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Metea Valley advances past Glenbard North

Playing in his first high school boys basketball playoff game, Malik Hall looked more like a varsity veteran on Monday night.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore scored 28 points to lead 13th-seeded Metea Valley to a 75-69 win over Glenbard North at the Class 4A Glenbard East regional in the third meeting between the DuPage Valley Conference foes this season.

The Mustangs (14-15) will get a rematch with Hinsdale South in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The fourth-seeded Hornets beat them 63-50 as part of the Jack Tosh Christmas tournament on Dec. 29, though Metea Valley trailed by only one heading into the fourth quarter.

"I tried not to focus on it (his first playoff game)," said Hall, who made 10-of-11 attempts from the free-throw line. "I thought about it but didn't want to hone in on it and make myself nervous. We knew we were going to have to fight for it. We came out strong and really well prepared. We've been practicing really hard."

Trailing 6-0 at the outset, the Mustangs came back and led by as many as 9 in the second quarter before the Panthers closed on a 14-6 run, highlighted by a half-court, running one-handed make by Michael Matkovic at the halftime buzzer.

Glenbard North completed the comeback in the third, taking a 46-45 lead on a 3-pointer from Nick LaVere. But Metea Valley answered with a 9-0 spurt to regain control.

"It was a great effort all night," Panthers coach Joe Larson said. "I'm very proud of the heart we showed, especially being down two or three or four different times and coming back to take the lead."

The Panthers (7-19) got within 4 points on four occasions late in the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.

"Free-throw shooting has been a good thing for us all year and hopefully it will continue to be a good thing," said Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza, whose team split with Glenbard North during the regular season. "It is going to be tight games all week."

Dei'Ron Delarosa had 13 points for Metea Valley and Jeremy Hunter added 12, including a pair of layups with less than two minutes remaining.

LaVere poured in 25 in his final game in a Panthers uniform.

"He played very well tonight," Larson said. "He gave us a great effort and that competitiveness all year. He loves the game of basketball and it shows when he plays."

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