A point away from a perfect record, Bolingbrook couldn’t have done much more to prove itself heading into this weekend’s state tournament.
There’s really only one measure of true greatness in Illinois high school basketball, though, and from an athletic, skill and competitive-spirit perspective, Bolingbrook seemed to stack up to the state’s standard-bearer for quite a while Friday night.
Simeon met its match and proceeded to do what the Wolverines almost always do. If they do it one more time, they’ll add to their existing record of seven state championships.
Trailing for much of the evening, Simeon put on a show in the second half. Talen Horton-Tucker had 24 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Evan Gilyard added 15 points in a 60-50 win against Bolingbrook in a Class 4A semifinal at Carver Arena.
“We raise our level of play when we need to,” Horton-Tucker said. “We keep going at them.”
The Wolverines (29-3) will play Public League rival Young for their eighth state championship and seventh in Robert Smith’s 13 years as head coach on Saturday night. Simeon has defeated Young twice this season.
“(Bolingbrook) pushed us all the way to the limit,” Smith said. “They’ve got all the pieces you need to win a state championship. It was a dogfight out there. Fans got what they wanted to see, some great high-intensity basketball. It was probably more like a mid-major (college) basketball game, not a high school game.”
Simeon went ahead briefly in the first two minutes, then didn’t lead again until a 3-pointer by the UTEP-bound Gilyard midway through the third quarter, which was part of a 13-2 run that gave Simeon a 39-33 lead early in the fourth.
Bolingbrook (29-2) scored the next seven points to take a 40-39 lead with 7 minutes, 3 seconds remaining, but the Raiders didn’t have an answer for the 17-4 Simeon run that followed.
“We knew we could play with Simeon,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. “We also knew they are really, really good. We obviously weren’t content at halftime to be up, but we wanted to continue to do the same things — attack the rim, keep them out of the lane and rebound.
“We were up five rebounds at halftime and lost the rebound battle by six, so they outrebounded us by 11 fin the second half. From a skill standpoint, I think we are as good. From an athleticism standpoint, I think we’re as good. You have to give them credit. They made some plays down the stretch.”
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Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Player of the game: Talen Horton-Tucker, Simeon, 24 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals.
Key performers: Simeon — Evan Gilyard, 15 points; Messiah Jones, 10 points, 12 rebounds. Bolingbrook — Nana Akenten, 16 points; Malik Binns, 10 points, 7 rebounds.