Boys Basketball: Sharp-shooting guards lift Bolingbrook by Lockport

Chad Cooke and Cam Burnett are the kind of smart and talented players coaches dream about having at their command.

The two Bolingbrook senior guards combined for six three-pointers that enabled the visiting Raiders captured their sixth consecutive win with the 54-46 victory over Lockport Tuesday night.

Cooke, the team’s sixth man, scored 11 points. He drilled two three-pointers from the right wing during a second-quarter flurry that wiped out a six-point Lockport advantage. “That’s kind of my role, the sixth man off the bench who gives the team instant offense,” Cooke said.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me open and getting me the ball,” he said. Cooke’s shooting sparked a 15-6 second-quarter burst that propelled the Raiders to a 24-22 lead at the break.

Burnett, who scored nine points on three three-pointers, opened and closed the third quarter with three-pointers from an identical location, extended from the right side of the top of the key. His final three-pointer put the Raiders (13-8, 8-2 SouthWest Suburban Blue) up 42-34 entering the fourth quarter.

“That’s kind of my sweet spot,” Burnett said. “In both cases in the third quarter, I came off great double screens, stepped out and saw that nobody was there to guard me and I just stepped up and hit them.”

Burnett’s shooting keyed an 11-2 quarter-closing by burst by the Raiders.

Lockport junior David Robinson scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in the second half, helping the Porters rally from a 46-36 deficit. He combined with sophomore John Campbell and senior Courtney Cole to spark a 8-2 run that pulled the Porters within 48-46 with just under three minutes remaining. Cole (eight points) scored off a beautiful steal and assist by Brandon Sawin.

Bolingbrook’s 6-7 junior center Ben Moore, who finished with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, converted four consecutive free throws that iced the victory. The Raiders shot 8-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and made 18-of-22 for the game.

Moore also helped create the open looks for Cooke and Burnett. “Teams can’t play him straight up, they have to put two or three players on him and it creates a lot of space for everybody else,” Burnett said.

By contrast, the Porters (13-9, 4-6) converted just 1-of-17 from beyond the arc. “Bolingbrook played with a lot more patience than we did offensively,” Lockport coach Lawrence Thompson said.

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