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Pounds, Addison Trail too hot for Fenton

Addison Trail's K'Vhon Pounds was on fire this week.

A 106-degree fever kept him out of school and forced him to watch Friday's loss against Proviso East.

That lent perspective to the Blazers' two-game weekend capped by Saturday's 44-34 nonconference victory over Fenton in Bensenville.

"We can handle the pressure, but I think mentally we weren't even there (Friday). Today we came together and got it done," said Pounds, who scored 10 points with fellow Blazers senior forward J.T. Daniels at 11. Fenton's Chris Bozeman scored a game-high 12 points.

"I see every team the same. I don't care if they've got all (Division I) players, I don't care if they're all role players. You play them the same," Pounds said.

Fenton (8-17) poses problems due to a 1-3-1 zone defense with 6-foot-4 Bozeman up high. That helped the Bison tie 8-8 after one quarter on Diamon King's set shot.

But Pounds was talking about effort. Fenton coach Chaz Taft saw that as well.

"The way they separated was with their toughness," said Taft, whose Bison also played Friday. "They got every 50-50 ball, they were the first ones to the floor. They were tougher than us tonight."

Addison Trail (12-13) gained an 11-8 lead on Pounds' 3 from the low right wing. The Blazers never trailed again, up 20-16 at halftime on Adem Mehmeti's rainbow 3.

Bozeman scored on an early third-quarter putback and did hit the deck for a loose ball. He scored 7 of his 12 points and grabbed 5 of his 8 rebounds in the quarter, countered by Addison Trail point guard Spencer Allgood with 7 of his 9 points.

Fenton cut a pair of 9-point deficits to 32-27, but Anthony Carlson's 3 and Daniels' high-low play to Robert Roszkiewicz had the Blazers leading 37-29 entering the fourth quarter.

Bozeman, King and Detwan Yoakum steals helped hold Addison Trail to 1 point for the first 4:39 of the fourth quarter, yet Fenton made no headway.

"We just didn't come together and put the game in the bag like we should," said King, who scored 8 points with 5 rebounds.

Addison Trail hustle plays allowed Fenton only 2 shots over the last two minutes. After Pounds split two defenders for a layup, Daniels took an offensive charge, Mehmeti grabbed an offensive rebound off a free-throw miss and Daniels pounced on a loose ball.

"This was just kind of a game where it wasn't going to be the prettiest thing in the world," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. "We're just happy to come out of here with a win. Double weekends, they're just tough."

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