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Tough first quarter hinders Glenbard East

Glenbard East won the final three quarters of its regional semifinal Wednesday against No. 5-seeded Downers Grove South. But the Mustangs' 6-foot-3 junior Denis Alibegovic and a disastrous final four minutes of the first quarter sent the Rams packing anyway.

Alibegovic buried his first four 3-point attempts of the first quarter and ignited a 13-2 run over the final 3:53 of the period that gave the Mustangs a 21-10 lead. Downers South (21-9) held on to beat Glenbard East 61-56 and earn a regional championship date with Hinsdale South on Friday in Lombard.

"Denis is one of the best players in the area," Downers South coach Kris Olson said. "He came out and showed what he could do. Then they focused so much on him that he became a passer and had a couple of big blocks and a couple of rebounds in the second half. That's the other part of his game that's getting lost."

Getting lost while Glenbard East was scrambling on defense is what Alibegovic did best in the first quarter on his way to a 22-point night.

"Denis is just a heck of a shooter," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "I was hoping we would come out and do a better job on him early. Unfortunately for us, he got a couple of good looks and he didn't miss. That was really the difference. Give him credit. He's a great shooter, a great player."

"We got in the gym quick and got some good stretching in before the game," Alibegovic said. "I got going really quick. My teammates got me the ball and I was wide open a couple times. I hit a couple of big shots from deep. That when I know I'm hot."

But 12th-seeded Glenbard East (17-13) caught fire in the second quarter, closing the gap to 33-29 at the break behind Carlos Meyers and Michael Finley. After the Mustangs eased to a 43-36 lead, Finley's little 2-footer in the lane got the Rams within 52-49 with 2:40 remaining in regulation.

However, Tyree Spencer extended the lead to 5 points on Downers South's next possession to force a Glenbard East timeout.

"I told the guys we're only down 5 points with three minutes left," Miller said. "We're right there. But we had a couple of shots that didn't drop. We had some chances. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. We may be undersized, but we're never undermanned. We just fought and fought and fought all year."

T.J. Clifford added 15 points for Downers South. Finley and Meyers both had 14 points and Zach Walsh added 13 for Glenbard East, which played without starting guard Jack Grigat. Grigat was kicked in the head during Monday's regional quarterfinal and was held out for precautionary reasons.

"I'm not going to use that as an excuse," Miller said. "We had guys that were capable. They stepped up and played pretty well. It just came down to they made a couple more plays at the beginning and more at the end than we did, and that was enough."

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