Downers Grove South shuts down Addison Trail in second half

Offensively challenged in the first half Tuesday, Downers Grove South's unbeaten run through the West Suburban Gold appeared to be in some jeopardy.

The next two quarters told a different story.

Holding Addison Trail to 5 field goals over the final 16 minutes, including just 1 in the fourth quarter, the visiting Mustangs pulled away to a 51-32 boys basketball victory in Addison.

"We had to make some adjustments at halftime," said Downers Grove South coach Kris Olson, whose team trailed 21-19 at halftime. "(The Blazers) did a nice job in the first half of using dribble-drive to get to the paint. We talked at halftime, how many outside shots have they made? Let's lock up the paint. They also did a really good job slowing us down defensively. We said, let's get it and go."

Indeed, Downers Grove South forced 5 turnovers in the third quarter, most of which led to transition baskets. Denis Alibegovic also got hot, scoring 9 points during his team's 19-9 run, which gave the Mustangs a 38-30 advantage heading into the fourth. Alibegovic hit a trio of 3-pointers in the contest and finished with a game-high 19 points.

"My teammates found me when I was open in the zone," the junior guard said, "and I got a couple of backscreen layups. And we just pressured them. We work in practice on pressuring and keeping the ball on the sidelines. We forced a lot of turnovers and had some easy transition points."

Addison Trail (11-10, 2-4), which trailed 17-12 midway through the second quarter, rattled off a 9-2 run to end the period, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Jack Kalbas. But offense became tough to come by in the second half.

"We got away from what had been working in the first half," Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons said. "Things added up, not in our favor. But I was proud of our effort. They threw a punch early and we came back, but we just didn't have that second response."

Tyree Spencer and Sam Ebersold had 10 points apiece for Downers Grove South. Eric Grygo topped the Blazers with 9 and Kalbas had 8.

The Mustangs (16-6, 7-0) have now won seven of their last eight games as they head into Friday's home showdown with Proviso East. Downers Grove South sits atop the league standings by one game over the Pirates, courtesy of its 61-58 victory on Dec. 4.

"This is an experienced group," Olson said. "They love playing with each other. It's an easy group to coach, they are focused on playing hard and playing the right way. Every guy in practice works as hard as every other guy."