Joliet Central twice comes back from down double digits to beat Joliet West 56-51

JOLIET – Crosstown rivalries. They’re the kind of games where anything can happen at any given moment, and you can never take the risk of tuning out.

Take for example Thursday’s game at Joliet West between the Tigers' girls basketball team and Joliet Central.

Joliet West led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, yet the Steelmen cut the deficit to one in the second. Joliet West held a 10-point lead at halftime and even in the later portions of the third quarter.

Yet when the game was over, the scoreboard read: Joliet Central 56, Joliet West 51.

Joliet Central (11-16, 5-4) led a inspired comeback, twice, to close out the Southwest Prairie Conference win. The Steelmen also snapped a three-game skid to move back over .500 in conference play.

It didn’t come easy, but the Steelmen were able to get back on the winning track after a slate in which they lost nine of 11 games. They looked like they they were on their way to 10 losses in 12 in the early going and even in the late going before the efforts of Alexis Bradley helped propel them to victory.

That, and a little old fashioned defense.

“We played really good defense in the third and fourth quarters,” Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said. “I think we held them to nine in the third quarter and seven in the fourth.”

Of course, it also helped that Bradley was on fire throughout the night, especially down the stretch. She made 8 of 11 free throws in the game, including five in the fourth quarter to help seal the deal for the Steelmen.

The junior finished with 21 points.

“We just played our hearts out,” Bradley said. “My teammates were there for me and got the ball to me throughout the night when I was hot. We just worked as a team. My shots came from us playing as a team.”

Elena Moody and Nevaeh Wright each scored nine points.

“Their character is tremendous,” Brumfiel said. “Their fight and grit is second to none. Every game we play they’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”

As for the Tigers (4-19, 2-8), it was a rough night in a season where there have been many.

There was 2:30 left in the third when the Tigers were up 37-27, but cold shooting and the Steelmen’s defense doomed West despite outstanding nights from Makayla Chism (15 points) and Gabrielle Gavin (12 points).

Still, coach Breanna Blackmon was complimentary of the atmosphere, crowd and competitiveness. She also said her players are keeping their heads high despite a challenging year.

“We’ve just got to finish the season on a positive note,” Blackmon said. “Every game we play we have to make sure that we fight. We understand we’ve had a rough season so we have to use that to go out and say, ‘I’m not going to end rough. I’m going to end stronger than where I started.' I tell my girls all the time it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.”

It was an excellent start for West on Thursday as it raced out to a 21-6 edge before Wright cut it to 21-8 entering the second on a jumper.

Moody caught fire in the second eight minutes as she began the quarter an a 7-0 run by herself and the Steelmen eventually cut the deficit to just 21-20. The Central defense held West without points in the second until 2:57 remained. A layup by Chism at that point kickstarted a 14-5 closing stretch for the Tigers to go up 35-25 at the midway point.

The third quarter was pure defense for the first six minutes until Gavin hit a 3-pointer to make it 41-29. A 3 by Bradley trimmed the deficit to single digits with 2:25 left in the quarter and the Steelmen were behind just 44-38 entering the final period.

West led 48-42 with five minutes to go when Bradley’s 3 cut it to a one possession game. Free throws tied it, an acrobatic layup by Alycia Bittle gave Central a lead with 1:02 to go and it was all free throws down the stretch for the Steelmen.