For the Raiders it will be status quo in '09

As Tuck heals from knee injury, Bolingbrook will dive into another challenging schedule

Typically when a basketball team knows its best player will be out of the lineup for several games to start the season, it might look to schedule easy opponents early on and place the tougher challenges later in the schedule when the team is back to 100 percent.

However, the Bolingbrook High School girls basketball team is not your typical squad.

After suffering a torn ACL while trying out for the USA Basketball Women's U16 National Team, Bolingbrook all-state forward/center Morgan Tuck will be out for four to six months after having surgery June 16.

Returning just four months after surgery is unlikely, but it is a definite possibility that Tuck could start light workouts on the court in early to mid-November. During the surgery, doctors were able to fully repair the ACL and found no other problems in or around the knee, according to Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith.

While Tuck will slowly be getting back into game shape, her teammates are going to face stiffer competition than they did during this past state championship season.

Bolingbrook will open up the season Nov. 20 against a Marian Catholic team that went 30-5 during the regular season. Marian Catholic lost to Whitney Young, the eventual state runner-up, 78-76 in double overtime earlier this year.

The schedule won't get any easier for Bolingbrook after Marian Catholic as on Nov. 28, Bolingbrook will once again go to Parkland College in Champaign for the Blue Star Shootout where it will have a date with national power Ben Davis High School of Indianapolis.

"We want to play the best teams both in and outside of the area," Smith said. "We put together a schedule that is difficult regardless of who might be injured or will be on or off our team. We play hard and we don't use that (injuries) as excuses."

As the returning state Class 4A champions, the 2009-2010 edition of the Raiders will get challenged every night. Last season, the Raiders went undefeated in conference play, and all of their losses came against out-of-state opponents.

"We have high expectations for ourselves this season and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to go out there and win," Smith said. "If everyone on our team comes out and plays hard I think we are a very tough team no matter who we have out there."

For the second year in a row, the Raiders will travel down to Phoenix to compete in the Nike Tournament of Champions which is considered by many to be the premier high school basketball tournament in the nation.

Last season, the Raiders took second place in the competition.

While the Raiders hope to have Tuck back for the tournament, which begins Dec. 18, Smith thinks Tuck's absence for an unknown amount of time would be both a challenge and a big opportunity for some of the girls on the team.

"With Morgan gone it gives other kids on our team the chance to show us what they can do on the court," Smith said. "I think that Taylor (Tuck), Falon (Edwards) and Ariel (Massengale) will really step up and show everyone how well they can play and fill in."

Massengale was the starting point guard for the Raiders and made the USA Basketball Women's U16 National Team earlier this month. Edwards and Taylor Tuck were used as role players on last year's championship team.

The schedule continues to be finalized for the 2009-2010 campaign, but seven home games are already confirmed.

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