Cox's effort fuels Bolingbrook win

RICHTON PARK -- After stumbling in its first game in the annual Rich South Big Dipper Christmas Tournament, the Bolingbrook High School boys have bounced back.

Led by another strong effort from Antoine Cox, the Raiders advanced into the consolation championship game Monday with a 61-53 win over Crete-Monee.

Bolingbrook (7-4), which lost its opener to Chicago Fenger before beating Lincoln Park, takes on Hales Franciscan at noon today for the consolation crown.

Hales Franciscan rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Marian Catholic.

Crete-Monee owned leads of 2-0 and 4-2 before a basket by Cox put the Raiders ahead for good at 6-4.

The 6-foot-3 Cox, a junior who scored a season-high 29 points in the loss to Fenger, and Anthony Greene (7 points, game-high 10 rebounds) each scored 6 first-quarter points. That helped Bolingbrook to a 17-13 advantage.

Cox had another strong game. He shot 10-of-13 and finished with a game-high 25 points.

"Antoine has played very well in the tournament," Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. "Teams are going to attempt to take Diamond Taylor and Troy Snyder away from us.

"And Antoine is responding to the challenge. He is showing everyone what type of player he is. He is playing well and getting the job done."

Despite not shooting well in the first half -- 34.5 percent (10-of-29) -- the Raiders still owned a 24-21 lead at halftime. In the second quarter, Bolingbrook shot 2-of-14.

For the game, Bolingbrook shot 45.7 percent (21-of-46) compared to 35.8 percent (19-of-53) for the Warriors.

The Raiders did, however, make 15-of-20 free throws.

"I like how we have responded the last two games here," Brost said. "Crete-Monee is a very talented team and well-coached. I like how we have played together."

Raiders senior guard Diamond Taylor scored all 13 of his points in the second half. He made 9-of-11 free throws during second-half play.

Trailing 45-33 after three quarters, Crete-Monee began fourth-quarter play by scoring 10 consecutive points. That cut the margin to 45-43. The Warriors' Joshua Humphrey tallied 8 of his 10 points in that surge.

Cox's 4 points led an 8-0 Bolingbrook spurt to increase the Raiders' lead to 53-43 with 4:15 left in the game.

Russell Burns finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds for the Raiders, who committed 12 of their 17 turnovers in the second half.

"Crete-Monee's 1-3-1 trap gave us some difficulty," Brost said. "We had some initial trouble handling that pressure.

"But I thought we did a good job of finishing out the game."