Downers South Captures West Aurora Regional

Downers Grove South guard Jeron Wilbut did not have much time on the clock as he raced to the Wheaton Warrenville South end Friday night in Aurora.

“Coach (Jay Baum) wanted me to take it hard to the rim, but I ran out of time,” Wilbut said. “So I did the step-back (three-pointer) instead.”

The shot found nothing but net as the second-quarter horn sounded, giving the Mustangs the lead for good.

“It gave us a lot of momentum going into the second half,” Wilbut said.

The Wilbut buzzer-beater, one of four Downers South would score in the championship game of the Class 4A West Aurora boys basketball regional, concluded an 11-0 run for the Mustangs.

Wheaton Warrenville South, the No. 10 seed in the East Aurora sectional complex, never recovered as the Mustangs imposed their will on the Tigers throughout the second half of their 68-52 win.

The Mustangs (25-3) extended their program-best winning streak to 18 games with their 15th regional championship in program history.

The third-seeded West Suburban Gold champion will face Glenbard East Wednesday night at East Aurora.

All four top seeds in the complex captured titles on Friday night; undefeated Benet will tangle with host East Aurora on Tuesday.

“We made (WW South) play faster than they wanted to,” said Baum. “It’s a big win for the program.”

WW South (19-10), which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, was the aggressor coming out of the gate.

Illinois football recruit Reilly O’Toole, who led the Tigers with 22 points, had two first-half 3-pointers to stake WW South to a 23-15 lead midway through the second quarter.

But the Mustangs, who were relying too heavily on jump shots to that point, had the game-altering run that Wilbut, who led both teams with 23 points, culminated with his 3-pointer at the buzzer to give South a 26-23 lead at halftime.

The second half would be a coming-out party for South post Ziggy Riauka.

The six-foot-eight big man was a force at both ends of the court, harassing WW South players with four blocked shots while dominating the paint on the offensive end with 19 points.

Many of them came from point-blank range.

“I got lucky,” said Riauka, who added a game-high 11 rebounds. “We got the ball inside, and they didn’t double (team me). “

“They didn’t have an answer for (Riauka),” said Baum.

WW South would make a valiant run to climb within six with three minutes to play, but Downers South ended the game on a 14-4 run as the Tigers were forced to gamble.

Kevin Honn was the third South player in double figures with 10 points.
Dan Jurgutis added eight for the Mustangs, and Jamall Millison had a team-best seven assists.

“(South) is as good defensively as we have seen all year,” said WW South coach Mike Healy. “Ziggy played really well.”