Boys basketball: Bolingbrook breezes past host into Plainfield North Regional final

PLAINFIELD – It took Bolingbrook about six minutes to get back into a rhythm after not having played in eight days, as the Raiders defeated Plainfield North on the Tigers’ home floor Wednesday night, 61-32, in a Class 4A Plainfield North Regional semifinal.

Bolingbrook (26-6) has won 12 consecutive games and will play East Aurora (18-10) at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional title.

Plainfield North (14-18) looked good early and jumped out to an 11-3 lead with 2:41 left in the first quarter. Bolingbrook seemed to come to life and trailed only 16-12 entering the second quarter.

“One thing we try real hard to do with our team is not overprepare, and I really think you saw that tonight,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. “We were thinking too much about what we thought they would do and not just react and play basketball.”

That thinking stopped, and the Raiders methodically took over the game. They outscored the Tigers 15-2 in the second quarter and 21-6 in the third quarter, as they took a 48-24 lead to the fourth quarter. From the 2:41 mark of the first quarter, when North led 11-3, the Raiders outscored the Tigers 45-13 in 18 minutes of basketball.

Donaven Younger led the Raiders with 16 points. Michael Osei-Bonsu had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Josh Aniceto added 10 points.

A big key to the Raiders’ run was the inside play of the big men as they seemed to block every shot attempted by the Tigers in the lane in the second quarter. They ended the first half with eight blocked shots.

“We’ve been practicing a lot, which is good, but it’s nice to finally get back out on the floor and play against someone different than your teammates,” Younger said. “We weren’t concerned at the beginning, and we knew if we just play our game everything would be just fine. I do think our size inside intimidated them some, because you could see the hesitation or fall aways after we started blocking so many shots.”

“We have been so used to playing twice or sometimes three times a week, and not having played since last Tuesday gets you out of the routine that has been established for well over a month,” Brost said. “But at the end of the day you still have to be prepared to play whom is in front of you, you cannot take anyone lightly.

“Give North credit, they came out and were ready from the start and showed that. We don’t want this to happen on a regular basis, because there are times when you won’t be able to dig yourself out of a big hole to start a game. We have got to come ready to play and just play our type of game. Again, I feel we were just a too over prepared to start the game tonight.”

The Tigers were led by Mason Delaney, as the senior scored 11 points on his final game on his home floor. Sophomore Jeffrey Fleming had an excellent night on the boards against the Raiders’ big inside men, as he grabbed seven rebounds.

East Aurora 37, Lincoln-Way Central 31

The Tomcats defeated Lincoln-Way Central (14-13) in the second game.

The Knights were down 26-14 at the break and gradually cut that lead to 32-25 with four minutes remaining and then 34-29 with 22 seconds left, but could not get any closer.

Frank DeCarlo led Central with 11 points, and Jack Vegter added 10.