Downers Grove South’s Adam Flowers has posted big scoring numbers this season and cracked the 1,000-point mark for his career last month and the senior was ready to put on a show this week at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
That plan hit a speed bump in the Mustangs’ tournament opener Friday against Oswego. Flowers picked up an ankle injury early in the second quarter. Downers Grove South’s offense and defense run through the senior, so that wasn’t ideal.
“He gutted it out, but he wasn’t the same,” Mustangs coach Zach Miller said. “It forced some other guys to have to step up.”
With their leading scorer limited, Flowers’ teammates stepped up and delivered a 57-53 win in Elmhurst.
“I’ve always known what this team can bring to the table,” Flowers said. “My guys can score. Right now, we are just trying to figure out how to get them going early and that is more up to me.”
The Mustangs forced Oswego into multiple turnovers in the first half and jumped out to a 13-point lead. Oswego (5-5) heated up late and cut the deficit to 52-48 on a free throw by Mariano Velasco with 1:39 left.
The most impressive possession of the game came at that moment. Every Downers Grove South player touched the ball at least once as the Mustangs ran about 30 seconds off the shot clock and closed it out with a pretty hand-off for a layup to Sean Day. That put Downers Grove South ahead 54-48.
“That was a great play,” Day said. “It took time off the clock and really took back the momentum for us.”
Flowers finished with 14 points and five rebounds for the Mustangs (8-3).
“I’ve played through injuries before,” Flowers said. “You have to stay mentally sharp and not think about it. Obviously, I was limited offensively, so I was trying to find other ways to impact the game.”
Day had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Gavin Cigrand scored eight points for Downers Grove South.
Oswego star sophomore Ethan Vahl had a rough shooting game (5-for-20) and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior Graham Schwab had 21 points and 6-6 senior Brayden Borrowman added 13 points and five rebounds.
The Mustangs will face St. Ignatius in the second round on Saturday. The Wolfpack survived a tough challenge from Highland Park and escaped with a 58-46 win on Friday.