Addison Trail's win streak ends

Downers Grove South coach Ellen O'Brien burned two second-half timeouts Tuesday to vent her frustrations.

She couldn't question her girls' resiliency.

The Mustangs rallied three separate times from 7-point deficits in the second half to knock off previously unbeaten Addison Trail 61-57 in Addison.

A 15-0 fourth-quarter run finally pushed Downers Grove South (4-2) over the top.

"We're throwing different stuff at them," said O'Brien, "and they're still learning. It's a little frustrating at times as coaches, but they're going to get better and better. I'm really proud of them to come back the way they did. A lot of teams would have tanked it. They kept fighting."

Carly Saraceno scored 21 points for the Mustangs, hitting five 3-pointers. Her heave from just over midcourt hit nothing but net as time expired in the third quarter, pulling Downers Grove South within 41-40.

Saraceno's corner 3-pointer with 5:46 left tied it at 47-47, and another Saraceno bomb capped off the the big run, putting the Mustangs ahead 55-47 with 3:06 left.

The senior guard later made 5 of 6 free throws to salt away the win.

"We knew we could beat them. We were just rushing and making stupid passes," Saraceno said. "We just had to get together, work as a team and keep our heads up. That 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter definitely boosted everybody's confidence."

Addison Trail (5-1), which came in 5-0 for the first time in fifth-year coach Rob Schader's tenure, scored the first 7 points of the second half to take a 35-28 lead, and later surged ahead 41-34.

A 6-0 Blazers run started the fourth quarter. Jazmin Little put a gorgeous finishing touch on the run, stealing the ball near midcourt and dribbling behind her back before taking in a three-point play to make it 47-40.

Little had 20 points and 5 assists for Addison Trail but didn't score after that basket. The Blazers went nearly five minutes without a score.

"Sometimes you need a kick like that to put you over the edge," Schader said. "We're a couple things away from being pretty good."

JoAnn DiNitale added 12 points and Jamie Smolinski 11 for Addison Trail, which surrendered more than 40 points for just the second time in the young season.

"And I think they outrebounded us by 11, which hurt us big-time," Schader said. "And No. 20 (Saraceno) killed us. We knew she was an outside shooter and she looked to attack. She hit some shots when we left her wide open."

Allison Dec scored 12 points for Downers Grove South, a Dec basket starting the decisive 15-0 run. Christyl Thurman added 9 points, her free throw with 5:05 left giving the Mustangs their first lead since the first quarter at 48-47.

"Allison played great. She sparked us a couple different times," O'Brien said. "We're lucky to have the kids that we have."