Willowbrook rallies to overcome Addison Trail
Fourteen seconds could have been disastrous for Willowbrook's boys basketball team.
As bad as it was, though, the Warriors rallied around the adversity and hung on for a 48-44 West Suburban Gold win at District 88 rival Addison Trail.
Willowbrook (8-16, 3-7) appeared to be pulling away after a 7-0 run gave the Warriors a 36-27 lead early in the fourth quarter. Standout senior forward Graham Olatunji, however, picked up his fourth foul and then was whistled for a technical for his fifth foul.
Not only was Willowbrook's best post player out of the game after he contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds, Addison Trail's Tyler Horvath responded by hitting four straight free throws. On the ensuing possession Danzel Walker hit another free throw. He missed his second attempt at the line, but Walker put back the miss to narrow the gap to 36-34 with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left.
The Blazers (6-16, 0-10) scored 7 points in only 14 seconds.
"It got a little close," said Willowbrook senior guard Eric Miller, who scored a game-high 18 points. "(Olatunji) going out is always a big thing because we look for him in end-of-the-game situations. But we had other guys step up and that helped a lot."
Addison Trail pulled within a point three times and had two chances to take a lead for the first time since early in the third quarter. Both times, however, the go-ahead shot went off the mark.
Four Willowbrook players combined for 4-of-6 free-throw shooting in the final 1:20 to boost the margin to 48-41. Armin Trgo's 3-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
"We never could get over the hump," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. "I told our guys, you can't ask for a better situation. It was a nice little run for us. Olatunji fouled out, but they had guys step up for them."
Addison Trail's biggest advantage was 4 points in the first half, and the Blazers took their final lead of 21-19 early in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Walker, who came off the bench to score 12 points and grab 10 rebounds.
Willowbrook enjoyed its own strong bench efforts, which proved especially critical when Olatunji fouled out. Kevin Aguilera scored 11 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
When Ryan Rader made two free throws and Miller followed with a field goal, Willowbrook took the lead for good at 23-21 with 4:59 left in the third quarter. Horvath scored 9 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for the Blazers.
"It was a great win for our kids," said Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato. "You lose a kid like Olatunji and you just hope your team responds. And I really think our kids responded well."