By the middle of the season, junior guard Jaden Matthews-Thomas had already established himself as a consistent cog for West Aurora.
Flash forward to the end of the season. Matthews-Thomas is firmly entrenched as the Blackhawks’ second option behind junior guard Travis Brown and he’s consistently making big plays.
“Just making winning plays so my team can win,” Matthews-Thomas said. “I just love winning. Whatever plays I can make for my team to win, I’m going to make them.”
Matthews-Thomas made a bunch of them Friday night.
He scored 11 points, none bigger than a rebound putback with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter that gave West Aurora the lead for good in a 55-50 Upstate Eight West victory at South Elgin.
While Matthews-Thomas had his fingerprints all over the win for West Aurora (18-12, 11-1), Brown led the way, of course, with a game-high 23 points to go along with six steals.
South Elgin (10-20, 9-3) was paced by 18 points from Massimo Nalbono, who also had five assists. Larry Smith added 10 points. Ilija Babic had nine points and four blocked shots.
Matthews-Thomas, meanwhile, made key plays down the stretch as the Blackhawks clinched the Upstate Eight West title.
“He’s an all-conference player for us,” West Aurora coach Mike Fowler said. “He comes with energy, attacks the basket. He’s just trying to stay consistent doing that. Hopefully he can keep doing that the rest of the season.”
South Elgin led 44-40 early in the fourth before Matthews-Thomas found Brown for a 3-pointer. After Jordan Weeks forced a 47-47 tie with a layup, Matthews-Thomas scored off a rebound.
That’s a signature part of Matthew-Thomas’ game and it gave the lead for good to the Blackhawks, who finished off the win at the free-throw line.
Fowler, meanwhile, is happy Matthews-Thomas isn’t letting the recognition go to his head. Instead, he has continued to work hard and build upon those blocks to become an emerging star.
“We need his defensive effort,” Fowler said of Matthews-Thomas. “He’s a pretty good offensive rebounder, too. He puts pressure on teams just by being active. He’s got more game in him.
“What he normally does out there helps us out. Hopefully, he can keep doing what he’s doing and keep flourishing and being aggressive.”
Brown also made some dynamic plays on offense to fuel West Aurora’s rally. In the fourth quarter alone, he hit a 3-pointer and converted two baskets off steals — one a dunk and one a layup.
“Brown is so good,” South Elgin coach Ryan Storm said. “We lost him a couple times. We had some different rules in terms of transition, and he’s too fast sometimes to even take a foul.”
Still, the Storm were competitive Friday night after losing 74-42 to West Aurora on Dec. 9. South Elgin actually held the lead for most of the game before having it slip away late.
“They were here to fight for something,” Fowler said of the Storm. “They really wanted to share that conference title with us. We talked about it coming out. I don’t know where our energy level or where our focus was at, but we stuck with it.”
Storm couldn’t have been more complimentary toward the Blackhawks.
“They’re a deserving champion,” he said. “It’s going to take a really good effort from somebody to knock them off on our side as the top dog.”
For Matthews-Thomas, it’s just the first accolade the Blackhawks hope to pick up as the postseason approaches.
“It was very important,” Matthews-Thomas said. “I didn’t think we were going to play like that. I know we wanted to come back as champs and we did come back as champs.
“Sometimes, you just have to get an ugly win. We’re just trying to get ready for the playoffs now, just take this win and go and hopefully we’ll be better from now on.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
