Undisputed: It's Bolingbrook again as 4A champions

NORMAL - If this is Illinois girls basketball's version of Ali-Frazier, Bolingbrook is still the Greatest.

Matched against Whitney Young for the third straight year in the Class 4A final, Bolingbrook repeated as champions with a 60-50 win at Redbird Arena on Saturday night.

Bolingbrook (29-1), whose last loss to an in-state team came to Young in the 2008 final, is the first large-school repeat champion since Naperville Central in 2003 and 2004. Hinckley-Big Rock won the Class 1A state title in 2009 and again this year.

Bolingbrook beat Young 53-29 in last year's final.

"This has been our goal since the beginning of the season. It feels great to do it," said Bolingbrook sophomore Morgan Tuck, who had 10 points and 8 rebounds. "It feels great to have a challenge. Better to win by a little bit than a lot."

It was indeed a challenge. Bolingbrook led by as many as 15, 29-16 at the half, but Young came all the way back to tie it 47-47 with 2:15 left on a tough driving layup in traffic by Kiana Johnson.

Tuck answered at the other end, giving Bolingbrook the lead for good.

"I just knew I needed to get into the post and get a basket," Tuck said. "No panic. Just play the way we're used to playing."

Ariel Massengale scored 18 points and Taylor Tuck 10 for Bolingbrook. Johnson scored 18 for Young (28-3), fouling out with 1:23 left after missing a layup for the tie.

Bolingbrook was 11th in the latest USA Today Top 25 national rankings, Young 8th. Bolingbrook's only loss this year was to 5th-ranked Long Beach Poly (Calif).