By Mark Gregory
@Hear_The_Beard
LOCKPORT – Tabyous Casterberry has been the emotional leader all season for Joliet West and Wednesday night, he carried that intensity into his play.
Casterberry had a huge fourth quarter for the Tigers, helping them hold off cross-town rival Joliet Central 47-44 in the opener of the Lockport Sectional.
Casterberry led Joliet West with 11 points, but it was a flurry of three plays in a few seconds that did not include a basket on his part that sparked West down the stretch.
After a missed Steelmen shot, Casterberry grabbed the rebound and threw a deep outlet to Trevian Kirk for a dunk at the other end. Still in his position under the Central basket, Casterberry held his ground and took a charge on the other end – giving possession back to West.
“That whole sequence, it would be dumb to say it changed the game, but it changed the game,” Joliet West coach Nick DiForti said. “I think it took a little life out of Joliet Central. For some reason kids get a rise and get all excited about dunks, but I was more excited about the charge. But, when Trevian dunks, he is above the rim and it gets the crowd going and I think it may have rattled Central because it was at a crucial time in the game.”
Casterberry also preferred taking the charge over assisting on the dunk – but for a whole different reason than his coach.
“We have a goal for 20 charges,” Casterberry said. “The goal is for Chicken-N-Spice at the end of the year. So, the whole time I saw him coming, I was thinking, ‘just set up and I am getting Chicken-N-Spice,’ so that is what I did.”
Casterberry not only brings a love for chicken chunks to the Tigers, he brings a love for the game and his team.
“He is our emotional leader and he is our biggest cheerleader,” DiForti said. “That being said, he is the ultimate teammate. When he gets us going, our fans feed off it and our coaches feed off it. He leads us out onto the floor and he leads us on the floor and even from the bench.”
Despite West’s rally to regain a lead after blowing a nine-point halftime advantage, Central had a chance at the end.
Senior Malik Fuller drained a three-pointer from the corner with 42 seconds to play to pull Central to within one at 45-44.
After a pair of missed free throws from Teyvion Kirk, Central’s Jose Grubbs had the ball but it was batted away for a layup to seal the game.
“Our talk in the timeout was to just get the ball down the floor,” said Central coach Jeff Corcoran. “They ran two guys at Jose and he didn’t make the right read, but I would take my chances with him going to the basket with a head of steam.”
Kirk added 10 points for West, while Treveon Ward led Joliet Central with 14 and Grubbs added 12.
The win sets up a rematch for West with Oswego, who the Tigers defeated 61-55 on Jan. 8.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Lockport’s East Campus for berth in the DeKalb Supersectional at Northern Illinois University.