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Downers Grove South repeats success against Addison Trail

A familiar opponent on a familiar court, hoping for a familiar result.

That was the situation facing Downers Grove South's boys basketball team, and familiarity won the day.

The Mustangs beat West Suburban Gold rival Addison Trail for the third time this season, topping the Blazers 51-44 in Monday's Class 4A Addison Trail regional play-in game.

Now the task becomes much taller as the 15th-seeded Mustangs (14-15) prepare for a quick turnaround to face No. 2 Benet (23-4) - riding a 14-game winning streak - in Tuesday's semifinals.

For one night, though, the inconsistencies of the regular season faded as Downers South closed out a tough opponent behind an 8-0 fourth-quarter run that erased a 36-35 lead for the 17th-seeded Blazers (11-20).

"They always come out and play hard, and it's always a tough game," said Mustangs junior guard Wes Hooker. "We didn't want our season to end. We've got four seniors, and we don't want their seasons to end. We just really played hard as a team."

Addison Trail trailed the entire game until a 6-0 run at the end of the third quarter tied it at 33-33, and then a Ramon Casey bucket at the start of the fourth quarter put the Blazers on top 35-33. Adem Mehmeti split a pair of free throws with 4:53 left to give the Blazers a 36-35 lead, but that's when Downers South responded with the pivotal 8-0 run.

Turnovers and missed shots marred Addison Trail's hopes for stemming the tide, and it didn't help when the Mustangs made 10 straight free throws to pad the lead. Justin Eagins was a perfect 6 of 6 in the period.

"The biggest frustration was our inability to finish," said Blazers coach Brendan Lyons, whose team played without Connor Palesch for almost the entire final three quarters after he cut his forehead taking a charge. "I liked our guys' poise and the way we battled back, and if we could have just been consistent with getting those stops. But once they got it to about 6 points, we couldn't come any closer."

Hooker scored 7 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter as the Mustangs burst to an 18-8 lead. Eagins hit a pair of 3-pointers while scoring 6 of his 12 points.

Addison Trail rallied behind a pair of Palesch 3-pointers before the charge took him out of the game. Mehmeti paced the Blazers with 12 points.

"Being as young as we are, it might have been better for us to play a familiar team," said Downers South coach Kris Olson. "We lost our composure a bit in the fourth quarter and we took a timeout, and I think we responded well after that."

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