Ayo Dosunmu sets the tone, Morgan Park supporting cast comes up huge to beat Bogan

Bogan’s gym was jammed to the rafters on Tuesday evening, piping hot and chaotic, with loud music blaring out of speakers as the fans and players waited patiently for No. 3 Morgan Park to arrive. The volume-level never really decreased, as soon as the Mustangs arrived in the gym the crowd went wild.

“It’s tough, it’s real tough playing here,” Morgan Park senior Kenyon Duling said. “The crowd is going to keep talking to you, the other team is going to be talking and doing everything to get in your head. You have to keep your composure because those dudes are not going to stop.”

Mustangs star Ayo Dosunmu asserted himself immediately. The Illinois recruit was physical and imposing, even muscling up for buckets in the post. That aggressive start led to four fouls in the first half.

Morgan Park survived and even thrived with Dosunmu on the bench the entire third quarter. Then the Mustangs came up with a few crucial turnovers in the final minute to escape with a 76-72 win.

“I came out and wanted to set the tone and play how we needed to play to win with [Tamell Pearson out injured],” Dosunmu said. “I picked up a technical, but that is just me playing with emotion.”

Bogan led 38-37 at the half. Duling and Cam Burrell stepped up for Morgan Park in the third quarter, more than making up for Dosunmu’s absence. Burrell scored 10 of his 19 points in the third and Duling seven of his 15. Burrell also finished with 14 rebounds. The 6-6 senior is off to a tremendous start to the season.

“[Burrell] wants to get some respect,” Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin said. “I told him you have to go take it and he’s been doing that. Burrell is a high-major player and now he’s starting to show it.”

Morgan Park (2-1, 1-0 Red-South/Central) led 62-58 after three quarters but the Bengals never went away. Bogan led 72-70 with under a minute left, but fell apart on the final few possessions of the game. Dosunmu had a crucial steal and layup to tie the game at 72 and then two sophomores, Marcus Watson and Adam Miller, scored off turnovers to seal the win.

“We just gave the game away,” Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin said. “We were the better team, hands down. We just gave it away. You can’t make mistakes at the end, you have to execute.”

Miller finished with 11 points. Dosunmu had 20 points and six rebounds in his three quarters of play.

“This gym is fun,” Dosunmu said. “The environment is great, it is loud there is so much pushing and shoving. This is where superstars come out and play. If you can play in an environment like this you can play anywhere.”

Cortez Bailey led Bogan (3-2, 1-0) with 17 points and Jordan Booker scored 16. Junior Gregory Outlaw added 14 and Rashaun Agee had seven points and 12 rebounds.

“Agee didn’t give us what we needed, he has to give us more,” Goodwin said. “We need more points from him.”

Bogan freshman Darrion Jones scored 11 and played with poise and confidence.

“He’s a star,” Goodwin said. “He’s better than [former Bogan star] Luwane Pipkins.”