Downers Grove South runs away from Maine West
Downers Grove South may have climbed over the hump Saturday in Des Plaines.
The Mustangs, who lost a tough overtime game to Morton on Friday, used a second-half eruption to blow past Maine West 53-34 in a nonconference boys basketball game.
Downers Grove South (3-13) trailed 25-16 with 3:57 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs had converted just 7-of-24 shots to that point and had committed 14 turnovers.
Then the game turned on a dime.
Downers Grove South hit 8 of its next 9 shots with five of those coming from outside the arc. The Mustangs also forced six consecutive Maine West turnovers during that stretch as they ran off 22 unanswered points to take a 38-25 lead with 6:15 to play.
"It comes from confidence in our teammates," said DGS' Jake Dimovski, who finished with 14 points thanks to four 3-pointers.
"Earlier in the season I feel that if we made a three, the happiest guy was the guy who made it. Now I think that if someone makes a three, the happiest guys are the guys on the bench or the guys on the court who got the assist. We are coming together now. It is really fun to play with all of them."
Downers Grove South coach Kris Olson, whose team has lost a number of close contests this season, said his team has grown to a new level.
"It has really been building this week in practice," Olson said. "It has been so hard they have worked. But mentally, they have begun to play for the name on the front of the jersey. But not just playing that way, but truly believing that."
Downers Grove South continued its onslaught with the Mustangs going on to hit 10 consecutive shots in the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open.
"We started reversing the ball and listening to coach," said Tai Butler, who would finish with 11 points. "Once we started listening to him, things started opening up. It felt good. Once we staring moving the ball around, everyone started hitting shots."
It was Maine West (5-9) that was hitting the shots earlier.
The Warriors erased an early 11-4 deficit by playing some tough defense of their own while knocking down some of their shots.
Jared Peterson, who would finish with 11 points, and Danny Kentgen, who nailed a trio of 3-pointers for his 9 points, ignited the Warriors to a 15-13 halftime lead.
Maine West was able to keep the pressure up and surge to a 26-16 lead on a putback by AJ Ross.
It was all Downers Grove South from there as Lukian King added 9 points and 7 rebounds for the Mustangs.
"We have hit some droughts this year," Maine West coach Tom Prokopij said. "It is frustrating when there is a lid on the rim. We were able to hit some shots because we were moving the ball well. But the turnovers caught up with us.