Bogan had a brilliant run last season, losing to East St. Louis in overtime in the Class 3A state championship game. The Bengals began to erase the belief that they were a tier below Simeon, Curie, Young and Morgan Park in the Public League.
Jordan Booker and Rashaun Agee, the star guard and big man from last year’s team, are gone. Bogan was expected to be good this season, but some thought it might take a month or so to get things going.
Well, it’s almost mid-December, and the Bengals are undefeated and already have beaten Morgan Park and Simeon. They beat the Wolverines by 22 points on the road.
“Last year we lost at Morgan Park by a couple points, and we had them beat,” Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin said. “And we beat Simeon. So this is almost two years of doing that. Basically, we have a lot of guys that were on the bench and watched [Booker] and all of them, so they know our system and they were ready. It was just a matter of them stepping up and being focused. We had two teams last year, people just didn’t know it.”
The Bengals survived a spirited second half from visiting Corliss and won 58-46 on Thursday.
Bogan jumped out to a 25-4 lead, but the Trojans tied the score on a three-pointer from Na’shawn Townsen midway through the third quarter.
“We actually didn’t come in thinking it would be an easy game,” Bengals senior
Antione Bloxton said. “We are capable of being No. 1, so there are a lot of people at our necks. We came in to play hard because they are a scrappy team. It was up and down, but we pushed through and I came up at the end like I’m supposed to.”
Bloxton finished with 24 points and five rebounds.
Corliss (4-1, 3-1 Red-South/Central) cut Bogan’s lead to 43-41 early in the fourth quarter. Junior Darrion Jones scored on a tip and then on a drive to the basket for the Bengals (9-0, 4-0). Then Bloxton ripped off seven consecutive points to seal the win.
“That’s what [Bloxton] is supposed to do if he wants to be all-city,” Goodwin said.
Jones finished with 14 points and six rebounds. He’s an extremely skilled guard, a three-year varsity player who appears to be able to do everything with both hands. Unlike most current players, he prefers driving to the basket over the three-point shot.
“No one can stop me from getting to the bucket, so why not just keep going to the bucket,” Jones said. “I’ve been playing varsity since freshman year, so it’s not like I’m afraid of the big lights or anything. I know what to do when I come on the court.”
Tremear Fraley, a 6-9 senior, added seven points and five rebounds for the Bengals.
Junior Javonte McKenzie led Corliss with 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Townsen added 11 points, and Jadon Williams had six points and seven rebounds.
“Javonte has a big heart,” Corliss coach Harvey Jones said. “He’s about 6-3 or 6-4, but he plays like he’s 6-8 on the boards. He loves blocking and doing all the grimy work.”
Corliss is loaded with juniors, but Jones didn’t blame his team’s slow start on inexperience or Bogan’s intimidating environment.
“We take a long time to adjust and settle in,” Jones said. “Bogan is one of the top teams in the state. Every night is a dogfight, we know that coming in. Our guys just kept fighting. The score does not reflect how we played.”
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) December 13, 2019
