Years from now, a lot of Downers Grove North basketball fans will say they saw the historic win over Kenwood.
Many of them will be telling the truth, based on Trojans fans packed UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena to the rafters on Monday.
No. 5 Downers North is heading to state for the first time in program history after a stunning 67-47 romp past No. 3 Kenwood in a Class 4A supersectional. The Trojans (32-3) play Moline (33-3) in the 4A semifinals on Friday afternoon.
Jack Stanton hit five of Downers North’s 11 three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points for the Trojans. George Wolkow added 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Owen Thulin scored 10.
When coach Jim Thomas cleared his bench in the closing seconds, Wolkow had a chance to look up to the purple-clad crowd and reflect.
“It’s an unreal feeling for a team that came so far and worked so hard,” he said. “Losing a lot of games to teams like Kenwood last year, playing a tough schedule, coming back, working in the offseason — seeing these guys put up hours of work every day and stay committed.
“And then as well, having a community that’s believed in us the whole way ... it adds to that motivation of what we want to prove here at Downers Grove North. ... Looking up there and seeing all the faces almost as happy as us, I think that’s the best part.”
Downers North seized control early, running off 18 straight points in the first quarter. It was 22-11 after eight minutes, 35-24 at halftime, 49-33 after three quarters. Kenwood trailed by 23 midway through the fourth and never made a serious run.
Stanton watched “Hoosiers” with his family on Sunday night and as the final seconds wound down on Monday felt like he was in the middle of a storybook ending himself.
“It felt like a surreal moment, like I was in the movie,” he said.
For Thomas, the game plan against the talented Broncos was simple.
“The key to the game was honestly to contest every shot that they took and pick up the misses,” he said. “It’s really as simple as that. We don’t try to dive into anything too big or in too much detail.”
It worked. Kenwood shot 2 of 20 from three-point range, 21 of 58 overall.
Tyler Smith led the Broncos with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Jaden Smith had eight points and Dai Dai Ames — battling stomach flu, according to coach Mike Irvin — had five points.
“We [were] a step slow today,” Irvin said. “It was almost like a heavyweight fight where we just didn’t have any energy. They [were] faster than us today. I didn’t think that could happen. ...
“The effort was there, the energy just wasn’t there.”
