By Randy Whalen

The seeds for the Joliet Central big girls' basketball win over its crosstown rivals earlier this week were planted in a 14-point loss two weeks ago.

That's correct. The Steelmen lost 58-44 to Plainfield North on Friday, November 22, in the WJOL Girls Basketball Tournament at Joliet Junior College. 

Since then they have won two of three, including a 54-51 victory over Joliet West, and are now 2-4 on the season.

"We played a great game," Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said after the Plainfield North loss. "We played hard, especially in the second half, and played to win.

"The third quarter was our quarter. We've had a little rough start but when we come together we're going to be OK and get better and better."

Trailing 26-12 at halftime, Joliet Central played better in the second half. It was as if a switch was turned on and the Steelmen hung around and trimmed the lead to 10 numerous times in the third quarter. It was 40-30 after three and junior guard Neveah Wright, who led all scorers with 20 points, hit a free throw in the opening moments of the fourth quarter to make it 40-31 but it got no closer.

"We played a top team in the (Southwest Prairie Conference) and had turnovers but we settled down a lot," Brumfiel said. "Neveah can step up and score,"

Wright was a leading scorer as a sophomore. So was fellow junior guard, Elliana Fowler. But Fowler is out with a torn ACL. 

"Elliana may be back but we're going to play our game," Wright said following the Plainfield North game. "We just clicked, played together as a team, and moved the ball and talked.

"Our defense was there. It could be better but I feel we're working hard and I expect us to win a lot of games."

Junior guard Alexis Bradley added 13 points for the Steelmen. Plainfield North (5-1 through December 4) had balanced scoring as junior guard Isabella Garcia along with seniors Isabella Gruber at center and Sydney Scott at forward, all had 10 points. 

The Tigers went on the defeat Lincoln-Way West 49-42 on Saturday, November 23 to win the tourney championship. 

Joliet Central opened the tournament on Monday, November 18 with a 56-40 loss to Lincoln-Way Central. Two days later, in a game at Providence, the Steelment lost 64-36 to the host Celtics. 

On Saturday, November 23, the Steelmen defeated Joliet Catholic Academy 53-49 for their first win of the season. Then on Wednesday, November 27, Joliet Central hosted Lincoln-Way Central as the teams played for the second time in nine days. In a much more defensive battle, the Knights prevailed 32-23.

But the big game was earlier this week when the Steelmen defeated Joliet West. It was the first win over the Tigers since a 47-44 home victory on December 9, 2019. The Steelmen lost to Joliet West later that season and that started a streak of nine straight Tiger wins in the series. 

But that streak was snapped on Monday night, December 2 with the 54-51 win at Joliet Central in the SPC opener for both clubs.

Sophomore guard Elena Moody hit back-to-back 3-pointers for an early 6-2 lead that the Steelmen (2-4, 1-0) never relinquished.

Wright finished with a team-leading 22 points and six rebounds. Moody finished with 13 points, while freshman guard Melani Tua-Link scored seven and Bradley added six, including three free throws in the fourth quarter to help keep the Tigers (1-5, 0-1) at bay.

"This was a very fun win," Wright said. “Very exciting. The game plan was to go out there and give 110 percent, whether you were on the court or off of it, everyone had a lot of energy tonight. The girls on the bench were supporting whoever was on the floor.

“It has been a while since we have beaten West, but we were confident that we could do it. We have been working hard, and it all starts with our defense. And Elena hit those big shots for us to get us ahead early. That gave us a lot of confidence, too. I hope we can keep building off of this.”

Joliet Central led 13-9 lead after the first quarter and 28-22 at halftime. But trailing 43-36 going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers kept battling. Senior guard Makayla Chism (24 points, 18 rebounds) scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter. Her basket with 1:32 remaining pulled Joliet West to within 51-48, but it never got closer.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since we beat West, but it has been a while,” Brumfiel said. “We had a lot of energy and the girls really wanted to win. Nevaeh did a great job. The whole team did a great job of protecting the ball late when we had the lead, but it’s nice to have a player like Nevaeh to take the ball in those situations. Elena Moody hit some big shots, and we know that she can do this every night. She just needs the confidence, and this should give her a good boost.

“Our defense played well. Joliet West has a great offense, and we got some big stops and rebounds when we needed them. We are so young, and it was nice to see us keep our composure and take care of the ball down the stretch.”