Boys basketball: Freshman phenom Davion Thompson pours in 32 points as Bolingbrook beats Lincoln-Way East

FRANKFORT - Davion Thompson topped the 30-point mark for the first time in his Bolingbrook career Tuesday night. The way Thompson’s coaches and teammates see it, it was likely the first of many for the freshman guard.

After all, he makes it look so easy. Thompson scored 32 points while taking just 14 shots from the field. He made nine of those, including a trio of 3-pointers, and went 11-for-12 at the free-throw line.

“It’s just all natural,” Thompson said. “I’m just out there trying to win and have fun. It was exciting. The team put me in a good position to do what I needed to do. We played good offensively and defensively and got the win.”

Thompson’s performance was enough for the Raiders to hold off a late comeback attempt from host Lincoln-Way East and pull out a 66-58 win in a key SouthWest Suburban Blue game.

DJ Strong added 10 points, JT Pettigrew scored nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Trey Brost chipped in seven points for Bolingbrook (7-1, 2-0).

Karson Thomas led Lincoln-Way East (5-3, 0-2) with 18 points - including 12 in the fourth quarter - and nine rebounds. BJ Powell scored 15 points and Brenden Sanders had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Griffins made it a game after trailing 51-36 in the third quarter, but in the end there was just too much Thompson.

“The poise that he plays with is impressive,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said of Thompson. “Looking at the numbers, he scored 32 points on (14) shots. So, how efficient he is and the way he involves teammates and doesn’t make it about himself, that’s what impresses me the most about him.”

The Griffins pulled within six points three times in the final three minutes and even got the deficit down to four on Thomas’ three-point play with 29 seconds to go.

But Thompson calmly sunk two free throws to seal the win. He hit 11 of his 12 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, not displaying any nerves one might expect from a freshman.

“That’s what we’re in the gym for,” Thompson said. “We’ve got to practice those free throws so that late in the game, we can hit them.”

While the transition to high school basketball has been a smooth one for Thompson, he admitted he was a bit overwhelmed by one aspect of it during his initial games.

“The physicality,” he said. “It’s a little bit more physical than how it was in middle school. The first three games, I was getting used to it and didn’t play too well but then I got used to it.”

Rob Brost has certainly been impressed.

“I run out of superlatives to describe him, but he’s special,” Rob Brost said. “His ability to score the ball and do what needs to be done in the flow of the game is special. If you could ever have a quiet 32 points, that was it. He never forced anything. He just did it within the system.”

Bolingbrook jumped to leads of 16-5 after one quarter and 28-19 at halftime as the Griffins struggled to get going offensively.

Trey Brost frustrated the Lincoln-Way East guards on the perimeter and Pettigrew blocked or altered several shots when the Griffins were able to get in the paint.

“Even if I’m not producing offensively, I can always make an impact on the other side, getting in there and blocking shots,” Pettigrew said. “I take a lot of pride in that part of my game. It’s not just offense, defense is a big part.”

While Thomas was proud of the way Lincoln-Way East fought back late, he knows there are lessons to be learned from the slow start.

“They had three pretty good guards,” Thompson said of Bolingbrook. “We weren’t playing great defense. We were letting them get to the paint and we were doing too much fouling. We just have to keep working on team defense in practice.”

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Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson puts up a shot against Lincoln-Way East on Tuesday, Dec.12th, 2023 in Frankfort. (Gary Middendorf/gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com)