Freshman helps Bolingbrook edge Palatine in Tosh semifinals
Palatine coach Eric Millstone spoke of the goal for each one of the 32 teams competing at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic as his team headed into a Friday night semifinal bout with Bolingbrook.
"Every team comes into the tournament wanting to play five games but doing it is a completely different story because you just play better teams every game you go," Millstone said. “We're going to welcome the challenge and know we're going to get a good team regardless of who it is."
They were up against a Bolingbrook squad in familiar territory at the Tosh as it competed in the semifinal round for the fourth consecutive time. The streak dates back to its 2019 title run when it bested tourney host York in the final and followed that with fourth- and third-place finishes the past two years.
"There's no better tournament in the state of Illinois," Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said prior to tipoff. "This is the most well-run (tournament) with the best teams, the best coaches, with the best announcers. Every game is on live on YouTube. This is first class all the way around."
For Brost and his unit that experience will take them back to the Tosh final as a result of their 57-49 win over the Pirates in Friday's second semifinal in front of a near-capacity crowd at Campbell Gym.
The Raiders (12-1) will meet defending Class 3A state champion and Tosh newcomer Metamora in Saturday's 6 p.m. title tilt right back at Campbell.
The Redbirds (11-3) bested Downers Grove North (9-2) 44-38 in Friday's first semifinal.
And it was in large part to another tourney newcomer in Raiders guard Davion Thompson that paved the way to victory for Bolingbrook. The 6-foot-3 freshman's 27-point, 8-rebound performance led the Raiders.
Thompson tallied their first 11 points of the fourth quarter which he capped off with a hoop that put them ahead 52-46 with 3:32 remaining. Palatine (12-4) would get no closer than 52-49 on a triple from junior guard Carter Monroe (9 points) with 3:23 left.
Palatine missed opportunities to tie the game with a pair of missed three-point attempts before a K. J. Cathey putback with 41 ticks left made it 54-49. A Josh Aniceto charity toss followed by a pair from Thompson ended the evening's scoring.
Cathey's 12 points aided the winning Raiders effort followed by senior guard D.J. Strong with 11.
Six-7 Connor May led the Pirates with 23 points, 19 in the first half. Sophomore guard Darrin Dick joined Monroe with 9 points also as they will face DGN in the third-place game at 4:30.
Thompson spoke of his team's ability to pull away from a spirited Palatine effort.
"We started out slow at first, then picked it up,“ Thompson said. ”We all came together as a team. We had to survive turnovers early. We (also) just had to stop No. 21 (May). He was lighting it up (early).“
Thompson also looked forward to Saturday's Tosh title clash.
"It's going to be fun and exciting, we know we have to go out there and play hard," the freshman said.