Lady Raiders romp past Joliet West behind Saracco and Perkins

On Saturday afternoon Bolingbrook and Joliet West, met in a nonconference battle of unbeaten teams on Joliet's West Side.

The Lady Raiders, behind juniors Madisyn Saracco and Kennedi Perkins, routed the host Tigers 68-40.

Going deep from beyond the arc on four occasions, Saracco scored a game-high 18 points for the Lady Raiders. Perkins added 15 points, while junior Tatiana Thomas just missed a double double with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Thomas' eight-point first quarter explosion gave the Lady Raiders a 20-12 first-quarter lead.

Perkins ignited a 12-0 second-quarter, game-ending Lady Raider run, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter.

With 7:39 in the half, disaster struck for the host Tigers. All-Area Tiger sophomore, Lisa Thompson picked up her third foul and go to the bench.

Like sharks smelling blood in the water, Saracco and Perkins attacked.

Saracco buried her second trey of the game for a 25-12 Brook lead.

Saracco would drop a dime to a Perkins layup for a 27-12 Raider lead. Saracco then nailed her third bucket from beyond the arc, upping the Raider lead to 30-12. Perkins' steal and score put the Raiders up 32-12 with 2:54 in the half.

The long-range junior sharpshooter Saracco connected on her fourth 3 of the game, and her third of the quarter, to give the 'Brook a 42-20 lead to close out the half.

Game over.

"We all played so well today against a very good Joliet West team," Saracco said. "Lisa Thompson is a great player and picking up her third foul at the start of the second quarter helped us. We really took advantage of her absence and blew the game open. I was fortunate again to knock down my shots."

"We wanted to have a quick start today," Perkins said. "Tatiana gave us that quick start in the first quarter. Everyone played with a lot of energy today. With the talent we have on this team, we feel if we work hard, we can go undefeated."

In her return to the Lady Raiders line-up, 6-foot senior De'Ahna Richardson played well and scored eight points. Five-foot-11 Katelyn Hoekema also returned from injury and scored two points and hauled down two rebounds for the Lady Raiders.

Six-foot Lady Raider senior Faith Domercant chipped in with six points.

Thompson scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half for the Tigers, while junior Grace Walsh scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

"We wanted to come out and have a fast start," Thomas said. "We continue to play great defense and that is why we are undefeated. Once again, I had so much fun today playing with my teammates."

"The girls really showed the potential they have to do great things this season," Bolingbrook coach Chris Smith said. "We came out and had a fast start and then Madisyn and Kennedi played so well for us. We are back at full strength with De'Ahna Richardson and Katelyn Hoekema back in action.

"I was very pleased with our play today. We beat a very good Joliet West team."

The Lady Raiders (3-0,1-0) return to Southwest Suburban Blue action at home against Lockport (0-2, 0-2) on Monday night at 6:30.

The Tigers (2-1, 2-0) host the Steelwomen of Joliet Central (0-2, 0-2) at West on Tuesday at 7