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Addison Trail beats Willowbrook for first time in five years

Senior night for the Addison Trail girls basketball team isn't until Feb. 12, but Tegan Graff had a game to remember Thursday.

The Blazers persevered to pull out a 42-38 victory over Willowbrook and spoil the Warriors' senior night in Villa Park. It's the first victory over the Blazers' District 88 and West Suburban Conference Gold rival since Addison Trail swept their two meetings in 2010-11.

"This is probably the best win that I've had in three years (on varsity). It was awesome," said Graff, a 5-foot-8 senior who contributed 6 points and 4 rebounds. "I've played most of them since seventh grade and they've always been tough to beat. The past three years, it's been such a struggle to beat them and we finally got it."

Addison Trail (7-14, 2-7) rode a balanced attack. Senior Maria Koulogeorgas had 9 points, Nicolette Scorza 8, Jasmin Mehmeti 7 and Alyssa Pham 6. Mehmeti added 8 rebounds.

Senior center Josie Zabran continued her scoring tirade for the Warriors (7-17, 3-8) with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Senior Kalyn Konrath added 6 points and 10 rebounds.

Willowbrook won the Dec. 12 meeting 53-37. Addison Trail led 23-19 at halftime Thursday, but the Warriors used a 9-1 run to pull ahead 32-27.

The Blazers scored the last six points of the period, including two Scorza baskets, to lead 33-32. They led throughout the fourth quarter, although the Warriors came within one point three times.

"I'm extremely proud of the girls. They played great tonight," Addison Trail coach Rob Schader said. "(Willowbrook) got up 5 and we battled right back and got right back in it. We hit some shots but missed a couple of free throws. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have been so close at the end."

Addison Trail made just 3 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter and missed five straight in the final 2:14. Trailing 41-38, the Warriors inbounded with 10 seconds left but missed a game-tying 3 and putback. The Blazers' Diamond Pikulyk hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3.6 seconds.

This was Willowbrook's fourth January loss by 4 points or fewer.

"It really doesn't feel real to me that we even won because we've always lost against them, but it'll hit me," Koulogeorgas said. "I think we played together as a team really well and we just kept the energy going. We didn't stop. It's honestly a great feeling to pull out a win."

The Warriors honored five seniors - Zabran, Konrath, Alyssa Spada and Bridget Garner, who all started Thursday, and injured starting point guard Dani Velasquez. On Wednesday Zabran scored a varsity personal-high 25 points, but the Warriors lost 53-50 at Hinsdale South and Velasquez dislocated her knee with about two minutes left and Willowbrook ahead by 1. Velasquez was having her best season after twice injuring the ACL in her other knee.

"In the next week or so, we'll have a chance to practice and work on some things, but overnight the kids just didn't know where to go with the ball. We've not been great, but we're not a 38-point team," Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell said.

"We have no rhythm whatsoever because everyone's used to Danielle controlling the rhythm of the game. Josie did a good job (inside), but Addison Trail's adjustment was to go to a 2-3 zone and then press two people against her. We need someone else to step up and take that role."

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