By Randy Whalen

A month ago, the Joliet West boys basketball team had a .500 record. Now the Tigers' winning streak is six straight and shows no sign of slowing down. 

For the past few weeks, the Joliet West boys basketball team has been on a roll. This is the time to do it, too, as the postseason is fast approaching. 

The Tigers' win streak included a trio of victories this past week. The first of which was a very exciting, 61-59 home win in a Southwest Prairie Conference crossover on Tuesday, January 27, over Oswego East. 

In that game, Ryan Lipke had one of those memorable moments. With the score knotted at 59-59, he took a pass in the right corner. Seeing an opening, the senior forward drove the baseline and went up to slam it home for the winning points with under a second to play.

"Luke got it to me," Lipke said of taking the pass from fellow senior Luke Grevengoed. "I saw the defender come out on me, knowing he didn't want to give up a game-winning three. But I saw the opening around him, took two dribbles, and my instincts took over.

"It felt amazing to get the game-winner on our home court."

Lipke (8 points) had made a free throw to tie the game at 59-59, as the Tigers rallied from a 41-38 deficit after three. Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger appreciated how neat the moment was as well.

"For Ryan to have that was one of the coolest moments," he said. "He took the pass on the right side, ripped hard to the rim, and believed he'd get it in, which he did with .0.07 seconds on the clock.

"I loved the resolve our kids showed. We were thankful to be on the right side of the score."

Oswego East was 15-9 and 7-4 at the end of the week.

That was the first of three games that Joliet West won last week. On Friday, January 30, the Tigers were back at home and defeated Romeoville 62-42 in another SPC matchup. The next day, they traveled to Lincoln-Way West for a four-game Saturday event and defeated Lemont 58-45 to improve to 15-8 overall.

Lemont (14-10), which lost 62-43 to Brother Rice on Sunday, February 1, at the Oak Lawn Shootout, entered the game having won six of its last eight. But Joliet West jumped out to a 16-8 advantage after the first quarter and maintained that 8-point advantage at halftime and after the third quarter before easing away down the stretch.

In the Romeoville game, the Tigers also jumped out early. Grevengoed (10 points) opened the scoring on a 3-pointer, and later senior guard Aamir Shannon (9 points, 5 rebounds) had back-to-back slams to make it 10-1. 

Joliet West led 15-7 after one quarter and used an 8-0 run to extend to a 23-8 lead with 5:07 left in the second quarter. The 'Ville came back with an 11-2 spurt to close within 25-19, but the Tigers led 29-19 at halftime.

The Spartans never got closer than nine in the second half. Lipke led the Joliet West balanced scoring with 13 points. Senior guards Brockton Goehrke (9 points) and Devin Triplett (11 points, 5 rebounds) also contributed as the Tigers climbed to 9-2 in the SPC and remained in first in the East Division. 

Jamarri Fears, a junior guard and the younger brother of Jeremiah and Jeremy Fears, led Romeoville with 14 points and added six rebounds. Sophomore guard Deon Grant (9 points) also contributed for the Spartans (6-14, 3-8). 

"Our bugaboo is still turnovers," Kreiger said of committing 19 of them against Romeoville. "But we had balanced scoring between nine and 13 points, and we love that from our starting five." 

The Tigers are 8-1 in their last nine games, with the only loss an 83-74 overtime defeat on Tuesday, January 13, at SPC overall leader Bolingbrook. 

After the Bolingbrook loss, the Tigers won three games the following week. That started with a 54-31 SPC victory on Thursday, January 15, at Joliet Central. Then, on Monday, January 19, they had a big 58-55 win over Thornton at the Martin Luther King "The Dream" Classic hosted by Homewood-Flossmoor. That was followed by a nice 67-61 home win on Saturday, January 24, over Glenbard West.

"I think the confidence started when we beat Thornton," Lipke said. "We've just been trusting the process and coming together. 

"The key has been consistency. We know we can do it. We can be a good team and make it far in the playoffs."