Bolingbrook was always poised to be a major threat in the South suburbs this season. Nebraska-bound senior Nana Akenten is a Player of the Year contender, his presence alone made the Raiders one of the area’s top teams.
The arrival over the summer of senior Malik Binns from Morgan Park, junior guard Kaleb Thornton from Nazareth and senior Trevor Ross from Oswego East changed all expectations. Bolingbrook evolved from a team expected to compete for a sectional championship to a legitimate Class 4A state title contender.
The early season results just amped up the hype. The Raiders scored 87 points in a win against Decatur Eisenhower and 99 against Lincoln-Way Central.
Local rival Lockport gave Bolingbrook its first mild test of the season on Thursday. The visiting Porters were able to keep things close for a half before the Raiders turned it on to win 63-38.
“That first half was the worst we’ve played all season, but that is going to happen sometimes,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said.
Akenten, a 6-6 wing, scored 21 points. He shot 4-for-7 from three-point range. With his size and leaping ability he’s able to get off a three-point shot over nearly any high school guard.
“Offensively he can do just about whatever he wants,” Brost said. “At times he tries to do too much, but he’s a Big Ten player for a reason. He has the skill set to play at that level. He’s well over 50 percent from three on the year. That’s pretty good, I’m glad he’s on my team.”
Bolingbrook (5-0, 1-0 Southwest Suburban Blue) has plenty of talent. The key to a state run this season will be chemistry.
“I’m very comfortable with this team,” Akenten said. “Nobody has played with each other before, we are learning day by day. The more we work with each other on and off the court we will develop that chemistry.”
The early signs are good. The Raiders move the ball well, play hard and are tenacious on defense. They forced Lockport (4-3, 0-1) into 31 turnovers.
“We pride ourselves on putting teams under pressure, we like to speed the game up,” Akenten said.
Akenten and Binns, who is also 6-6, are both comfortable offensively and defensively on the post and the perimeter. Senior Brandon Lawani, a 6-6 force off the bench, is a post player. All those long, athletic arms are a nightmare for opposing offense. Ross, sophomore Joseph Yesufu and Thornton harassed the Porters’ guards throughout the game.
“We went hard tonight but we didn’t necessarily play together,” Brost said. “We have some work to do, but I like my team. This is the first time we’ve been in a tight situation. In [the season-opening tournament in Decatur] we played some tough teams but we kind of jumped on them right at the beginning.”
Binns scored 16 points and had a few highlight reel dunks. He had a few very impressive quarters for Morgan Park last season, but for whatever reason never had a good stretch of multiple games with significant playing time.
“[Brost] has a lot of trust in me,” Binns said. “I’m just trying to give the team some good energy.”
Matt Smietanski and Chase Travis each scored seven points for Lockport.
