'Brook Tuck(s) it away

BOLINGBROOK -- When you have a program that has played in three straight state title games, the expectations are high. That was certainly evident for the Bolingbrook High School girls basketball team Thursday night.

Freshman forward Morgan Tuck had just scored a career-high 26 points and added 12 rebounds to spur the Raiders to a 68-30 victory over Lockport in a Southwest Suburban Blue game.

But when approached for an interview after the game, Tuck looked dejected and walked away, saying, "Please, I don't want to talk."

Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith explained why.

"I don't think she looks at it as a career high, she looks at how she played the game," Smith said. "She missed free throws, she missed a couple of easy shots, she expects big things.

"She's not happy with herself and I'm not happy with her either."

Tuck, who stands 6 feet 2, had her way inside all evening. She finished 11-of-23 from the field and 4-of-9 from the line. But she was also in foul trouble throughout and eventually fouled out with 3:36 to play in the game.

But by that point, Bolingbrook (10-3, 5-0) had things well in hand. Still, Smith wasn't satisfied at all with his teams effort.

"We just want to play the right way," he said. "I don't care who we are playing, we didn't make layups and we turned the ball over too much. We weren't disciplined and we have to be disciplined.

The opening quarter was certainly not a thing of beauty as the Raiders turned the ball over 7 times. But on the flip-side they forced Lockport into a whopping 15 first quarter turnovers as Bolingbrook jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led 11-2 after the first quarter.

Lockport (4-10, 0-4) turned the ball over eight times before even attempting a shot, which was a made 15-footer by junior guard Jessica Rourke with 3:44 to play in the period.

Many of the Porter turnovers were unforced as Bolingbrook didn't use a full-court press, but instead had more of a three-quarter to half-court press that would quickly drop back.

"Just the presence of Bolingbrook on defense can cause turnovers," Lockport coach Krista Peterson said. "Plus it was just a mismatch for us on the boards. They had their way in there."

Trailing 16-2 a minute into the second quarter, the Porters came to life and four different players scored in a 9-2 spurt. Senior guard Ashley Shelby (5 points) capped the run with an old-fashioned 3-point play to draw Lockport within 18-11 with 5:05 left in the first half.

But Bolingbrook responded with 6 straight points and led 29-16 at halftime.

"I was proud of our defense in the first half," Peterson said. "We came out with a plan and it worked in the first half since we held them to under 30. They scored in the second half, but I'm still proud of the effort. We played our hearts out till the end."

Shelby opened the second half with an 11-foot runner to draw Lockport within 29-18. That was as close as it would get. Tuck scored 8 points in the third quarter as the Raiders went on a 20-6 burst the rest of the quarter for a 49-24 advantage after three.

Bolingbrook sophomore guard Ariel Massengale finished with 10 points. Senior guard Satavia Taylor, also in foul trouble most of the game, had 7 points and junior forward Nicosia Henry added 6 points and 9 rebounds for the Raiders.

Overall, Lockport ended with 39 turnovers, while the Raiders had 21. Bolingbrook did have a whopping 44-23 advantage on the boards.

The Porters were paced by 8 points apiece from junior forward Alyssa Garcia and sophomore forward Gintare Surdokaite. Junior guard Meaghan Barney added 5 points and 4 boards for the Porters before leaving with a shin injury with 23.7 seconds to play. She is expected to be OK.

Now Smith hopes the Raiders are OK as they play No. 2 nationally ranked South Send (Indiana) Washington at the Willowbrook Tournament on Jan. 17.

"We can't just look forward to that game," Smith said. "every game to me is a big game and what we have to do is get in the habit of that."