Trojans advance to sectional final
Jacob Bozeman cut right to the heart of it after No. 9 Downers Grove North defeated No. 5 Young 47-44 in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals Tuesday.
‘‘We wanted to come at these city guys and just show them that we’re physical and we can keep up at their pace, and we were able to do that,’’ Bozeman said.
The Trojans’ upset is more meaningful than just suburbs over city. The Dolphins are one of the premier programs in the state. This stat is slightly misleading because of two years without state tournaments during COVID, but Young had not lost in the playoffs anywhere other than the state finals since March 2019.
‘‘I think everyone at school already thought pretty highly of us, but beating Whitney Young is going to boost any school, just because of who they are,’’ Bozeman said.
It came down to the final shot. Dalen Davis, a four-year star for the Dolphins, couldn’t get a last-second three-pointer to fall.
‘‘We miscommunicated and left the best player open for a three to see what happened,’’ Trojans coach Jim Thomas said. ‘‘It was a defensive breakdown.’’
Junior Owen Thulin made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to give Downers Grove North (30-3) the three-point cushion.
‘‘It’s awesome,’’ Trojans junior Jack Stanton said. ‘‘Last year they ended our season. I just remembered the bus room and the locker room after that [being] very sad. We returned the favor to them, I guess.’’
Stanton led Downers Grove North with 20 points and five rebounds, and Bozeman added 11 points and five boards.
The Trojans are an excellent shooting team, but they were only 4-for-19 from three-point range.
‘‘We took them off the bounce because that is what the game gave us,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘Credit to the kids for taking advantage of that.’’
Downers Grove North led by eight at halftime. Young closed the gap to three after three quarters and took a 39-37 lead on a threepoint play by Davis with 4:18 to play. But once the Trojans regained the lead, the Dolphins didn’t pull ahead again.
‘‘Glenbard West got them last year in the state championship, and we got them in the sectional [this year],’’ Thomas said. ‘‘We are always rooting for each other in the [West Suburban] conference. These guys were hungry for it.’’
Daniel Johnson led Young (23-7) with 18 points, and Davis scored 15. Only four Dolphins players scored.
Downers Grove North will face the winner of the Lyons-Hinsdale Central matchup Wednesday in the sectional final Friday. The Trojans split two games against each team this season.
‘‘We all know one another well, so we know what is going on,’’ Bozeman said. ‘‘We won’t be too high after tonight. We will lock in and get our mindset in the right place for Friday.’’