Downers Grove North tops Addison Trail
Downers Grove North's Eric Jagielo found himself on the free-throw line in overtime with a chance to ice the game with just more than three ticks left in the game and the Trojans up 3 points.
He clanked the first free throw.
But Jagielo didn't panic. He just stepped away from the line, took a deep breath and calmly sank the second to ice the game 54-50 as the Trojans beat Addison Trail.
Jagielo, who made his first 4 free-throw attempts in the game, didn't get nervous after he missed the first one.
"There was no pressure on those free throws," Jagielo said. "If I didn't hit either of them, I had confidence in my team that we would get a stop. The team had my back and that makes it a little easier when you are put in those situations. It was definitely a hard-fought win for us."
Addison Trail coach Brendon Lyons said he was very proud of the way his team battled against Downers Grove North.
"After he made the second free throw to put them up 4 points, we all knew the game was over," Lyons said. "We took some leads and I thought we had them down for the count, but they just kept coming back against us."
The biggest lead of the game was 9 points early in the first quarter by the Trojans. But both teams built 3-point leads in the fourth quarter with the Blazers grabbing a 3-point lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
The game could have been put out of reach before overtime if the Trojans made their free throws and took better care of the ball. For the game, Downers North shot 19 of 32 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 20 times.
"We gave them tons of extra possessions with our misses and turnovers," Downers North coach Jim Thomas said. "We are a younger team, and those two areas are issues we need to improve. Stats don't lie and they are easy to look at. But we found a way to win tonight."
DJ Cienawa led the Trojans with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Nick LeBeau chipped in with 15 points.
"To have a junior get 19 and 8 for you is huge; he is one of our better practice players too so it is nice watching that come over to game time," Thomas said.
Chris Benjamin came off the bench to score 19 points in the loss for the Blazers.