Bolingbrook wants another title

Bolingbrook players (from left to right) Nicosia Henry, Ariel Massengale, Mercedes Griffin, and Morgan Tuck are ready to defend last year's state championship.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)

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Bolingbrook senior Nicosia Henry is hungry, but she’s not starving. How could she be when she plays for a girls basketball program that has won two state championships since 2006 and has brought home a state trophy every year since 2005?

“We are hungry [for another state title], but we are also humble,’’ Henry said. ‘‘I don’t feel the pressure. We are older and have more talent, and everyone plays a big role on this team. We know what we are capable of doing.’’

Henry, a Seton Hall recruit, is among four returning starters for Bolingbrook, the preseason No. 1 team in the area. Joining her on the defending Class 4A state champions are senior guard Mercedes Griffin, junior guard Ariel Massengale, sophomore forward Morgan Tuck, considered one of the best players in the nation in her class, and Tuck’s sister Taylor, a 6-foot junior forward.

The Raiders lost only one starter, Satavia Taylor, from last season’s state championship team. They added a move-in from Minnesota in 6-1 sophomore forward Cabriana Capers.

"This team ranks right up there with the top ones, and now we have to make sure they are tough," Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith said. "I think all these kids are more confident. Ariel has come back with confidence and something to prove, same with Nicosia. And they have that swagger about themselves."

In Smith’s eight years coaching the Raiders, he has a 218-25 record and has led the program to two state titles (2006, 2009), two runners-up (2007, 2008) and a fourth-place finish (2005). Last year’s team finished 25-4 and beat Young 53-29 for the state title.

A big key in that run was Tuck, who got national attention in December after guiding the Raiders to the Nike Tournament of Champions tournament title in Phoenix. She averaged 18.8 points per game.

But Tuck has had knee issues, tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament in May at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., during tryouts for the national U16 team. She had surgery in June and is practicing with the team. Tuck had also injured her right knee during last season.

The Raiders have played without Tuck before, during the summer, Massengale said, so if Tuck cannot start right away, the rest of the team is ready.

"The rest of us are playing hard and we know what we have to do if she is out for a game," Massengale said. ‘‘This year we feel like we have a strong bench. And we are preparing to [win another state title]. We want to have that same feeling again."