Senior center Gabe Gonzales brings a lot of ability to the table for West Aurora.
But during a season in which the Blackhawks have rarely been at full strength, either due to injury or several other factors, his best ability may actually be availability.
“I’ve been healthy every game, started every game,” Gonzales said, seemingly looking to knock on wood. “I’m very lucky and very fortunate that I’ve been healthy all year.”
The Blackhawks are back to full strength now, and much like last season’s stretch run, the 6-foot-7 Gonzales also is hitting his stride at the right time.
That was the gist Thursday night as Gonzales posted game highs with 24 points and 12 rebounds in an 84-55 victory over host Ridgewood in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover in Norridge.
Jaden Edwards and Terrence Smith scored 14 points apiece off the bench for West Aurora (12-8). Abe Martinez added 13 points, while Travis Brown chipped in with nine points and six assists.
Michal Cwieczkowski scored 18 points and Blake Seggeling had 14 for Ridgewood (9-10).
Gonzales, meanwhile, wasted little time getting going Thursday. He scored eight points in the first quarter as the Blackhawks built a 21-5 lead. Two of those basket came off rebound putbacks.
“He was very aggressive down there,” West Aurora coach Michael Fowler said. “They had a kid that was pretty strong and pretty athletic down there (Alex Markiewicz), but he got into some foul trouble early and Gabe took advantage of that. He played well.”
Although Gonzales has improved his passing at the urging of Fowler, his first inclination in the post is to get to the basket. His aggressiveness in that area set the tone against Ridgewood.
“If I get the ball in the post, I usually look to score, but if I see somebody collapse on me, I’m always going to look opposite and get my teammates involved,” Gonzales said. “It’s a lot better if you have somebody that can attack the rim.
“I definitely get a lot of confidence if I start out hot. There’s nothing stopping me after that.”
Despite the early deficit, Ridgewood fought to within nine at halftime and ended the third quarter on a 9-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 56-42. Gonzales proved to be too much to handle, though.
“West Aurora did a good job and credit to them,” Ridgewood coach Chris Mroz said. “It was tough. (Markiewicz) picked up three fouls and we kind of rolled with him in the first half.
“We don’t have a lot of size, so you’re trying to maneuver a little bit and not pick up your fourth foul. I think (Gonzales) took advantage of that.”
Fowler wants to see more of that from Gonzales the rest of the season.
“The versatility gives you another option where you can dump it down to him,” Fowler said. “If he’s under control and getting himself gathered to score, he can do what he did (Thursday).
“I couldn’t be happier for him. That’s a good night for him and hopefully he can keep that going. You don’t know really who to focus on when he gets going.”
It’s also more of what Fowler expected with his team finally at full strength.
“This was kind of my vision for what we could be, but at the beginning of the season with injuries and guys not taking care of what they were supposed to take care of, we were kind of going through it,” Fowler said. “I try to preach to them, ‘Listen, take care of what you need to take care of and I think we’re a pretty decent basketball team.’ Hopefully they listen to me.”
Gonzales has definitely received the message.
“I think we’re playing pretty well right now,” he said. “We’ve won seven in a row. We’re definitely on a roll right now. I think there’s a bright future ahead of us the rest of the season.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
