NORMAL – After a hard-fought loss to Barrington in the semifinals, the Bolingbrook girls basketball team found itself in another nail biter in the Class 4A third-place game against Benet Academy on Friday night.
Things worked out better for Bolingbrook the second time around, as the Raiders won, 57-54, to bring home the third-place trophy. It is the ninth trophy for the program in the past 18 years.
Senior Kennedi Perkins, who was a member of the 2020 team that also finished third, led Bolingbrook with 16 points, including nine in the first quarter and a key basket out of the final media timeout that tied the game at 52 with 2:59 to play.
“When we got third place when I was a sophomore, I made a promise to myself that I would be back here with my team,” Perkins said. “It wasn’t the game we wanted to be in, but we did end the season with a win. We were determined to win this one.
“Benet is a good team, but we kept hanging with them. We all wanted this one and we got it.”
After Perkins’ shot to tie the game, Benet’s Samantha Trimberger made a pair of free throws to put the Redwings ahead, 54-52. Bolingbrook’s Yahaira Bueno drove down the lane for a basket to tie the game at 54. Then, with 1:05 remaining, Angelina Smith (15 points) scored to give the Raiders the lead for good.
Bueno made a free throw with 25.8 seconds left for a 57-54 lead. A 3-point shot by Benet in the final seconds missed and the Raiders (25-6) came away with the win.
Benet led most of the first quarter before the Raiders tied it at 13 on a 3 by Kendall Winston. After that, Perkins went coast-to-coast for a 15-13 lead. Benet’s Margaret Temple hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter to put the Redwings ahead, 16-15, but Perkins scored on one of her patented floaters in the lane to give the Raiders a 17-16 lead entering the second quarter.
The second quarter was evenly played, with Perkins hitting a 3 late in the quarter to tie the game at 26. However, Benet’s Maddie McAndrew hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to give the Redwings a 29-26 lead at half.
About midway through the third, Bolingbrook coach Chris Smith gave fans a glimpse of the future, as sophomores Persais Williams, Jasmine Jones, Angelina Smith and Bueno were all on the floor, along with Perkins. Williams scored to make it 34-34 before Benet ran off eight straight points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Lenee Beaumont and Temple and a field goal by Morgan Demos. A driving basket by Smith brought Bolingbrook to within 42-36 at the third-quarter media timeout.
Williams grabbed a rebound, went the length of the floor and scored while being fouled. She made the free throw to pull the Raiders to within 42-39, and then Jones stepped outside and hit a 3 to tie the game. Beaumont made a pair of free throws to give Benet a 44-42 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Benet maintained a lead in the early part of the fourth until Perkins tied it out of the media timeout.
“When I think back on it, I will think I had a pretty good high school career,” Perkins said. “I have done a lot. I didn’t win the championship I wanted, but I have done a lot to be proud of.”