Addison Trail remains unbeaten with win vs. Glenbard North
As the only returning players for the Addison Trail boys basketball team with significant varsity minutes, juniors J.T. Daniels and Adem Mehmeti thought they could have only hoped for a start like this.
On Tuesday their finishes to complete personal-high performances carried the Blazers to a 63-56 victory at Glenbard North - and a still-perfect 5-0 record.
"It's awesome," said Daniels, who had 15 points and 8 rebounds.
"I'm just grateful," added Mehmeti, who delivered 20 points with 7 rebounds.
The opening possession of the fourth quarter may have been the most important.
With the game tied 38-38, Daniels drove the left of the lane and converted a three-point play.
Mehmeti's inside score off senior Connor Palesch's pass and a Daniels putback followed to put the Blazers ahead 45-38. They led by at least 5 the rest of the way.
"(The three-point play) was huge," Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons said.
"Our start to the third quarter was not very good at all. Their physicality picked up and, to be honest, we weren't ready for that. I felt like the fourth quarter, getting J.T. established inside, getting Adem off the dribble kind of built our lead back up."
Glenbard North (0-5), which started five seniors, received huge games from Lee Rady, who had 28 points with four 3s, and Darryl Creamer, who had 17 points and 7 rebounds.
Rady had 15 points with three 3s in the Panthers' 22-point third quarter - probably their best quarter so far this season. Creamer had 10 of the Panthers' fourth-quarter points with his three-point play closing the gap to 57-52 with 1:39 left.
Addison Trail held on with two pairs of free throws by Mehmeti and another by Palesch with 4.1 seconds.
"Overall effort-wise, something to hang your hat on. To get over the hump, there's two or three more possessions where we've got to do a better job," Glenbard North coach Joe Larson said.
"A lot of pride and execution in that third quarter that got us back in the game and, obviously, some good shooting from the perimeter. Defensively, I thought that's where we got back in the game. When you get stops, you give yourselves an opportunity."
So far, scoring balance has been a key in the Blazers' early success. Palesch added 12 points Monday with two 3s. Seniors Andrew Parnell and Vito Ciaccia have scored in double figures.
"We've been going about eight or nine deep consistently. Adem and J.T. have been two pretty good mainstays for us (offensively)," Lyons said. "It's good to see some guys coming in, getting some (varsity) minutes, to build that confidence with them. We're going to need that support."
Larson also saw progress from the Panthers' second-closest loss this season. The Panthers lost their opener with Glenbard East by 6.
"We need to get better. We know that. I thought we got better tonight," Larson said. "But to win that game, you have to play better in more possessions of the game. We had some opportunities to take some charges, get more defensive rebounds. Those are things we need to do to get that 'W.'"