West Aurora’s Kael Adkins was well aware that all good things must come to an end.
It didn’t make this finish any easier to take, however.
The 6-foot-5 senior guard earned an opportunity early this season that he wasn’t expecting and then made the most of things despite changing roles for the Blackhawks.
“It’s been a crazy roller coaster, certainly not like the year before,” Adkins said. “My junior year, I watched the team play really good basketball but was at the back of the bench, the last to go in.
“Our season started off, and it was bad and good at the same time. I thought I’d be the sixth or seventh man, and I was one of the go-to guys with everybody out with injuries, grades and stuff.”
Adkins proved he was ready again Friday night, scoring the first and last baskets for fifth-seeded West Aurora on 3-pointers and finishing with a team-high 15 points in a 52-45 loss to Downers Grove North in the Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional championship game.
It was the first loss of 2025 for the Blackhawks (21-9) and snapped a 16-game winning streak that coincided with Jan. 4 return from injury by senior forward Terrence Smith, an Iowa football recruit.
“I thought Kael played well,” West Aurora coach Michael Fowler said. “He’s a good breed. He’s fun to be around — fun to have in the program. He’s always upbeat, and he came to play.”
Fowler mixed and matched his lineup for the first two months and Adkins took advantage.
“He stuck with us and deserves it,” Fowler said. “He shows up and comes to work. He understands what’s going on. He came out ready to play. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough.”
Smith scored 10 points and sophomore point guard Travis Brown added nine for West Aurora.
Fourth-seeded Downers Grove North (25-8) advances to a 7 p.m. Tuesday semifinal in the Class 4A Benet Sectional against top-seeded Bolingbrook (27-4), which beat Oswego East 49-40.
The Trojans gave West Aurora’s offense trouble, clogging up the passing lanes with their length. Bobby Grganto, a 6-6 senior forward, was a force inside in scoring a game-high 20 points.
Grgnato benefitted from the absence of senior center Gabe Gonzales, who was in foul trouble all game for West Aurora after picking up a pair in the first two minutes.
Downers North pulled away in the third quarter, sparked by runs of 7-0 and 9-0.
“I just thought we had a stretch in the third quarter where it got away from us,” said Fowler, whose Blackhawks trailed 43-30 entering the fourth. “Once that team gets ahead of you, they’re gonna make you pay with their patience and make you work at the offensive end. They made us pay.”
Adkins said those spurts took the Blackhawks out of their game.
“We were trying to force up threes,” he said. “I definitely shot one I should have pump-faked on and driven. They were closing out hard on the threes.
“They went on their run and stalled the game out. We knew that’s what they’d try to do and knew it was important to keep the lead. They hit a few tough shots in that third quarter.”
Losing Gonzales for stretches also hurt, according to Adkins.
“They called a charge on him that I thought was a block,” Adkins said. “We couldn’t get Gabe and Terrence going in the high-low action we hoped to use.”
Still, Adkins enjoyed the season and hopes to play next season somewhere in college.
“It was a great run, especially when Terrence came back,” Adkins said. “I stopped worrying about scoring and tried to play more of the defensive, rebound, take care of the ball and pass it role.
“It was fun dousing coach with water in the locker room after several big wins. He’d have to get the mop out, but he loved it.”
