All Chelsea Stone wanted was to have a great birthday. On Saturday, the Bogan girls basketball team helped her get one.
The Bengals rolled into the semifinals of the Chicago Public School City Championships with a 67-37 win over Raby (16-5).
“Today was a great birthday present,” Stone said of her 18th birthday. “We came out motivated and focused as a team and I had my parents behind the bench cheering for me.”
The No. 23 Bengals (20-3) used a 19-0 spurt in the first half to build a commanding 22-3 lead to all but put the game away early.
“I thought we played much better today. We played Westinghouse the other day and kind of under estimated them,“ Bogan coach Gary Bell said. “That did not happen today.
“We came out and pressured them and we knocked down some outside shots. We wanted to come out and set the tone early so we could coast in the second half.”
Four Bogan players scored in double digits, led by Jamee Denman’s game-high 17 points. The sophomore connected on four 3-pointers.
“Jamee did a great job stepping up for us today,” Bell said. “She is just a sophomore and she shot the ball really well.”
Stone, who tallied 13 points for the Bengals, also mentioned the team had a little extra motivation at the start of the game.
“We knew (No. 7) Morgan Park was in the stands watching us,” the senior said. “We wanted to come out and show them what we are all about.”
The Bengals made a statement, as they led 20-3 after the first eight minutes of play.
“We came out to play today,“ Bell said. “We need to play with this kind of intensity every game. And if we see Morgan Park (in the semis) we know we are going to have to bring it.”
Brittany Byrd (12) and Breyonna Craft (11) joined Denman and Stone in double figures.
Adrianne Eaton led Raby with 16 points.
