Downers Grove North slows it down, upsets Bolingbrook in Class 4A Benet Sectional

LISLE — It wasn’t quite Dean Smith and the four corners, but Downers Grove North slowed the pace of Tuesday’s Class 4A Benet Academy Sectional semifinal against Bolingbrook just enough and upset the top-seeded Raiders 29-26 to advance to Friday night’s championship game against the winner of Wednesday’s Benet Academy-Waubonsie Valley matchup.

The Trojans routinely went more than a minute without shooting throughout the contest, and sometimes nearly two minutes. That kept the high-powered Bolingbrook offense on the defensive side of the ball, and kept Downers North close.

Then, in the fourth quarter, North senior Jack Richtman stepped up.

Richtman, who did not start the game, hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4:13 remaining to tie the game at 24. Neither team scored again until the 1:32 mark when Richtman, who led all scorers with 12 points, connected again from the left wing for a 27-24 lead, the first time North led all night.

Davion Thompson, who led Bolingbrook with 10 points, had a quick answer with a short jumper in the lane with 1:20 left to pull the Raiders (29-5) to within 27-26.

With 33.2 seconds left, Bolingbrook’s Trey Brost forced a turnover, giving his team the ball.

The Raiders ran the clock down to 12 seconds before Thompson began a drive into the lane. His jumper missed, and North’s Jack Crowley grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 5 seconds left. He made both free throws - the only free throws the Trojans shot all night - and Brady Pettigrew’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed, sending the sizable Downers North student section streaming onto the floor in celebration.

“Our offense wasn’t much different than it has been all year,” Richtman said. “We want to make sure we have the best shot and not force any shots. We stayed with the game plan and lately, we have been just going out there and having fun and staying loose.

“We don’t worry about makes or misses as long as we are getting the best shot.”

Richtman had good shots all night as he went 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Fellow senior Crowley finished with nine points and Nolan Hurter added six points to offset a scoreless night from Bobby Grganto after the Wisconsin-Stevens Point commit went for 20 in Friday’s regional title win over West Aurora.

However, it was the defense, which started as a 2-3 zone and morphed into man-to-man at times, that ruled the day for the Trojans.

“This was a real grinder of a game, and the kids executed very well,” Downers Grove North coach Jim Thomas said. “This was all about the seniors stepping up. We have 11 of them on the team this year and a lot of them sat behind a good group last year. They got their chance this year and have taken advantage. To win a game like this without Bobby scoring says a lot about the rest of the team.

“I don’t think we talked about offense all week at practice. Bolingbrook is very physical on defense and very fast to rotate. It’s hard for us to even simulate that in practice. We were more concerned with slowing down their three studs [Thompson, Brady Pettigrew and Valparaiso commit JT Pettigrew], and we were able to do that.”

Bolingbrook got a pair of deep 3-pointers from Thompson in the first quarter to move out to a 10-2 lead, but Richtman drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to close it to 10-5. The Raiders opened the third with three free throws by Kendall Cutler and a 3-pointer by Brady Pettigrew to take a 16-5 lead, but North got a putback basket by Hurter and a steal and layup by Crowley to close to within 16-9 at halftime.

The Trojans opened the third quarter with four straight points, getting a basket each by Hurter and Crowley, to make it 16-13 before Brady Pettigrew scored for Bolingbrook to make it 18-13. Crowley answered with a 3-pointer with 3:04 left in the third, but JT Pettigrew converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 21-16. A free throw by Brost put Bolingbrook ahead 22-16 before Richtman hit a 3-pointer just before the end of the quarter to make it 22-19 entering the fourth.

A basket by Hurter with 7 minuters to play pulled North to within 22-21 before Thompson scored on a nifty baseline drive for a 24-21 Bolingbrook lead, setting up Richtman’s late-game heroics.

“Give Downers Grove credit,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. “They made the shots at the end. We had our chances and got some good looks, but they didn’t go in. We had chances when we were up six that would have put us up eight, but the shots just didn’t fall. It’s as simple as that.”

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