Lincoln-Way East’s BJ Powell, only a freshman, tries to engineer another comeback. ‘His future is really bright.’

Lincoln-Way East’s BJ Powell had seen this before.

That’s why when the 5-foot-10 freshman guard buried a 3-pointer against Joliet West, helping to whittle a 21-point deficit down to nine Tuesday night, he was pretty pumped up.

It brought back thoughts of Powell being a huge cog as the Griffins rallied from an 11-point deficit with 2:07 left in regulation for a double-overtime victory over Bloom.

“We did it before against Bloom,” he said. “I figured we could do it again.”

But Joliet West had other plans in mind. The top-seeded Tigers recovered and pulled off a 63-47 victory in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional semifinals.

Kyle Olagbegi led the Griffins (25-6) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He scored nine points in the second half to spark the comeback attempt. George Bellevue added 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Powell followed with 11 points and Tylon Toliver added 10. Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears paced Joliet West (29-5) with 16 points. Jayden Martin had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Little went right for the Griffins in the first half. They trailed 36-17 and were whistled for 13 fouls, including five on the offensive end.

“We had a positive mindset in the second half,” Powell said. “I know I didn’t have a good first half and I had to keep going each play.”

“Me and my boys played hard in the second half,” Olagbegi said. “That’s all you can say. We had a game plan. We started to execute it correctly, and I’m proud of my boys.”

Olagbegi had his fill of trouble in the middle, with 6-9 senior forward Matthew Moore helping to clog things up for the Tigers, but he still did some damage in the second half.

“Kyle has all kinds of energy,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rich Kolimas said. “He is always on the go. Sometimes, he needs to slow down offensively and continue that pace on defense.”

The Griffins established quite a pace this season, setting a program record for wins and earning a regional title for just the second time with a 50-48 victory Friday over Neuqua Valley on Kaiden Ross’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Ross didn’t take a shot, however, against Joliet West.

“That’s him being mostly a facilitator,” Kolimas said. “For him, it’s about the team and trying to get the ball into George and Kyle.

“But how many kids can say they won a regional with a last-second shot?”

Powell, the first freshman to play varsity for the Griffins in boys basketball, showed flashes of brilliance this season.

Lincoln-Way East is looking forward to what he brings to the table the next three years.

“He can handle the pressure, and we just wanted another ballhandler,” Kolimas said of Powell. “He was able to do that for us, but then he started to get a knack for scoring. He’s only going to get better as he gets stronger.

“His future is really bright.”

Powell believed a historic season was coming for the team all the way back in the summer, when he was brought up shortly after he graduated from Summit Hill Junior High.

“I definitely saw it,” Powell said. “We had a lot of experienced seniors. They already fought through adversity. I knew they could carry us.”

The Griffins have won 20 or more games just three times in program history, but some young talent is on the way.

Karson Thomas was the second freshman in school history to play varsity, being brought up for a game during the regular season, and also played in the postseason. Sophomore Brent Taylor also gained varsity experience this season.

Olagbegi sees more 20-win seasons ahead.

“They are going to play for us,” Olagbegi said of the seniors. “Next year, they are going to keep winning.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.