By Randy Whalen

The Joliet West boys'. basketball team is used to winning.

The Tigers have won either the outright title or the East Division championship of the Southwest Prairie Conference since the 2019-20 season.

So, when they dropped the opening SPC game of the season last week, it wasn't a usual result.

"We're not used to losing the first game in the conference," Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. "We have to value the basketball, and we haven't done that."

Kreiger mentioned that Joliet West averaged 21 turnovers through its first five games. In the SPC opener, on Tuesday, December 2, the Tigers lost to visiting Yorkville 55-43, they had 20 turnovers and had one lead. That was 2-0 

The Foxes (3-1, 1-1), who lost 51-48 at Minooka three days later, scored the next 10 points and led the rest of the way, including 14-9 after the first quarter. Joliet West closed within 16-13 with 5:49 left in the second quarter but couldn't get closer.  

Ahead 21-17 midway through the second quarter, Yorkville closed the half with a 7-4 spurt for a 28-21 halftime lead. A 13-1 run closed the third quarter as the Foxes led 43-24 after three and coasted to the big road win. 

"That's a very well-coached team," Kreiger said of Yorkville. "They had started 2-0 and, are a sound team and extended the court on us."

Plainfield South was paced by sophomore forward Braydon Porter, who had 9 of his game-high 16 points in the first half and he added 5 rebounds. Senior guard Gabe Sanders scored 12 points, while senior forward Nathan Kuban contributed 9 points and 11 rebounds. 

Deven Triplett led Joliet West with 13 points, 9 of those in the second half. In his second full game back, fellow senior guard Aamir Shannon scored 7 points. Senior guard Luke Grevengoed added 6 points, and in his first full game back from a rolled ankle, senior forward Ryan Lipke added 5 points and 6 rebounds.

Joliet West had opened the season by splitting four games at the Bill VandeMerkt Thanksgiving Classic at Riverside-Brookfield. The Tigers opened on Monday, November 24, with a 63-35 win over Zion-Benton. Two days later, they lost to Thornwood 71-43. The Thunderbirds (7-0) won the tournament.

On Friday, November 28, Joliet Wast lost to a very good Brother Rice (4-1) team by a score of 53-45. The next day, the Tigers closed out the tourney with a 47-36 win over Hinsdale South. 

Grevengoed was named to the All-Tournament team. 

"Luke had a nice tournament and has been on varsity since he was a sophomore," Kreiger said. "But he missed much of his first two seasons with a dislocated knee and a broken leg. So, we are glad he's healthy this season."

But the result was much better for the Tigers later. last week. They traveled down the road on Friday, December 5 and had a nice defensive effort in a 52-25 victory over Plainfield South. Triplett led the way with 19 points as the team improved to 3-3 and 1-1 in the league.

"The big difference was focusing on forcing turnovers and getting rebounds," Triplett told the Joliet Herald News after the game. "We’re trusting the work and not worrying about the statistics or write-ups or any of that."

The Cougars led 5-3 midway through the first quarter, as the two teams combined for more turnovers (5) than made shots (2). But a steal and score by junior guard Elijah Wilson finished off a 10-2 run to close the quarter and Joliet West led 18-10 after one. 

When Plainfield South (1-5), which went 19-10 last season to tie a school record for wins, made just one shot the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Tigers pulled away to a continued to a 36-20 halftime lead. It was 51-21 entering the fourth as the teams subbed down the stretch with a running clock. 

“It’s a repeatable process," said Kreiger of retooling after the transfer of Ethan Hillsman before this season. "We’re not rebuilding, we’re just retooling. We go back to the shed, look in the toolbox and bring the next young man up. There’s always someone putting in the work until it’s their turn.

"We have an inexperienced team, with a sophomore and four juniors. Our starting point guard (senior Brockton Goehrke) is out with a broken foot and we're not sure if and when he can come back. So, we're learning.  But it's not about how you start the season, it's how you finish it. We've got to battle through."