Joliet West’s defense holds the line as it topples Romeoville

ROMEOVILLE – The ball simply wasn’t going in the basket very much for the first three quarters of Friday night’s Southwest Prairie Conference matchup between Joliet West and Romeoville.

But all the while one thing still seemed to be functioning rather well for Joliet West: its defensive effort.

After holding the Spartans to no points for the first seven minutes of the game, the Tigers set the tone of how the game would be played until their offense caught up in a 57-36 victory.

“It was just an incredible effort by our young men to play defense on the road,” Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “When you get down to conference championship time and playoff time, defense travels and that’s what we were able to do tonight.”

Joliet West (18-9, 11-3) put the clamps down early in the game holding Romeoville without a point until a Damion Porter Jr. putback off a missed free throw with just under a minute to play in the first quarter.

But the Tigers didn’t really capitalize all that well on the defensive lockdown, managing just eight points of its own during the Romeoville (13-14, 8-6) drought.

That lack of scoring, on both sides, became something of a theme through much of the first half as neither team reached the 20s, with Joliet West leading 19-16 at the break.

Romeoville inched to within one point on the first possession of the second half on a pair of Danny Thompson free throws, but Joliet West continued to do just enough to keep the Spartans at bay.

And while Romeoville had several chances to potentially claim the lead in the game, it never happened.

The Spartans opened the fourth quarter with a quick basket to once again put them in striking range, but the dormant offense would end right there, at least for Joliet West.

Three consecutive possessions ended in 3-point baskets for Tristian Saunders, Zion Gross and Ethan Hillsman, which turned a moderate Joliet West lead from four points to 13 in the matter of an instant.

The Tigers finished with 26 fourth-quarter points, nearly as many as they managed over the course of the first three frames.

Leading the way was Saunders, who netted 14 points of the bench for Joliet West. He was one of five different players that scored at least six points in the win.

“I feel like everyone played their part and everyone was there defensively, and that turned into offense,” Saunders said. “I feel like when I came in I had energy and was just feeding off of my teammates.”

Saunders' effort was typical of how Joliet West often gets lifts from unexpected sources.

“He (Saunders) provided energy,” Kreiger said. “At the beginning of the season he was a starter and he’s been a key contributor to our program the last two years. And while his minutes and rotations have been spotty, why we have such a deep bench is because we can trust any individual at any moment.”