Girls Basketball: Bugg propels Bolingbrook past H-F
By Phil Brozynski For Sun-Times Media January 29, 2013 10:52PM
Homewood-Flossmoor's Jonyai Hohl gets the ball away from Bolingbrook's Amarah Coleman. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 2, 2013 7:35AM
Five minutes into Tuesday night’s game against visiting Homewood-Flossmoor, Bolingbrook was cruising along with a 17-7 lead on the third of three first-quarter three-pointers by 5-foot-9 junior Aysia Bugg.
Three minutes later, the Raiders trailed 20-17.
So what happened?
“That’s what I want to know,” Bolingbrook coach Anthony Smith said.
Bolingbrook eventually passed Homewood-Flossmoor at 27-26 on a steal and layup by Bugg with 1:15 remaining in the second quarter, then outscored the Vikings 17-1 over the final 5:52 by making 16 consecutive free throws on its way to a 63-41 victory.
The Raiders improved to 17-5 overall and 11-0 in the Southwest Suburban Blue, clinching no worse than a share of the league title. But if the Raiders have plans for late February, they cannot afford to squander early leads against good teams, Smith said.
“Starting out the season, we were bad in the first quarter,” he said. “We were tiptoeing in. Now they got a little confidence. We go in, we execute, it works, then it seems like they get a little bored. Then we got some other people who want to do their own thing.
“I tell them, that’s the difference with elite kids,” he added. “They can stay focused, they can keep doing what’s working longer. When we play as a team, we’re pretty good. We can be one of the best teams in the state. But when we go one-on-one … ”
Foul trouble also wreaked havoc with both teams. Bugg (24 points, 2 steals) had three fouls in the first half and a fourth early in the third quarter.
“I think we got so excited (after taking a 17-7 lead),” she said. “The last time we made it a close game. We got up and planned to keep building on it. It just got away from us.”
But Bolingbrook, nursing a 46-40 lead after a three-pointer by Homewood-Flossmoor’s Sydni Johnson (24 points, 6 rebounds), closed out the game by making 16 consecutive free throws by five different players before missing the front end of a super-bonus try with 16.4 left.
Kennedy Cattenhead added 16 points and seven rebounds and Amarah Coleman had eight points for Bolingbrook. Javeonna Norris added 11 points for Homewood-Flossmoor (14-9, 8-3).
“Bolingbrook shot free throws very well in the second half,” H-F coach Dana Noble said. “We sent them to the free-throw line too many times and we paid the price. But our girls competed their butts off.”
