67-59 Upstate Eight Valley victory.
“I had a week off from basketball and didn’t touch a ball in days,” Donatlan said of the break. “It was a little sluggish after vacation. My confidence is starting to build back up again.”
It was a dominant performance for Donatlan, but it wasn’t flawless. He took a few bad shots and committed a couple of turnovers, but made up for those miscues with his scoring, four steals and a blocked shot.
Donatlan scored 22 points in the second half as West Aurora (13-4, 5-0) won its fifth straight. Bartlett (10-8, 3-2) had its four-game winning streak snapped.
“It was knowing that I’m a senior and I’ve got to play a big role on my home court,” Donatlan said. “You can’t let opponents come in and try to take over. You have to take over as a senior.
“My teammates were giving me the ball and giving me open looks, and I was knocking them down.”
During a span from late in the second quarter to seven minutes remaining in the fourth, Donatlan scored 20 of his team’s 22 points as the Blackhawks moved ahead 49-44.
Donatlan’s free throw with 2:16 to play, combined by Traevon Brown’s pair of technical free throws also at 2:16 left, put West Aurora on top 60-51.
Brown and Jared Crutcher each scored 11 points for the Blackhawks. Tomas Vikonis led Bartlett with 30.
“You give him the ball it’s a bucket,” Brown said of Donatlan. “You can trust him to get you a bucket anytime. We have four, five, six forwards on our team, so if somebody is not showing up, we have the next person who steps up and that’s what he did.”
Making a few baskets early sparked Donatlan.
“Once he saw the ball go through the hoop on a couple of drives, he got that confidence as though no one could stop him,” West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said. “It was nice to get him back into the flow of things.
“He had been off a little bit since Christmas. He had some tough games. He was trying to make things happen for his teammates, and (Friday) he was able to take advantage of some mismatches, drive to the bucket and score when we needed it.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
