West Aurora’s Richard Bell Jr. views football as his No. 1 sport at this time, but the junior guard/forward is carving out a niche for himself on the basketball court.
The 6-foot-3 Bell moved into the starting lineup for the Blackhawks two games before they opened play in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament in late December and has found a home for himself.
“I really love basketball,” Bell said. “As a kid, I always played it, just never on an organized team until seventh grade at Jefferson Middle School. I mostly played in the backyard or neighborhood.
“I stopped focusing on it when I started playing football more but kept playing. It’s still definitely something I work for. I’m happy I’ve got the ability to play with my friends.”
Bell did his part Friday night by scoring nine points, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and blocking four shots as host West Aurora held off visiting Ridgewood 59-57 in overtime in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover.
Junior point guard Travis Brown led the way for the Blackhawks (14-10), scoring a game-high 27 points to go with four assists and three steals to stymie Ridgewood (9-11).
But afterward, much praise went to Bell.
“Richard is someone who’s not afraid to guard, not afraid to rebound,” West Aurora coach Mike Fowler said. “He knows what he’s doing, trying to give some energy, and he’s been rewarded.
“We put him out there and he knows he’s going to be guarding probably one of the best perimeter players we’re facing. We ask him to rebound, ask him to defend.”
Bell pointed out that he scored more last winter leading the sophomore team.
“Coming into the season, I obviously hoped I’d be a big impact guy on the team but I didn’t see myself starting as much or getting as many minutes as I am,” Bell said. “But as the season went on, the coaches seemed to see more in me, especially my defensive game.
“I’ve guarded a 6-6 point guard at Plainfield East and 6-5 point guard against New Trier. I rebound and I do a lot dirty work. I’m finally starting to score more lately as I’m getting more confidence.”
West Aurora opened up a 29-20 halftime lead. Ridgewood, a smaller, scrappy bunch kept battling, taking a 40-39 advantage entering the fourth quarter and pushing it to 49-41.
That’s before Brown rallied the Blackhawks with back-to-back 3-pointers.
“It was like we reverted back to our old ways,” said Fowler, whose team missed six straight free throws in a stretch of the third quarter. “You have to step up on your home court and knock those free throws down to give you some cushion, but I give credit to them.
“Ridgewood is coached well, plays hard, and we knew they’re not a pushover. They were gonna come after us, be aggressive, play with energy. That’s what they did. At times we didn’t match it.”
But sophomore forward Amon Greene made the second of two free throws with 58.8 seconds to go in OT to tie the game at 57-57, then made two more with 14.9 seconds left for the final margin.
The game was delayed by Ridgewood’s buses arriving late due to heavy lake affect snow closer to the city, making for a long day.
“We came out really flat,” Brown said. “And they were really aggressive — most aggressive team we’ve played all year.”
Bell helped keep the team going.
“He brings energy to the team and plays defense the entire game,” Brown said. “He doesn’t lose energy at all during the game. Hard worker. He’s just a hard worker.”
Last fall in football, Bell finished with four receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. He also returned two kickoffs for 43 yards.
“I played football at Jefferson, too, quarterback,” Bell said. “I switched to wide receiver halfway through freshman year. My junior year didn’t go how I wanted it to, but Eastern Michigan came into my class this winter and said they were interested in me. So did Indiana State.
“I like football more, even though I started kind of late there, too.”