Bolingbrook escapes from Joliet with win

Joliet's Anthony Shoemaker (right) attempts to drive past Bolingbrook's Anthony Greene.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Herald News)

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The final buzzer had gone off and No. 10 Bolingbrook was ahead by one point, but the ball was still bouncing around on the rim.

“It seemed like time just stopped,” Bolingbrook senior Diamond Taylor said.

The ball didn’t drop through the net and the Raiders escaped with a 55-54 win over the No. 24 Steelmen Tuesday night in Joliet

Donnell White, Joliet’s husky 6-3 center, had three chances to win the game in the final seven seconds. The first shot was blocked by the Raiders’ Anthony Greene. White got the rebound and then missed again underneath the basket. He rebounded that miss and got his final try off right before the buzzer.

“It didn’t go in so I guess luck was on our side,” Taylor said.

Taylor and Troy Snyder each scored 13 points for Bolingbrook (4-0, 1-0 SouthWest Suburban Blue).

Joliet junior Anthony Shoemaker was a revelation. He finished with 24 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

“Shoemaker was a shocker,” Taylor said. “He came out of nowhere, just tried to dunk it on us every time.”

Both teams were especially disciplined on offense, mainly because of their pint-sized point guards: Ryan Walker for Bolingbrook and Wesley Powell for Joliet.

Walker scored twice in a 7-0 Raiders run midway through the fourth quarter.

“I knew we needed some kind of spark, our shots just weren’t falling tonight,” Walker said.

Greene’s layup with 22 seconds to play was the game-winner, but his block of White’s shot under the basket may have been even more important.

“Greene was huge for us tonight with that block and everything,” Taylor said. “We started out kind of sluggish, but we knew we had to pick it up and stop worrying about the environment and just play.”

Powell finished with eight points for Joliet. The Steelmen only turned the ball over nine times in the game, but four of those came in the fourth quarter.

“That was very good team and this is a very tough place to play,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. “And [Shoemaker] is one of the best players in the state. To get a win here when we didn’t play all that well, and in this type of environment, is very satisfying.”