Downers Grove South wins again for the home crowd
Big crowds have become the norm at Downers Grove South home boys basketball games this season.
So has winning.
Aided by a boisterous throng of students, the Mustangs rode a 25-point fourth quarter to a 66-56 win over Hinsdale South in Western Suburban Gold play on Friday night in Downers Grove.
With the win the Mustangs (16-6, 7-2) stayed near the top of the standings heading into conference games against Willowbrook and Leyden.
"We've had great crowds and received amazing student support," Downers Grove South coach Kris Olson said. "Our student support has been the best, not just at home but on the road. This is our 11th or 12th game in front of a (big) crowd like this."
Kamonte Brown-Poe paced the Mustangs with 18 points, 5 rebounds and took two key charges. Justin Eagins chipped in with three 3s for 14 points, Timmeon Gamble tossed in 12 and Wes Hooker added 11 points and 4 steals.
Eagins, a senior guard, fed off the near-capacity crowd by hitting a 3-pointer to start the scoring, drilling a 24-foot 3 to increase the Mustangs' lead to 12-2 and adding a second-quarter 3 to raise the advantage to 28-15 with three minutes left before halftime.
"The crowd brought a lot of energy and I was playing off my teammates," Eagins said. "They trusted me to make the right decision."
The Mustangs were in control for the first two-plus quarters before the Hornets (11-12, 3-6) slowly started chipping away at the double-digit deficit. Billy Durkin scored on a putback, then James Ruzicka buried a 3 on back-to-back possessions to give the Hornets a 37-35 lead with 2:10 left in the third.
The Mustangs answered by holding the Hornets to 4 points in their next nine possessions spilling into the fourth quarter. Brown-Poe went to work on offense and defense, spearheading the comeback. He scored 10 of his 18 points in an 11-possession stretch to hand the Mustangs a 54-46 lead late in the fourth. The Mustangs pulled away with three straight steals early in the fourth, scoring seven points off the turnovers.
"At the end of third quarter, when they took the lead and we took their punch and then played good defense," Olson said. "We answered back and stole that momentum. From there it was seniors versus juniors."