Hinsdale South tops Addison Trail
For a quarter Addison Trail came out and executed its game plan to slow down Hinsdale South’s balanced offense.
Then came the second quarter, when Hinsdale South ran away with the game and barraged the Blazers en route to a 70-51 West Suburban Gold victory Friday night in Darien.
Hinsdale South (15-8, 6-4) came out feeding its 6-foot-8 junior big man, Brock Benson, as the center registered 8 points and 4 rebounds to stake the Hornets to an 18-12 lead after one quarter. Addison Trail (7-15, 1-8) then started to collapse on Benson, and the Hornets’ offensive balanced came out and took control of the game.
The Hornets went on a 17-0 run to open the second quarter, spearheaded by junior guard Phil George’s three 3-pointers. George poured in a game-high 17 points in only two-plus quarters of play.
“My job is to shoot when I’m open,” George said. “I missed a lot of shots early on then they started falling. Once Brock gets established it opens up everyone else’s game.”
The offensive blitz also led to an eye-popping 11 second-quarter Blazers turnovers, as Addison Trail didn’t register a point until 4:54 had elapsed in the second period.
“Defensively, we did a good job rotating when a guy got beat, and when you put it all together you get 11 turnovers in a quarter,” George said.
The third quarter opened much like the second quarter began as the Hornets’ came out with a 13-0 run to effectively end the game as well as end the night for the Hornets’ starting five. Hinsdale South built up a 37-point lead after three quarters behind its balanced offensive attack and staunch, suffocating defense.
“We didn’t move the ball at all and we settled for dumb shots and hesitated on everything,” Blazers senior power forward Mike Gontarek said. “We just laid and egg and didn’t play with any team composure. When they have balance like that it’s tough, and they’re bigger than us inside and when we started digging in down low at the post, they’re getting wide open looks outside and it’s tough to come back from that.”
Gontarek had 5 points and 2 rebounds in the first quarter to keep the Blazers within striking distance, but his efforts proved to be obsolete as the Hornets imposed their will as the game went on.
Benson finished with 12 points to go with 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, while George hit five 3-pointers on the evening.
“When we played them earlier in the year we did a good job on Brock in the first half and frustrated him a little bit,” Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons said. “However, they have other guys that can step up, George can shoot the ball, and they have a lot of guys that know their role, and they’re well coached and well disciplined. We have a very small margin for error, and when you have 15 turnovers in the first half and only get five shots in the second quarter, you don’t give yourself a chance.”
Addison Trail gets a quick chance to wipe the slate clean tomorrow at home for senior night.
“Tomorrow’s a new day and we have senior night against Morton,” Gontarek said. “It’s the last home game for us seniors so it’s a big deal.”