Bonga, Wheaton North bounce Geneva
Ben Bonga's role on Wheaton North has evolved from doing the dirty work to sharing the offensive spotlight.
Bonga, a junior, began his varsity career about a year ago. It was a season of learning and doing what the team needed.
He's since taken the reins.
“I've really grown into that (role),” Bonga said following Wheaton North's 41-38 DuKane Conference win over Geneva on Thursday. “At the start of the season, I wasn't ready for it. But, the Christmas tournament and the Thanksgiving tournament really got me ready.”
He further demonstrated that against Geneva.
Bonga missed his first three shots, but finished the half shooting 5-of-6 and scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half. He also had 9 rebounds and 2 steals.
“The (St. Pat's) Thanksgiving tournament, it wasn't really a great tournament (for me),” Bonga said. “But, then the (Jack Tosh) Christmas tournament, I really gained a lot of confidence. Our team did really well. That was just a turning point.”
Wheaton North coach Dave Brackmann has been waiting for Bonga to break out his expanded game.
“(Bonga has) always been a scorer as far as driving to the basket and stuff,” Brackmann said. “He's worked really hard to improve his shot. I thought early in the season, he was very hesitant to bust it out during a game, to be honest.”
The Wheaton North coaching staff encouraged Bonga to take his shots with confidence and not be worried about missing them. The results are showing.
“He's really taken to that,” Brackmann said. “I think it's really great to see because now it becomes really hard to guard if he's shooting the ball from outside and he's able to kind of get to the rim. He's just playing with a lot of confidence that he wasn't necessarily playing with those first few weeks. It's made a big difference in our team.”
Wheaton North (9-4, 2-3) took a 29-20 lead into the fourth quarter and still led 37-29 with 1:25 left, but Drew Johnson and the Vikings competed to the very end.
Falcons guard Emanuel Wilson hit 3-of-4 free throws before Vikings guard Nate Valentine hit a 3-pointer to make it 40-32 with 34 seconds remaining.
Wheaton North's Sam Cascella split two free throws, but Geneva wasn't done. Sophomore guard Christopher Suger hit a 3, followed by Johnson's 3 to finish the game.
Geneva (7-8, 1-4) once again was missing star forward Josh Preston, out with a shoulder injury. That hasn't stopped Johnson, a senior, from showing some grit for a generally inexperienced Geneva team.
Johnson scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-2 guard also had 4 rebounds. Valentine had 7 points, while Suger had 6.
Johnson has elevated from the ground floor of the Geneva program.
He played freshman and sophomore level basketball before playing the majority of his minutes last year as a junior on the JV team due to the collective vast varsity experience on last season's Class 4A supersectional team.
“He's awesome; he scores (and) he plays hard,” Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. “He hasn't come off the floor the last four games. He's leading us in scoring, leading us rebounding ... so proud of him.”