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Downers Grove South keeps Conant at a distance

Downers Grove South's boys basketball team clamped down on Conant 52-46 Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the 42nd annual Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York in Elmhurst.

Downers Grove South kept Conant away from the basket, forcing the Cougars to attempt long-range shots. And when Conant was able to venture inside, the Mustangs' front line of 6-foot-9 Donovan Ferguson, 6-6 TJ Clifford and 6-3 Dylan Kaczmarek were physical enough for the Cougars to miss from close range.

"We knew coming in, as great as they were defensively, we would need a great defense effort," Downers Grove South coach Kris Olson said. "And I thought we did. We challenged our guards. We knew our bigs would take care of things and the defensive presence of our guards was big."

Downers Grove South (10-3) advances to the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against York.

The Mustangs led 10-8 after one quarter, when, thanks to the play of Denis Alibegovic, they were able to get some breathing room. The junior guard scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter as Downers Grove South opened up a 28-21 lead at the break.

"We stopped them from getting to the rim," Alibegovic said. "I have been struggling lately with my scoring, but I really got it going in the second quarter."

With their defense limiting Conant to just 28 percent (11-of-39) through the first three quarters, the Mustangs were able to open up a 40-29 advantage with 5:59 to play.

Conant guard Jimmy Sotos, who had hit only 1 of his first 10 shots, began to heat up for the Cougars (9-3). The junior nailed a basket and three 3-pointers as Conant closed to 46-42 with 1:03 to play.

After a rare Downers Grove South free throw, Conant had an opportunity to cut the lead further. But the Cougars turned the ball over in the front court and the Trojans' Sam Ebersold and Tyree Spencer closed out the game from the free throw line.

"They were a long, athletic, physical team," Conant coach Tom McCormack said. "And we still have lot of young guys. There are going to be nights like this. I really liked the way our guys battled back."

Ebersold led Downers Grove South with 13 points while Clifford had 8 points and Kaczmarek and Spencer each had 6 points.

Ryan Davis, the Cougars' 6-9 sophomore who battled the Mustangs inside, led his team with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

"They matched our size and did not give us any easy shots around the basket," Davis said. "We had some open shots, but we could not finish them."

Sotos finished 11 points, all in the fourth quarter for Conant. Chima Oduocha had 6 points while Mike Downing and Ben Schols both had 5 points.

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