Leyden stops Addison Trail

Deep into the fourth quarter, Leyden didn't look like a team planning to win a basketball game.

The Eagles pulled it together just in time.

Closing Saturday night's action with three strong minutes, Leyden's boys basketball team managed to scrape out a 54-49 West Suburban Gold win at Addison Trail to salvage the back half of a doubleheader weekend.

"I was happy with the fact that we were tough enough to make enough plays down the stretch to win on the road in our league," said Leyden coach Bill Heisler. "I thought we played very sloppy tonight, but at the same time we had enough effort and made enough plays when it really mattered to get the job done."

Both sides were trying to bounce back from rough Friday nights in the Gold. Leyden (7-8, 3-3) fell 81-51 to Proviso East while Downers Grove South beat the Blazers (6-12, 0-6) 72-47.

Despite suffering lopsided losses the night before, both teams came out with high energy to start the game. Unfortunately, that also translated in a flurry of turnovers.

Leyden initially surged to a 15-7 lead on a three-point play by Mike Woolf, who scored a game-high 18 points, but Addison Trail scored straight 14 points - including 7 straight by Jaleo Gibbs off the bench - to stake a 26-19 lead.

Four lead changes and three ties highlighted the third quarter before Chris Benjamin, who led the Blazers with 12 points, hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer in the fourth quarter to put Addison Trail ahead 46-44 with 3 minutes, 34 seconds left in the game.

From then on, though, Leyden dominated. Nine straight points, starting with Patrick Listwan's three-point play, gave the Eagles a 53-46 lead in the final half-minute.

"When we had to step up and really make plays, we didn't," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. "We had some chances to build a lead when they weren't shooting well or they were turning the ball over, and we couldn't take advantage."

Leyden's Eric Palmer, who scored 11 points, and Brandon Stinson, who added 10 points, each scored during the pivotal 9-0 run. Woolf capped the burst with a pair of free throws.

"We got our tails whipped by a very good Proviso East team last night," Heisler said. "It was nice to see us bounce back and put that game behind us."