Game 152: Bolingbrook vs. Zion-Benton (Girl's Basketball)

Class 4A State Championship
Zion-Benton & Bolingbrook Warmups

Game 152
Bolingbrook vs. Zion-Benton (Girl's Basketball)
Class 4A State Championship
(3/5/11)

The final game of the night, the last high school girl's basketball game of the 2010-11 season.  Really?  You're kidding, right?!  This can't be the end of the season, already!!!

I had tried to schedule a Bolingbrook game during the regular season, but was unable to find any dates that correlated with my schedule.  The Raiders feature UCONN-bound junior Morgan Tuck and Tennessee-bound senior Ariel Massengale.  That in itself makes Bolingbrook a national All-Star team!!!

Speaking of national, the Raiders are ranked 5th in the nation by USA Today, and Tennessee head coach Pat Summit came to watch the Friday night semifinal game between Bolingbrook and Whitney Young.

Along with the UCONN and Tennessse-bound Raiders, senior Taylor Tuck (Morgan's older sister, a senior) is headed to Illinois, Cabriana Capers (6'1" Jr.) is being recruited by Wisconsin, Falon Edwards is headed to Southern Illinois.

Zion-Benton is making their first ever state finals appearance in program history.  Their nickname, the Zee-Bees, is based on the Seabees, given to the Naval Construction Battalions.  The school's proximity to the Great Lakes Military Base led to it's military tie to the nickname.

Bolingbrook Starters
Nia Moore (6'3" Jr.)
Ariel Massengale (5'7" Sr.)
Falon Edwards (5'8" Sr.)
Kierra Ray (5'9" Jr.)
Morgan Tuck (6'2" Jr.)

Zion-Benton Starters
Octavia Crump (5'11" Jr.)
Helena Rodriguez (5'6" Sr.)
Samantha Rodriguez (5'8" Fr.)
Juanita Robinson (5'11" Sr.)
Morgan Garrett (5'10" Sr.)

Morgan Tuck & Bolingbrook Raiders

Bolingbrook's Morgan Tuck (6'2" Jr.) was dominating in this game, scoring 10 points and boosted the Raiders to a 16-7 first quarter lead.  She was everything and more I expected.  It was fun watching her play.  She is the most exciting girl's basketball player I have seen in person.  The scary thing is that she is still just a junior!  She will be the next great one from Illinois.  Keep an eye out for her in 2012-2013 when she's suiting up for Gino Auriemma.  Morgan finished with 36 points, coming up just shy of the all-time record for points in a state tournament game, which is 41 points.  Tina Hutchinson of East St. Louis Lincoln had that scoring output against Marshall in a 1983 Quarterfinal game.  The record in a state championship game is 39 points, scored by Anna Jones of Flanagan in the 2009 Class 1A title game.  Tuck's 36 points does set a Class 4A state championship record, breaking her teammate Ariel Massengale's 22-point effort in the 2007-08 game against Whitney Young.

Bolingbrook Raises 3rd Consecutive Trophy

Morgan's older sister, Taylor, the Illini-bound guard, hurt her ankle at the end of the Whitney Young game on Friday night and was unable to go.  However, head coach Anthony Smith inserted her into the lineup to shoot a one-and-bonus free throw in the 4th quarter.  She missed the shot, but logged a minute in her final high school basketball game. 

By halftime, Bolingbrook led 37-11, and the route was on.  The final score was 72-42, and the Raiders won their 3rd consecutive state championship.  No other player on Bolingbrook's roster scored double digits, but 8 other players recorded points. 

Zion-Benton Fan Section

Juanita Robinson was the lone scorer in double digits for the Zee-Bees, finishing with 14 points.  Zion-Benton brought the largest crowd, by far, to the Class 3A/4A state finals.  To watch the Zee-Bees at the end of the game, was a great reminder of why I enjoy covering high school athletics so much.  Down by 30 points, Z-B head coach Tanya Johnson was cheering on her team as if they were up by 30 points.  During one instance down the stretch, Morgan Franklin missed a free throw (pretty badley), and she laughed and raised her arms to the Zion-Benton fans.  This drew an "AIRBALL" chant...from her own fans!  She laughed.  It was a great thing to watch.  The Zee-Bees accepted their medals as if they just won the state championship.  Zion-Benton will always be champions in my book, by their showing this weekend!  Kudos to the Zee-Bees!


After packing up and heading out, I made a stop at an IN-convenience store.  In gassing up, I was going to pay inside because I was going to pick up some trail mix and a bottle of water.  Over the intercom, "Pump 3 is ready, prepay or credit card only."  Okay, I have no idea how much gas it's going to take, so I'll go credit card, and have two seperate transactions.  After filling up, the receipt didn't print.  Then, as I set my goods on the counter (with a glass window between us), I had to find the bar codes on each item to be scanned.  Apparently, it's the small things that become extremely annoying after a long day in the gym, LOL. 

Driving home, the one thing that stuck out as I recalled the journey to 150 broadcasts, was the fact that I was not sick at all during this long basketball season.  Not even a sore throat, no cold, certainly no flu.  To most, that may sound common, but for me, it's a pretty rare occurrence.  This is my 9th or 10th year of broadcasting, and I have had a bad cold, bronchitis, or strep throat every one of those seasons, and sometimes I would get sick in upwards of three times in a basketball season.  Last year, I came down with bronchitis during the Saturday of the Thanksgiving Tournament.  It caused me to miss a doubleheader of broadcasts the following Monday.  I did not get sick again during the 2009-10 season.  Someone told me with the schedule I keep, my diet, and lack of sleep was just asking for bouts of illness.  Somehow I survived, and this paragraph is probably bad karma!

Game 152 Miles:  115