West's Defense, Dunnigan Topples Central

Joliet West 63, Joliet Central 55: Morris Dunnigan scored a game-high 24 points as the Tigers jumped out to a big early lead and staved off the Steelmen in the second half on Friday night at JT Central.

The Skinny: Ball-pressure defense and Morris Dunnigan. Joliet West played to its strengths in a 63-55 boys basketball victory over cross-town rival Joliet Central on Friday night before a big crowd at JT Central. The Tigers pushed the Steelmen away from the rim in building leads of 10-1 and 26-12 in the early going. Dunnigan, a 6-foot-2 senior in his fourth year playing varsity ball, supplied enough offensive punch to stave off Joliet Central’s bid to fight back in the second half. He made 7-of-10 shots and scored a game-high 24 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and proved too much for the Steelmen to handle with the game on the line. Ryan Modiest added 16 points for the Tigers, who stretched their three-year record to 6-0 over Joliet…

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Boys Basketball: Joliet West Shoots Down Sandburg

Joliet West 59, Sandburg 41: Ryan Modiest drained five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 19 points as the Tigers topped the Eagles Friday in Orland Park.

The Skinny: The game might as well have been billiards. Ryan Modiest was playing 3-ball and calling his pocket in Joliet West’s 59-41 boys basketball victory over Sandburg on Friday night in Orland Park. Modiest knocked down four 3-pointers in the first quarter—five in the game—and went on to score a career-high 19 points as the Tigers led from start-to-finish on a night when two of the area’s big guns took a back seat to the zone-busting shooting of Modiest. Joliet West’s Morris Dunnigan—a four-year starter—played a complementary role for the Tigers with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Sandburg’s Malek Harris—touted as a potential Division I recruit—scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. He kept the Eagles …

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UPDATE: JCA's Nicole Ekhomu is Patch MVP

Joliet Catholic Academy's Nicole Ekhomu outpolled two others in voting for Joliet Patch MVP, Dec. 10-16. She is now eligible for Patch Athlete of the Month honors.

Your Joliet Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week at his or her school—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here). DON'T MISS THE LATEST JOLIET NEWS. …

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The Sports Report

Kremer: Curtain Rises on Teaching Moment in JT West Basketball Camp

Carl Terrell and Morris Dunnigan talk Joliet West boys basketball in a video primer as the Tigers embark on a season-long journey.

Yes, they are keeping score at the Joliet West Tiger Thanksgiving Classic. Yes, they are playing to win. And, yes, that’s the No. 1 goal for every basketball team in the field. Winning is not the only reason they are playing. There still is room for proper perspective to creep into the gymnasium, and you’ll find the pleasant aroma of that ideal wafting along the sideline if you look in the direction of Joliet West coach Luke Yaklich. The tournament also is about player and team development. Yaklich will take the opportunity to learn as much as he can about his Tigers during four days of action to open the season, the Tiger Classic running through pool-play matchups and the championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He will be looking to turn…

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