Bogan gets best of Leo
Double-double from Anderson not enough for Lions vs. Bengals in ProvisoWest semifinals
Leo and Bogan have a lot in common, from their colors of orange and black to their 79th Street addresses a few miles apart.
So therewas more at stake than a berth in the Proviso West Holiday Tournament championship game when the Lions and Bengals met Friday night.
“You always want to beat your brother and talk about it later,” Leo’s Fred Cleveland said. “But unfortunately, they get to talk about us.”
Bogan used a big third quarter to wipe out a two-point halftime deficit and beat Leo 60-54.
Senior forward DaChaun Anderson had 18 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Lions (11-3). Cleveland, a senior guard, scored 15 and junior forward Kendale Anderson had 10 points for Leo.
The Lions will play Fenwick, which lost 78-70 to Young, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday for third place.
Senior guard Jordan Booker scored a game-high 23 points for Bogan (12-1), including 11 during a 23-7 surge in the third quarter.
“Just like any high school basketball player — they see the ball go in a couple times and that basket gets bigger and bigger,” Leo coach Jamal Thompson said of Booker.
“He made a couple shots in the first half, and in the second half, he kept making shots. We didn’t expect him to have a breakout game, but he did.”
Coming in, Leo was more focused on containing 6-foot-8 senior forward Rashaun Agee, who has been one of the Chicago area’s breakout players this season.
“It was a big matchup between Rashaun and DaChaun,” Cleveland said.
Agee finished with 13 points
after sitting part of the first half with two fouls. Not taking advantage of that was one of Thompson's regrets. Another was a switch in tactics for the third quarter.
“We left a lot of points out there with missed layups and missed free throws,” Thompson said.
“We should have come in at halftime up double digits, no problem.”
Leo was content to play at a slower tempo early.
“Our game plan was working fine, making them play a half-court basketball game,” Thompson said. “In the third quarter, I thought we could speed them up a little bit.
“But we sped them up too much and they got layup after layup. I told the guys this one's on me because I didn't stick to the game plan.”
The Lions trailed 52-36 early in the third quarter before rallying to cut the deficit to 54-50 with 1:32 left. But Agee's dunk and two free throws by Jayvon Clark made it 58-50 with 50 seconds left.
“We tried to go out there and prove to everyone that we are the better team, but (Friday) we came up short,” Thompson said.
“At the end of the day, we play a (Class) 4A schedule. Come February, March, we'll be going back to 2A. This is getting us better and better.”