By Randy Whalen

Thomas Jemilo is glad to be here. 

While other would-be seniors transferred away from the Joliet Central boys basketball team before the start of the season, Jemilo and six other seniors remained.

"Of course, I'm glad to be here," Jemilo said. "I love it. Everyone who decided to stay has been here for four years."

Jemilo, a forward, scored a team-high 14 points, including hitting four 3-pointers, in Joliet Central's opening game of the season. Unfortunately, that was an 81-50 loss to Lockport on Monday, November 25 in the final first-day game at the WJOL Thanksgiving Tournament.

But based on their inexperience, that sort of result was a common theme for the Steelmen to start this season. After the first two weeks, they were 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the Southwest Prairie Conference.

"Three guys who played for me last year transferred," Joliet Central coach Larry Thompson said of the would-be starters who are no longer here. But I love everyone who is here's hustle. Experience is probably the biggest issue. 

"The bottom line is we have a lot of guys who played off the bench and filled a role. So the guys who haven't started since sophomore year are now in that starting role."

Junior guard Bernal Fox added eight points, four assists, and four rebounds in the game against Lockport. The Steelmen trailed 8-0 midway through the first quarter and never got closer than six the rest of the way. It was 42-26 at halftime. 

Thompson, who is in his ninth season as coach at Joliet Central, is now 4-7 against his former team. He was head coach for the Porters between 1999-2015. The two teams will play again on Monday, February 3 at Joliet Central.

Two days later, on the second day of the WJOL Tournament, the Steelmen lost 67-34 to a very good Lemont (5-1 through December 7) team. On Friday, November 29, Joliet Central hung in most of the game but fell to Providence 57-46. Junior forward James Lee led the Steelmen with 11 points and six rebounds.

On the final day of the  WJOL Tournament, Saturday, November 30, Joliet Central got its first victory of the season. That was a 43-40 win over Plainfield Central. Fox led the way with 18 points, including a basket with 2.3 seconds left in the game for the winning basket.

The game was tied 35-35 after three quarters before the Steelmen pulled out the defensive win.

But that momentum didn't continue when the Steelmen traveled across town on Tuesday, December 3, and lost 78-29 to Joliet West in the SPC opener for both teams.

Joliet West (5-1, 2-0 through December 6) scored the first six points and led 22-3 after the first quarter. The Steelmen didn't have a basket until the opening minute of the second quarter. 

It was 47-14 at halftime. Senior guard Zion Gross had 11 of his game-high 23 points in a 15-0 run to open the third quarter. The Tigers led 71-16 after three. Senior guard Erick Contreras led Joliet Central with five points and Lee and senior forward Malachi Boatright each added four points for the Steelmen.

"The intensity brought by Joliet West was probably too overwhelming for them," Thompson said of his inexperienced group. "Credit goes to Joliet West. There are no excuses to be made. We were outplayed, outcoached, and they did what they wanted to do.

“I don’t think we’re playing to the best of our ability right now, and I have to change that.”

Another SPC matchup happened on Friday, December 6 at Plainfield East and the Steelmen lost 61-26. Lee scored eight points to lead Joliet Central. The Bengals (4-2, 2-0) are off to a good start.

The next day brought an old-fashioned nonconference game against a pair of programs with some great history. The Steelmen traveled to Chicago Heights and lost 64-38. Sophomore guard Mikey Stokes and junior guard Jaylin Adams each scored seven points for Joliet Central. The Blazing Trojans improved to 4-1 with their only loss being 69-52 to defending Class 4A State Champion, Homewood-Flossmoor. 

Four more SPC games are on the schedule for the next two weeks and then the Steelmen will travel to the State Farm Holiday Classic right after Christmas.

Jemilo is confident that what the team lacks in experience, they will make up in effort and heart.

"We just have to improve our chemistry and get better on the defensive side of the ball," Jemilo said after the season-opening game. "For a lot of my teammates, it's their first time starting, and we just can't get discouraged. We have to trust each other and trust the process."