Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – B.J. Mayer knew it was coming.

After watching his West High girls basketball team control the first three quarters against a talented Bolingbrook Raider squad from Illinois, Mayer issued a warning heading into the fourth quarter.

“You don’t drive three-and-a-half, four hours to come get your butt kicked,” Mayer said. “So we knew that they were going to be ready to go.

“They probably got an earful of motivation in that second half and we knew they were going to come.”

Bolingbrook trailed by 11 points at halftime and after the third quarter, but then stormed back in the fourth quarter to force overtime before prevailing 61-58 at the West High gymnasium.

Trailing 46-35 heading into the fourth quarter, the Raiders outscored West High 18-7 in the final eight minutes of regulation to force overtime with the score even at 53-53.

West High only made two baskets in overtime, while the Raiders made two baskets and four free throws in the final 1:03 that proved to be the difference.

“I thought we rushed a few things when they were on their run,” Mayer said. “We took some shots that are maybe good shots earlier in the game, but in crunch time you’ve kind of got to take your time a little bit and even get a better shot.”

Bolingbrook started the fourth quarter with a 15-3 scoring run and took its first lead since the opening seconds of the game at 50-49 on a basket by Gabriella Smith with slightly more than 4 minutes left in regulation.

West High answered with back-to-back baskets by Cailyn Morgan and Lauren Zacharias, putting the Women of Troy back on top at 53-50 with 2 minutes remaining.

Smith then made a 3-point basket that evened the score at 53-53 with 1:53 remaining.

Both teams were held scoreless for the rest of regulation.

West High fell to 10-3 overall, while Bolingbrook improved to 11-3.

Senior guard Rachael Saunders led West High with 17 points, but she only made 3-of-7 shots from the field in the second half and in overtime after making all four of her field-goal attempts in the first half.

Zacharias finished with 12 points, while senior forward Logan Cook scored 10.

Bolingbrook only made 1-of-10 field-goal attempts in the first quarter and trailed 11-6 heading to the second quarter. The Raiders began to convert more on offense in the second quarter, but still trailed 30-19 at halftime.

Both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter, but West High led by as many as 19 points in the quarter before the Raiders rallied. Bolingbrook ended the third quarter with an 8-0 scoring run, slicing the lead to 46-35.

The momentum then carried into the fourth quarter and into overtime where Bolingbrook made just enough free throws to hang on.

“They had quite a push and we had somewhat of a mental lapse when they pushed because we were just used to getting what we wanted for a while of offense,” Saunders said. “And when they started coming back on us, we were kind of caught off guard and gave it up on the boards and the points.”

Gabriella Smith led Bolingbrook with 19 points, while senior center Jahari Smith scored 14 points and only missed two shots.

“I thought they got a little aggressive,” Mayer said of Bolingbrook. “They had a three-and-a-half, four-hour bus ride and that might have put them asleep a little bit. So I thought they just got a lot more aggressive.

“The big kid inside, she was a handful. I thought at times we did pretty good, but we couldn’t quite get the offensive rebounds enough.”

Win or lose, Mayer likes playing a talented opponent from out of state because he thinks his team ultimately will benefit from the experience. West High also played against a team from Minnesota earlier in the season.

“We’re trying to play some good teams,” Mayer said. “We feel that playing those good teams that we really don’t know a whole lot about will make us better in the long run and help prepare you for regional tournament play.”

Bolingbrook     6  13 16 18 8  –  61

West High        11 19 16  7  5  –  58

Bolingbrook (61) – Taylor Robinson 2-7 0-0 5, Arielle McElroy 1-5 1-2 4, Jahari Smith 5-7 4-6 14, Lynese Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Gabriella Smith 7-15 3-6 19, Danyel Middleton 4-9 1-2 10, De’Ahna Richardson 2-2 0-0 4, Jayden Marable 2-6 0-0 5, Francesca Ancieto 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa Cazares 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 9-17 61.

West High (58) – Logan Cook 4-10 0-1 10, Lauren Zacharias 5-10 1-4, 12, Rachael Saunders 6-11 2-4 17, Emma Koch 2-3 0-1 4, Cailyn Morgan 3-10 2-2 9, Paige Beckner 0-2 4-4 4, Audrey Koch 0-4 0-0 0, Matayia Tellis 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-53 9-15 58.

3-point goals – Bolingbrook 6 (Gabriella Smith 2, Robinson, McElroy, Middleton, Marable); West High – 5 (Logan Cook 2, Zacharias, Saunders, Morgan). Fouls – Bolingbrook 18, West High 14.