Bolingbrook spoils Wheaton Academy's fine start
By Stan Goff, Daily Herald

Less than three minutes.

That's all the time it took Bolingbrook to ruin a good half of basketball by Wheaton Academy on Monday afternoon in the 39th Annual East Aurora Boys Holiday Basketball Tournament.

The class A Warriors (3-6) battled the Class AA Raiders for two quarters and trailed just 32-30 at the half.

But Bolingbrook went with a trapping zone to start the third quarter and in less than three minutes the Raiders had rattled off 16 points en route to a 29-point explosion that was aided by 10 Wheaton Academy turnovers.

The big quarter lifted Bolingbrook (8-2) to a 63-47 lead after three quarters and from there coasted to an 86-63 victory in first-round action at East Aurora.

"We just fizzled," Warriors coach Andy Euler said. "They zone pressed us, we turned the ball over way too much and we hung our heads. It was almost unbelievable how quick it all happened."

Wheaton Academy forward Matt Almaraz, who scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the first half, was upset with how quickly his team's strong half went to waste.

"It was disappointing to play good in the first half and then have that happen," said Almaraz, who also led the way with a game-high 9 rebounds. "We felt good at halftime but then started throwing the ball away and playing bad defense."

The quick Raiders seemed to convert virtually every Warriors mistake into an easy bucket. Wheaton Academy gave the ball away 18 times in the second half and Bolingbrook turned the opportunity into 52 points over the final two quarters, most of which came on lay-ups and fastbreaks.

Bolingbrook guard Charles Smothers did not score in the first half yet went 5-for-5 from the floor in the third quarter and finished the night with 14 points. Andrae Lyles led all scorers with 27 points including a dunk early in the third quarter that sent the Raiders on a 14-2 run.

"As usual, we look good at times and we look terrible at times," said Bolingbrook coach Calvin Saunders, who didn't like the fact that Wheaton Academy was able to connect on eight 3-pointers and stay in the game longer than he hoped.

"But the difference in the ballgame was the start of the third quarter," Saunders said. "The kids put a nice little run together. That's the type of ball we're capable of playing, but we just need to do it more constistently."

Jeremy Parker hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to keep the game tight, and Warriors teammate Jason VanderVeen dropped in a pair of treys in the second half. But Wheaton Academy couldn't contain a Bolingbrook attack that featured five players in double figures.

It doesn't get easier for the Warriors on Tuesday, either, with Wisconsin power Nicolet due next with a 3 PM tip-off.

"It's a great experience to play good, quality teams," Almaraz said. "We like the challenge and we're a confident team."