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No. 1 Bolingbrook ousts West Aurora

The West Aurora boys basketball team was up for the challenge against once-beaten and top-seeded Bolingbrook Tuesday night in Frankfort.

"We were fearless," West Aurora guard Damian Virgen said of the Blackhawks trailing by a mere point at halftime in the Lincoln-Way East sectional semifinals.

But it all unraveled for West Aurora - despite Virgen pouring in a career-high 27 points - after halftime as the Raiders used points off turnovers as the basis of a 55-point second-half explosion.

Bolingbrook will face either Joliet West or Joliet Central Friday night after its 85-66 victory.

The fifth-seeded Blackhawks, making their fifth sectional appearance in the last six years, had their season end at 21-9.

The Raiders (27-1) had four of their five players finish in double figures as their backcourt duo of Joseph Yusufe and Kaleb Thornton stage-managed the Bolingbrook offensive show in the second half.

The two guards had all but 6 of their combined 31 points in the third and fourth quarters.

West Aurora suffered 8 third-quarter turnovers that Bolingbrook capitalized on with scores on all but one of the Blackhawks' misplays.

"We kept turning the ball over, and it led to easy layups for them," Virgen said. "We couldn't catch up."

But the Blackhawks would have 22 of their own points in the third quarter to stay within a one-possession game well into the quarter.

After one Bolingbrook spurt fueled by Yusufe, who had 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter, Virgen and junior forward Camron Donatlan had back-to-back collaborations with Virgen scoring off feeds from his junior teammate.

The second score brought West Aurora to within 50-46.

"I was just trying to get the team the victory," Virgen said of his career offensive night.

Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, the turnover woes could not be solved.

As a result, Bolingbrook would have the first double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter.

West Aurora would never come within single figures of the Bolingbrook lead again.

"That's what they do," West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said of the Raiders. "They turn you over. They are at their best in transition. They are ranked in the top five for a reason. They have a good chance to win a state championship."

DaVion Cross' 3-point play to open the game for West Aurora turned into a lead never to be surrendered in the opening eight minutes.

Cross, who finished his basketball career with a 14-point game, was victimized by the Bolingbrook guards more than once.

"We couldn't take care of the ball and were out of focus," Cross said of the Blackhawks' 15 combined second- and third-quarter turnovers. "We were giving up a lot of height. We couldn't quite come back."

The Raiders also limited Donatlan, the Blackhawks' leading scorer, to a lone fourth-quarter dunk for his only points of the game.

Malik Binns' 19 points paced Bolingbrook.

"West Aurora is a really good team," Bolingbrook coach Ben Brost said. "They are well-prepared and well-coached. Our guards - when they are making solid decisions - are hard to guard."

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