Gabe Gonzales found himself a captive audience Wednesday as West Aurora coach Michael Fowler settled into the adjacent seat for the bus ride to Yorkville.
In chatting up Gonzales, the Blackhawks’ 6-foot-7 junior center, Fowler took advantage of another teaching moment to go old school and reemphasize defense and rebounding — key points of the game plan for that night’s postseason opener against the host Foxes.
Gonzales, who would often be matched up against Yorkville with Illinois-bound center Jason Jakstys, heard even more.
“He was telling me how back when he played in high school he averaged like four points the whole season,” Gonzales said of Fowler. “And when the playoffs hit, he just went crazy and had like double digits every single game.
“Hopefully, I can do the same and help my team win.”
That was the case in the Class 4A Yorkville Regional semifinals as Gonzales hot-wired West Aurora’s fast start in a 64-53 victory with six points, six rebounds and a blocked shot in the first quarter.
Senior guards Jordan Brooks and CJ Savage scored 20 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the ninth-seeded Blackhawks (21-10) past the eighth-seeded Foxes (18-12), who split a pair of regular-season games.
Gonzales, though, was the difference-maker in finishing with a career-high 17 points to go with 10 rebounds, a block and an assist for the Blackhawks, who will play at 7 p.m. Friday for the title against top-seeded Bolingbrook (25-4), a 78-40 winner over East Aurora in the other semifinal.
“I just felt like it’s playoff energy,” Savage said. “Gabe was ready to play. He scored for us and had a helluva game. He’s a monster now.”
Gonzales countered the 6-10 Jakstys, who ended up with 14 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and a pair of assists. Senior forward Bryce Salek added 14 points, four steals and three rebounds for the Foxes.
“He’s been working his butt off all season,” Brooks said of Gonzales. “Seeing him execute in a game like this is a great feeling. I’m so happy for him. He took advantage of his opportunities and what they were giving him.”
West Aurora needed it in a pressure-packed game that featured 24 turnovers by the Blackhawks and 20 by the Foxes, who shot just 12% (2 of 17) on 3-pointers while West Aurora made a solid 56% (5 of 9) from beyond the arc.
“I don’t know, something clicked,” Gonzales said.
He highlighted a 7-0 run to start the third quarter after Brooks erased Yorkville’s 25-23 lead in the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers on assists from Gonzales and Savage. It closed out the first half with the Blackhawks up 29-23.
Gonzales then followed Brooks’ driving layup to open the third with a 3-point play, deflection, steal and basket off a rebound.
“Those middle two minutes,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “That’s the game right there, pretty much. We played relatively even the rest of the way.
“You have to give a lot of credit to 24 (Gonzales). He doesn’t average too many points, about four, and he gets 17. That’s a big boost for them.”
Senior guard Kaevian Johnson had several steals in the second half and finished with nine points to help Yorkville close to within 53-47 on Salek’s steal and layup, but Savage then answered with a 3-pointer from the wing at 2:27 to boost the lead back to nine.
“We had to close out the game,” Savage said.
“CJ makes big plays all the time,” Brooks said. “He hit the shot, and we came back down and got a stop and then hit some free throws.”
Still, the postgame buzz focused on Gonzales.
“You need someone to step up and be big and he did,” Fowler said. “He went toe-to-toe with Jason (Jakstys) and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
“You need a player, other than your normal people, to step up and he did.”
