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Hinsdale Central beats Metea Valley

Play as a team and good things happen.

Hinsdale Central's boys basketball team got contributions from a 10-deep rotation and shot better than 50 percent in a 69-56 victory over the host in a Class 4A Metea Valley regional quarterfinal Monday in Aurora.

"I thought everyone played well and we played unselfishly. We moved the ball around and found people when they were open. It was just fun to be a part of," said Red Devils senior guard Matt Rush, who scored 24 points. Metea Valley senior guard Ethan Helwig led all scorers with 25 points.

No. 17 seed Hinsdale Central (10-19) made 23 of 42 field-goal attempts, 55 percent, including 11 of 17 on 3-point shots. The Red Devils advance to Tuesday's regional semifinal against No. 1 seed Geneva (28-1).

"That was kind of what our focus was on this week, was just playing together," said Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre. "I saw a lot of unselfish basketball being played with our guys, so I was really proud of them."

No. 14 seed Metea Valley (12-17) trailed 13-6 after one quarter, Mustangs sophomore Tahj Morgan notching 6 of his 8 points and 8 of his 12 rebounds.

Hinsdale Central made only 4 of its 12 shots in that quarter but after that went 19 of 30. Forward Ryan Isaacson, a 6-foot-6 junior, totaled 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Helwig's 9 straight points in the second quarter brought the Mustangs within 24-19. Two of the game's shortest players, Hinsdale Central's 5-10 Charlie Lyne and 5-11 Sam Hoiberg, finished inside for a 35-23 halftime lead. Isaacson and Danell Nicholson combined for 8 straight points out of halftime for a 20-point edge.

"I thought we'd come out with a little bit more intensity and they came right back at us," said Metea coach Matt Walpole.

Another Helwig-led spurt cut the deficit to 43-33. Hinsdale Central assembled a 12-4 run to lead 55-37 after three quarters.

Trailing 60-42, Metea's full-court press trimmed the deficit to 60-50 on Earnest Neal's layup with 2:54 to play. Hinsdale Central answered to lead 67-54 with 50.8 seconds left on Isaacson's three-point play off a dunk.

"They never just lay down, and I was proud of them," Walpole said. "They started putting pressure on them, getting some turnovers, getting up and down, but it was just too big a lead to overcome."

All-DuPage Valley Conference forward Manny Hess scored 10 points in his high school finale, leaving the program to players such as junior Kymari McBride.

"For some of them it's the end of their careers, and that's pretty heartbreaking," McBride said. "But at the end of the day I feel like everyone's still a great basketball player, everybody should keep their head up."

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