Addison Trail's Carlson scores 43 in 'special moment'
A.J. Carlson's never played a better two minutes of basketball.
The other 30 weren't too shabby, either.
Addison Trail's senior guard scored 43 points to lead the Blazers to Friday's surprising 77-70 West Suburban Gold victory over visiting Willowbrook.
"It's a special moment," Carlson said. "It's just confidence. I had to put the team on my back and step up when I needed to. I love these guys and we fought real hard."
Surprising because the Blazers (4-17, 1-6) lost to the Warriors (9-15, 3-5) by 23 points on Dec. 6, and surprising because Willowbrook looked poised for another blowout after scoring the first 8 points on Friday.
Most surprising, though, because of Carlson's two-minute stretch to start the third quarter. He knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 14 points to turn a 27-26 halftime lead into a 41-29 advantage.
"I told the guys we had to come out more than strong to start the second half," Carlson said. "I just had to take over."
Addison Trail held its biggest lead of 14 points midway through the third quarter, but the Warriors' pressure got them within 71-67 on a Brenton Jones bucket with a minute left in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors, however, missed 16 of their 26 free-throw attempts including nine in the fourth quarter.
"We never got comfortable out there," said Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins, whose team shot 4 of 25 from 3-point range. "Despite Carlson having his best night, if we shoot decent from the free-throw line we still would have pulled tonight out."
Robert Roskiewicz battled foul trouble to add 14 points for the Blazers including a huge three-point play after Jones scored. Alex Conrad fouled out while Gonzalo Reyes, Sammy Renc and Jacob Daniels all finished with four fouls.
Everett Stubblefield III led Willowbrook with 17 points but fouled out with 1:52 left. Sam Tumilty had 10 points.
"I'm just proud of our guys," said Blazers coach Brendan Lyons. "A.J. was at a different level tonight. To see our guys play through everything was great to see."
Twitter: @kevin_schmit