To the 'T', to the 'C' for 'Brook

Raiders to roll with Satavia Taylor, Candace Nevels

BOLINGBROOK -- The final few minutes of last winter's Class 4A state championship game, the dash and crash of a frenetic fourth quarter, are etched into the memory banks of Bolingbrook High School seniors Satavia Taylor and Candace Nevels.

What both Taylor and Nevels now forget is the third quarter -- the skip pass from Nevels that resulted in a go-ahead 3-pointer by then-freshman guard Ariel Massengale for a 26-25 edge at 4:37 left and Taylor's basket off a inbounds lob with 27 seconds left to slice the deficit to 32-30.

Two year ago, the Raiders dropped a 32-27 decision to Chicago Fenwick in the Class AA title game. Last year, Whitney Young's 22-15 spurt in the fourth clinched a 54-45 verdict, so the travel that NCAA Division I recruits Nevels and Taylor take into the 2008-2008 girls basketball season traces to the time.

They were there.

They want revenge.

"Those last couple of minutes, those last 4 minutes and 30 seconds or something like that, were ridiculous," Nevels said, shaking her head. "I think about them all the time -- not necessarily on the court, but before practice. I'll think, 'This is what you're working for.' When you lose it, it's a horrible feeling, and you never want to feel that way again."

"That's it," Taylor nodded. "Also losing two years in a row, it's painful, but it's exciting because we know we can get there. We were there before, we can get there again, and I think we can be a really outstanding team."

On a team loaded with standouts and ranked No. 2 nationally in ESPN's preseason poll, Taylor and Nevels bring the bounty of experience to a Bolingbrook program perfectly comfortable with 10 underclassmen dotting the roster, including four sophomores and a 6-foot-2 freshman.

Taylor, a 6-0 forward who signed with Loyola University on Wednesday, returns after averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds. Nevels, a 5-8 guard/forward committed to Murray State, averaged 3.3 points and 2 rebounds last year off the bench. And they have seen the sights and sounds of Illinois State's Redbird Arena.

"I think that's going to help a lot," Bolingbrook coach Anthony Smith said. "Those kids know what it feels like and they have had all those bright lights on them already. Now, it's more and more of the same, and they will be more calm. Where we might have been jittery before, now we know, and that's a great feeling."

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As a freshman, Taylor was promoted to the varsity to be a part of Bolingbrook's Class AA state champions. She became a starter as sophomore for a 31-2 Raider team that placed second, breaking out last season as an all-conference selection of the Southwest Suburban Blue and MVP of the Miami Orange Bowl tourney.

A special mention all-state choice of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Taylor helped lead Bolingbrook to a 28-4 record and another runnerup finish, with the expectations that she would replace Herald News all-area co-MVP Janisha Gearlds (Saint Louis) as a Raider captain.

She knows the footsteps.

"I'm really excited," said Taylor, a first team all-area pick a year ago. "When I was younger, the older girls really helped me out and they showed me they way to this point. And I guess for me, the leadership, it's shown by your actions and not by what you speak. It's about always going hard and doing the right thing."

"She's like the team mom," Smith said of Taylor. "She takes care of everybody, and she's the type of kid who does a lot of the behind-the-scenes things for you that every team needs to win."

Winners like Chloe Kerr, Jenee Graham, Lauren Martens, Holly Medley, Brittney Thomas, Samantha Woods, Mauvolyene Adams, et al., have branded Bolingbrook with a 194-22 record and four state trophies in seven years under Smith. Taylor approaches her all-around game like applying a stamp on an envelope.

"You can always count on Satavia to get you 10-12 points, 5-6 rebounds and 3-4 steals," Smith said. "And then she's just a player who is going to do everything she can for you and she is going to give you everything she has. Every goal that you set, if it's a charge, a dive on the floor or whatever stat you keep, she will put her name on each and every one."

One of only three juniors for Bolingbrook last year, Nevels began to make a name for herself as a Raider role player in the playoffs. She contributed 4 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes of a 56-47 semifinal victory over Marist, burying a big basket on a layup midway through the fourth quarter.

With 2 assists and a steal in the loss to Whitney Young, Nevels showed why Smith tabbed her as one of nine in the Raiders' rotation to play in all 32 games last year. Almost like a sergeant earning a battlefield commission as an officer in the Army, Nevels provides Bolingbrook an extra intangible asset.

She knows the drill.

"Candace is a kid who thrives off of competition," said Smith, an animated former cornerback for the Raiders' Class 5A football second-place finisher in 1993. "Those are the best type of kids, and that's the type of player we love to have here."

"I think last year was more of a learning process for me, being the first year on the varsity," Nevels said. "I was learning the ropes, but I'm not worried about playing time. It's not guaranteed. You have to go hard for your teammates, and whoever plays here or there is going to play. I'm more excited about what our team is going to do this year."

Many coaches make to-do lists for the pregame locker-room speech. A master of motivation who can put feel-good Dr. Phil to shame, Smith realizes Nevels will have him covered.

"She's that emotional person that you need who's going to get you pumped up to play," Smith said. "She's going to jump around, she'll scream and yell, and every team needs an outward person. And she does wear her emotions on her sleeve."

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Besides Massengale -- a first team all-area and third team all-state honoree who averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists -- Bolingbrook boasts junior forward Nicosia Henry (7 points, 5 rebounds), junior center Chanyere Hosey (2.2 points, 3 rebounds) and sophomore guard Taylor Tuck (4.4 points).

Add in 6-4 junior Marissa Taylor, a move-in from Lansing, Mich., and Joliet Township transfer Mercedes Griffin, a junior forward who averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds, to the arrival to 6-2 freshman Morgan Tuck and someone upstairs likes the Raiders. Taylor and Nevels will have talented company on the floor.

But much in the manner of will.i.am's rap in "Fergalicious," Bolingbrook still will be "D" to the "T" to "C" as in defense, Taylor and Candace. It starts and ends with defense for the Raiders, and the seniors are ready to handle that leadership burden.

They are here.

They want the title.

"Right now, I'm not worried about college," Taylor said. "I'm worried about winning that state championship. Even if I didn't have a scholarship, I would still have that goal to be No. 1."

"We can teach the girls who haven't been there before what it's like," Nevels said. "We do have some newcomers, but we get along well on and off the court, we understand each other, and right now it's about gearing up and getting ready for the season."

When that season opens for Bolingbrook on Nov. 22, the Raiders recognize they are targeted for a repeat performance, and Taylor noted "even though we got second, we want it more each year. Our goal is to get back to the top. Our young girls will step up and we understand because they're in the position that we once were."

That's the starting position for Bolingbrook. For Taylor and Nevels, in their final seasons, the minutes will tick toward this.

"I really think," Nevels said, "we can be state champions."