Addison Trail nearly goes turnover-free
With the result no longer in doubt, one slice of drama remained.
Would Addison Trail’s boys basketball team commit a turnover?
One fourth-quarter traveling call finally provided the answer, but it didn’t matter. The Blazers still rolled to a 67-34 West Suburban Gold win over visiting District 88 rival Willowbrook.
Notching their third win in five games over the last two weeks, Addison Trail’s brilliant care of the ball epitomized the team’s improved play during this busy span of schedule.
The Blazers (7-11, 1-4) will try to keep the ball rolling in Saturday’s Gold game against Downers Grove South (15-3, 4-1), which pulled into a tie atop the conference standings with a 60-48 win at Proviso East.
As the competition intensifies, Addison Trail knows it must maintain the high level of play it showed Friday against the Warriors (1-17, 0-6).
“When we practice hard and the team’s clicking, that’s what happens,” said Blazers senior Armin Trgo, who scored a game-high 14 points. “No matter who’s on the court against us, we’re going to play hard. Downers South, Proviso East, we’re going to play hard.”
While three quarters of Friday’s game were relatively even, the second quarter powered Addison Trail’s win. A Tyler Little basket pulled Willowbrook within 16-11 with 5 minutes, 41 seconds left in the half, but the Blazers closed the period with 18 straight points.
Addison Trail forced 7 of the Warriors’ 15 turnovers for the game in the second quarter and made 9 of 14 attempts from the field. The run included 3-pointers by Vince Beltrano and Manny Martinez in addition to a three-point play from Trgo.
“We just sometimes get in panic mode,” said Willowbrook coach John Constable. “They go on a run and we start to panic. Quarters like that you can’t recover from.”
It was a far cry from the start of the game when the Blazers didn’t score for the opening four minutes and trailed 5-2 after a 3-pointer by Willowbrook’s Steve Ferguson. Addison Trail quickly recovered to take a 12-7 lead, though, behind freshman James Pupillo’s 8 first-quarter points.
Pupillo scored 12 total points while Nasar Farooqui scored 10 points off the bench in the fourth quarter. Tiger Greene scored 9 points and Josh Joiner added 7 for Willowbrook.
“We feel like we have guys who can score, it’s just a matter of getting everyone on the same page,” said Blazers coach Brendan Lyons. “We’ve got to trust each other, and I think a lot of that is starting to carry over into games.”