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Addison Trail picks up the pace

The Addison Trail boys basketball team went into halftime of Tuesday’s 48-38 victory over St. Laurence having put forth a solid performance on the opening night of the Addison Trail Pre-Holiday Tournament.

The Blazers (3-5) came out of halftime leading 21-18 and turned that solid performance up a couple of notches to win their second straight game.

“At halftime we stressed the need for an up-tempo, full-court game,” said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. “We were leading, but we were at the pace of St. Laurence. I knew we might foul more and give up some baskets, but we needed to quicken the pace.”

The Blazers’ Jason Kirschbaum hit for a bucket just 25 seconds into the second half. Just 26 seconds later, senior Keith Coleman hit for 3 and shortly afterward Vikings coach Mark Sevedge called a timeout to try and cool Addison Trail’s momentum.

Midway through the third, the Burbank school cut the Blazers’ advantage to 26-19, but Addison Trail led 33-22 at the end of the period.

Coleman hit for just that 3-pointer during the third period but nailed down 10 points in the final quarter to help his team lead by double digits for most of the final eight minutes.

“Coach said at halftime we needed to be tougher. And we were tougher in the second half and went right at them,” Coleman said. “I didn’t feel that well today, but my team needed me. They count on me and I count on them.”

Lyons praised the efforts of Coleman and junior Ronald Duling.

“Keith is really have a good season for us. He’s coming off the bench and gives us both ends of the court. He’s averaging 8, 10 points a game and defends like crazy. I thought Ronald Duling was fantastic in the second half.”

Duling also came off the bench and scored 7 points. Addison Trail was led offensively by junior James Pupillo, who scored a game-high 15 points in the first half.

“I know teams focus on him. But he finds a way to distribute the ball but still get his shots in,” Lyons said.

St. Laurence (1-6) was paced by Jim Schick with 14 points.

Addison Trail returns to action Friday night at Proviso East and gets back to its tournament Monday against St. Francis deSales.

The Blazers are hungry to do well this season and are aiming for the tournament to be a momentum builder.

“We think we can be a .500 or better team. The players here want to play and are fired up. We’re not going to settle for just two straight home wins,” Coleman said.

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