Starting Hinsdale South transfer guard Adam Flowers rose to the occasion to secure the Mustangs win, 57-52, against his old team, Hinsdale South, in overtime after hitting a 3-pointer to break the tie game with 59 seconds left on Jan. 21.
“I was like-go away. I wanted to say it so bad but I knew I had to stay poised because we had to get another stop. I let the three go away and went back for defense,” Flowers said.
Which they did. Starting guard Sean Day rushed in for a HSHS pass, stealing it away, then feeding it through to starting guard Wyatt Wawro who landed a clean 2-pointer just inside the ring to secure the DGS lead.
“I think he knew exactly what to do. He caught all of us by surprise on that play then he fed me pass so I could score. Like I said, I didn’t do too much and that’s on him and Adam both for the big win,” Wawro said.
The game was an emotional ride for Flowers, but that did not stop him from driving in 26 points for DGS with only two personal fouls called on him.
“I felt a little emotional, because it was against my old team. I wanted to come out here and play for my team, especially because this is a huge rivalry. I have never played from this side, so it was great to be a part of it,” Flowers said.
The game started off quite shaky for DGS. HSHS was the first to put numbers on the board and kept putting them on. Flowers was the first player on DGS to score with only 3:45 left in the first.
DGS wasn’t able to tie the game until the third when Day missed his 3-pointer but then stayed in to steal the pass after HSHS forward Ayden Farrare rebounded his shot to score a 2-pointer, 28-28.
DGS forward Erik Vagonis then took the lead right after landing a clean layup with 3:10 left in the third, 30-28.
“I thought we came out super flat, a little lethargic. I thought we did a good job at regrouping in the second half. Adam and Sean hit some big shots down the stretch, and Eric hit the one in the corner to give us the lead,” head varsity coach Zachary Miller said.
After that, it became a back-and-forth game. With Farrare gathering 13 points in the fourth and Wawro having seven, it started a heated game between both teams. As the seconds were slowly running out in the fourth, Farrare hit the tying 2-pointer to bring the game into overtime.
Nonetheless, Flowers was not finished, nor was HSHS forward Rohan Tvelil. Flowers piled up five points and Tvelil with four out of his 18 points. The heated last four minutes ended in almost a fight started by HSHS players which quickly got stopped by security.
“The stress of rivalry games are even more intensified. Especially with two groups that have a lot of history. There’s a lot of different things that played into this game, so we knew it was gonna be heated even on Tuesday night,” Miller said.
DGS’s next game will be home today at 6:30 p.m. against Addison Trail.
“Big conference game. Trail and Hinsdale South are probably the top teams in our conference. Hopefully we can come out strong with a good momentum and win the game,” Wawro said.
