Bogan had a superb season final yr, dropping to East St. Louis in additional time within the Class 3A state championship recreation. The Bengals started to erase the assumption that they had been a tier under Simeon, Curie, Young and Morgan Park within the Public League.
Jordan Booker and Rashaun Agee, the star guard and massive man from final yr’s workforce, are gone. Bogan was anticipated to be good this season, however some thought it’d take a month or so to get issues going.
Well, it’s virtually mid-December and the Bengals are undefeated and have already crushed Morgan Park and Simeon. They beat the Wolverines by 22 factors on the highway.
“Last year we lost at Morgan Park by a couple points and we had them beat,” Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin mentioned. “And we beat Simeon. So this is almost two years of doing that. Basically we have a lot of guys that were on the bench and watched [Booker] and all of them so they know our system and they were ready. It was just a matter of them stepping up and being focused. We had two teams last year, people just didn’t know it.”
The Bengals survived a spirited second half from visiting Corliss and gained 58-46 on Thursday.
Bogan jumped out to a 25-Four lead however the Trojans tied the sport on a three-pointer from Na’shawn Townsen halfway via the third quarter.
“We actually didn’t come in thinking it would be an easy game,” Bengals senior Antione Bloxton mentioned. “We are capable of being No. 1 so there are a lot of people at our necks. We came in to play hard because they are a scrappy team. It was up and down but we pushed through and I came up at the end like I’m supposed to.”
Bloxton completed with 24 factors and 5 rebounds.
Corliss (4-1, 3-1 Red-South/Central) reduce Bogan’s result in 43-41 early within the fourth quarter. Junior Darrion Jones scored on a tip after which on a drive to the basket for the Bengals (9-0, 4-0) after which Bloxton ripped off seven consecutive factors to seal the win.
“That’s what [Bloxton] is supposed to do if he wants to be All-City,” Goodwin mentioned.
Grid View
Jones completed with 14 factors and 6 rebounds. He’s an especially expert guard, a three-year varsity participant that seems to have the ability to do the whole lot with each fingers. Unlike most present gamers he prefers driving to the basket over the three-point shot.
“No one can stop me from getting to the bucket so why not just keep going to the bucket,” Jones mentioned. “I’ve been playing varsity since freshman year so it’s not like I’m afraid of the big lights or anything. I know what to do when I come on the court.”
Tremear Fraley, a 6-9 senior, added seven factors and 5 rebounds for the Bengals.
Junior Javonte McKenzie led Corliss with 16 factors and 11 rebounds off the bench. Townsen added 11 factors and Jadon Williams had six factors and 7 rebounds.
“Javonte has a big heart,” Jones mentioned. “He’s about 6-3 or 6-4 but he plays like he’s 6-8 on the boards. He loves blocking and doing all the grimy work.”
Corliss is loaded with juniors, however Jones didn’t blame his workforce’s gradual begin on Bogan’s intimidating atmosphere or inexperience.
“We take a long time to adjust and settle in,” Jones mentioned. “Bogan is one of the top teams in the state. Every night is a dogfight, we know that coming in. Our guys just kept fighting. The score does not reflect how we played.”