Young and Bolingbrook: The best of girls basketball begins there. 
Nicosia Henry, Bolingbrook
File photo by Mitchell Reibel
Since Illinois expanded from a two- to a four-class championship format in 2008 for girls basketball, the Class 4A title game has belonged to Whitney Young, a Chicago city magnet school which counts First Lady Michelle Obama among its alums, and Bolingbrook, a powerhouse in the southwest suburbs.
Young defeated Bolingbrook for the title in 2008; Bolingbrook beat Young for the title last year.
Both schools are churning out Division I college recruits. Both schools are ranked within the top 10 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. They have each won 23 games this season, and, combined, their record over the last three years is 161-15. The schools were placed on opposite sides of the 4A bracket again this year, meaning, yes, the Dolphins and Raiders could indeed meet in the 4A title for the third consecutive year in March.
Just don’t tell that to teams like Geneva, which won its 28th straight game Wednesday with a 62-36 win over South Elgin in the St. Charles North regional. In two years, the Vikings’ only two losses came last March, in the 4A semifinals to Young and in the consolation game to Wheeling. They are the only unbeaten team in the Chicago area.
Imagine the plight of Romeoville, a team which had lost 21 of 26 games entering Wednesday’s regional game in its own gym. Their reward for a first-round win Monday over Plainfield Central? A game against Bolingbrook.
Oh, all the Raiders did was score the game’s first 20 points and roll to a 101-21 victory. Next victim, please. And the 21 in that score may have been more impressive than the 101. Most of Bolingbrook’s stars rode the bench in the final quarter, including guard Morgan Tuck (23 points).
"It’s just the (defensive) pressure, unbelievable pressure," Romeoville coach Julio Carrasco told the Sun-Times Group.
Meanwhile, over at Young, the Dolphins also hit that "21" number, defeating Burbank Reavis 69-21 as Kiana Johnson had 10 steals to go along with 15 points.
That makes it five games to go before a possible (er, likely?) three-peat of Young vs. Bolingbrook on March 6 at Redbird Arena in Normal. Next steps: Regional finals this week, sectionals next week.
Around Chicagoland: Richmond on McDonald'
s squad
* Illinois recruit Jereme Richmond, who has led Waukegan to an 18-4 record, was the lone Chicago-area player named to the McDonald’s All-American Game. He’ll play for the West squad in the March 31 nationally televised game at Columbus, Ohio. Richmond scored 31 points and had 13 rebounds in Waukegan’s 83-63 win over Niles West, which clinched the Central Suburban South championship.
* Louisville recruit Wayne Blackshear will lead Morgan Park into Friday night’s Chicago Public League championship game against Marshall at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Blackshear scored 41 points in Wednesday’s 76-74 overtime win over Hyde Park, but for the second consecutive game freshman guard Markee Williams hit the winning points for the Mustangs (19-5). In the title game, they’ll face a hot team in Marshall (22-6), which overcame a 15-point deficit to knock off Foreman, the city’s top-ranked team, 65-59.
* De La Salle won its 12th consecutive Catholic League game Tuesday night, 69-60 over Mount Carmel, and put the Meteors on top of the conference with two league games left to play. Mount Carmel had won its first 10, but lost consecutive league games to Hales and De La Salle. Jaylon Tate, a freshman, scored 13 for De La Salle in the win over the Caravan.
* Geneva’s girls basketball team finished off its second consecutive unbeaten regular season with a 61-40 Western Sun win last week over Batavia. The Vikings (27-0), who entered this week’s state playoffs as a top regional seed in Class 4A, have won 54 straight in regular-season play, dating back to a loss to Batavia in the 2007-08 season. Geneva senior Lauren Wicinski, a Northern Illinois volleyball recruit, scored a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Batavia.
* Next up for an unbeaten regular-season record may be the boys team at Lyons, which has won its first 23 games. The Lions clinched their first West Suburban Silver title since 2002 with an 83-57 win over York last week. They play at Oak Park River Forest on Friday, and then finish the regular season Feb. 26 at Hinsdale Central.
Top performances
* Wisconsin recruit Duje Dukan of Deerfield scored a double-double (25 points, 11 rebounds) in a 49-37 victory over Riverside-Brookfield in the Conference Challenge Classic at Loyola University. Deerfield has won 22 of its first 23 games.
* Fabyon Harris scored 25 points, leading Hyde Park to a 60-52 victory over 2009 Chicago Public League champion North Lawndale. Last year the Thunderbirds lost the city’s title game to North Lawndale.
* Hinsdale Central’s Toni Kokenis, a Stanford recruit, scored 27 points, leading the Red Devils to a 70-52 win over Oak Park and a share of the West Suburban Silver title for the fourth consecutive year.
On deck
* In a rematch of the Class 4A title game, Waukegan (18-4) will meet Young (17-5) in the final game of Saturday’s City/Suburban Showdown at the University of Chicago-Illinois (8:30 p.m.). Young, led by Marcus Jordan’s MVP game (he is now a freshman at Central Florida), edged Waukegan 69-66 for the 4A title. Saturday’s hoops tripleheader will begin at 4:30, when Mount Carmel faces St. Patrick; at 6:30, Public League power Simeon and De La Salle of the Catholic League will meet.
* Steven Congenie, a sophomore wrestler from Willowbrook High School, will bring a perfect 44-0 record into the Class 3A Individual State Finals to be held this weekend at Assembly Hall in Champaign. He placed fourth at 140 pounds last year, and moved to 152 this year. Twelve 2009 state champs are in the field, including two (Nick Harrison, Stillman Valley, 119 pounds; Angel Cabral, Lemont, 285) who are trying to defend the same weight class they won last year.
The team championships will be held Feb. 27 in Bloomington.
* Jenny Covers, a junior gymnast from Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge, will be out to defend her state championships in the all-around and vault events Friday and Saturday, when the Girls’ Gymnastics State Finals are held at Palatine High School. Covers had the top sectional score in the vault (9.875). Palatine Fremd, which has won 12 state titles and is in the finals for the 19th consecutive year, is among the contenders to unseat 2009 champion Stevenson, which did not qualify for the finals. In addition to Covers, individual title contenders include Addison Trail’s Alyssa Cruz, who had the top sectional scores in the beam and all-around, and second best in the vault, and Lake Forest’s Kylie Carlson, who is attempting to be the third in state history to win the all-around as a freshman.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
