Bolingbrook starts fast, hangs on for victory over Lockport

Raiders use early cushion to their advantage

LOCKPORT – Early in Thursday’s girls basketball game between Bolingbrook and Lockport, it looked like a repeat of the 31-point win the Raiders had over the Porters a few weeks ago.

But this time the scrappy Porters would not let that happen and made Bolingbrook work for a 48-39 SouthWest Suburban Conference win in a much closer game than the score indicated.

The Raiders’ Tatiana Thomas scored the first eight points of the game, added four rebounds in the the first three minutes as they cruised to a 16-6 first-quarter lead.

“I scored those first eight points because my teammates saw I was open and they passed me the ball,” said Thomas, who ended the night with 16 points and eight rebounds. “I would do the same for them, and this is a team game. We started fast, which was especially good coming off the loss to Lincoln-Way West on Saturday. But as our coach [Chris Smith] told us, we need to keep that energy up for the entire game.”

The feisty Porters (6-6, 1-5 SWSC) had no intentions of giving up, and they fought their way back and trailed 22-16 at the break. Seven players scored for the Porters in the first half.

“We have really spread out the scoring well all season long, and it shows that these kids really play together,” Lockport coach Dan Kelly said. “I really believe it makes us more difficult to cover on defense when everyone can score and they share the ball so well.”

Elena Knebel (14 points, seven rebounds) hit two free throws with 5:59 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 24-23, but that was as close as the Porters got. Knebel scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the Porters tried to close the gap late.

Raiders junior guard Kennedi Perkins, who was held scoreless in the first half, took over and scored 12 second-half points as she and Thomas went on a 9-0 run to give the Raiders (8-2, 6-0) a 10-point lead, and it stayed in the 8-to-12-point range the rest of the game.

“I knew what was happening, and we needed some energy,” Perkins said. “So each time I had the opportunity, I went to the basket and put the team on my shoulders. This was a big game for us because we want to finish the season on a 4-0 run, and this was Game 1 tonight.”

Bolingbrook still is looking for the right combination of players off the bench, Smith said.

“We started the game very well – we played with energy – but when we went to the bench, we sort of lost everything,” Smith said. “We are still searching for that right combination that keeps our fast starts going. It was important to get the win tonight, especially after our game with West, but we didn’t play well, especially in the middle part of the game.

“I told our kids that they had to forget about the first time we played Lockport – it’s a new game – and give Lockport credit, they played hard and never gave up.”

“We competed well tonight,” Kelly said, “had very good looks at the basket and never gave in to a very talented team in Bolingbrook.

“Angelica Bafia did a great job off the bench and has been really coming into her own that last few games. She brings great energy off the bench and has great chemistry with everyone on the floor.”