By Randy Whalen 

The Joliet Central girls' basketball team continues to play well.

The Joliet West girls' basketball team continues to work to improve.

When the two District 204 teams met for the second time in five days last week, Joliet Central once again won handily. The second victory, by the score of 59-30 on Tuesday, January 20, kept the Steelmen above .500 as they aim for another Eastern Division title in the Southwest Prairie Conference. 

"We just play so hard," Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said following the latest victory. "The team has bought in, and our biggest thing is consistency. Our defense was unrelenting. Our goal was to get every 50/50 ball, every rebound, and we pretty much did."

In the previous meeting between the two, on Thursday, January 15, at Joliet Central, the Steelmen won 79-36. In that game, standout senior guards Elliana Fowler (20 points) and Nevaeh Wright (18 points) led the way. 

In the more recent one, the scoring was much more balanced. Fowler and junior forward Malasia Chandler led the way with 12 points apiece. Junior guard Elena Moody scored 10, and senior forward Taneisha Robinson and Wright each added eight points.

“We work very well together on defense,” Moody said. “The defense helps our offense. After we score, we want to hurry up and get back on defense so we can try to take the ball away again, get it up the court, and get an easy basket.

"Everyone has confidence in each other. Naveah and Elliana are great passers as well as scorers, so we all know that if we get open, one of them will get us the ball. It doesn’t matter to us who scores, as long as somebody does.”

After losing the previous game, the Tigers came out more aggressively on their home court, scoring the first four points. Later, they got back-to-back baskets by senior guard Maya Zanzola for a 9-8 advantage. But that would be their last lead. 

Joliet Central started forcing turnovers, 28 of them in the game, and turned those into points. Ahead 12-11, the Steelmen put together a quick 9-0 run for a 21-11 lead after one quarter. The advantage grew to 36-17 at halftime and 56-21 at the end of three. 

"We were very balanced," Brumfiel said. "If we can do that every night, we will be hard to beat. We want to be putting ourselves in a position for a run in the regional."

Senior forward Jada Thompson led Joliet West with 10 points, while junior forward Andre Carlson and Zanzola added six points apiece. In the earlier loss to the Steelmen, Thompson tallied 14 points, and sophomore point guard Keniya Foster added 11 points. 

It's been a rough season for the Tigers. In the two games following the second Joliet Central loss, they fell 67-24 on Thursday, January 22, in an SPC game at Plainfield South. Then they lost 75-29 at home on Saturday, January 24, to Sandburg. Thompson led the way in both of those games with 10 points.

Joliet West (3-19, 1-8) hopes to turn things around this week and end a 9-game losing streak this Thursday, January 29, when they travel to take on Romeoville in an SPC East matchup. The Tigers won the first meeting between the two on Thursday, December 11, with a 42-33 victory at home.  

But despite the team's struggles, Joliet West coach Bre Blackmon is positive, the way she always has been.

"If you stay there, you stay there," she said of breaking out of any negative mindset following another loss. "Give Joliet Central credit for the big wins. But for us, you just have to move on to the next one.

"It's not about wins and losses, it's about wisdom and lessons. We're still fighting, and there's good quality to play yet."

Joliet Central followed with a 57-39 win on Thursday, January 22, in an SPC East clash at Plainfield East. The Steelmen led 35-16 at halftime in capturing their sixth win in the last eight games. Never backing down from a challenge, the Steelmen traveled down Route 30 on Saturday, January 24, and lost to one of the top teams in the state. That was 73-46 to Providence (24-3 through January 27).

But in a much bigger game for the Steelmen, they traveled to Yorkville on Tuesday, January 27, and hung on for a 56-53 victory in an SPC crossover. Fowler had 17 points, and Wright added 16 in the win, which improved Joliet Central to 14-11 and 8-2 in the league, remaining in first place in the East Division. 

Now the goal is a second straight SPC East title and winning a regional for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The Steelmen are in the Class 4A Peoria Richwoods Sectional, which is divided into two sub-sectionals. 

"We're getting close to the end of the season," Moody said following the second win over Joliet West. "We want to play our best ball at the end of the season and win a regional. 

"If we want it, that's what we'll get."