Downers Grove North proves mettle at the free-throw line
In the rugged West Suburban Silver, games often come down to defense and free throws.
Tuesday's league matchup between Downers Grove North and Hinsdale Central was a perfect example.
Making 18 of 22 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, the Trojans finally separated from the Red Devils in a 58-51 victory in Downers Grove.
Sema'j Henderson made 10 of those free throws in the final period and finished with a game-high 22 points.
"We stress shooting well from the free-throw line," Henderson said. "We are a good free-throw shooting team."
Defense was the other key for Downers Grove North (12-5, 3-3), especially after Hinsdale Central (5-12, 1-4) battled back from a 25-20 halftime deficit to take a 5-point lead. From there, the Trojans held the visitors to a single field goal the rest of the quarter and ended on an 11-2 spurt to lead 38-34 heading into the fourth.
"They hit us in the mouth," Henderson said, "and we had to decide if we were going to lay down or fight back like we usually do. And we battled back. We said, let's take this game back. We are seniors and we have been in this situation before.
"It started at the defensive end and then we grinded out every possession."
The Red Devils never got closer than 4 the rest of the way despite 13 points from Charles Parse and 12 from Danell Nicholson.
"We are close," Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre said. "We've been in a lot of close games. Defensively, we were solid. We just go through stretches where we are offensively challenged and that has been consistent all year. We've got to be able to eliminate some of those times where we struggle to score."
Trey Boston chipped in with 14 points for Downers Grove North and Kobe Reed also checked into double figures with 11. The Trojans trailed 11-5 at the outset of the game before ending the first quarter on an 8-0 spurt. The home team knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half, three from Henderson.
"We always say, good teams at home can get to the free-throw line late in games and polish a game off," said Downers North coach Jim Thomas, whose team plays conference leader Oak Park at home on Friday. "We did that, 18 of 22 is good. And our defense cranked up at times. I'm proud of our guys.
"This is a loaded week, not a lot of practice. We were looking forward to this week and this was a great way to start it."