Boys Basketball: Semaj Henderson, Downers Grove North set up playoff crosstown showdown

DOWNERS GROVE – Downers Grove North senior guards Semaj Henderson and Trey Boston have had one goal since entering high school – beat Downers Grove South.

It hasn’t happened yet.

But the dynamic three-year starters made sure they will get one more chance thanks to a dominant performance Wednesday at the Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional semifinals.

Henderson scored a game-high 21 points, 14 rebounds and three assists and Boston added 17 points as the fifth-seeded Trojans held off No. 10 seed Willowbrook 60-46.

The win sets up another crosstown classic on Friday night between Downers North (21-11) and third-seeded Downers South (23-7).

“That’s the biggest game of our lives,” Boston said. “They beat us three times.

“We can’t go out four times, so we’re coming out punching them in the mouth because we’re hungry.”

Both teams, in fact, are hungry as neither team has a player who has advanced past regional action. Downers North last won a regional championship in 2002, while Downers South hasn’t won a crown since 2012.

One of those droughts will end, though not before what figures to be a heavyweight bout between two teams on a roll who both have a pair of outstanding guards.

The Mustangs have won 22 of their last 25 games behind seniors Justin Eagins and Wes Hooker, who each scored 24 points in Tuesday's 84-52 semifinal win over Batavia. They will be playing on their home court and have won the last four meetings with North.

But the Trojans have a chip on their shoulder and confidence in their step.

“[Beating South] would be an unbelievable feeling,” Boston said. “We feel like if we play as good as we can to the highest of our ability, we can beat any team in the state.”

As much attention as the offensive skills of the respective star players get, Friday’s game is likely to be decided by defense. Both teams emphasize defense first and like to score in transition.

That’s how North rallied from a 19-11 deficit to knock off Willowbrook. The Trojans held the Warriors to 21 percent shooting over the last three quarters.

Star guards Everett Stubblefield and Matas Masys combined to shoot 3-for-24 for the Warriors. Masys had six points on 1-for-8 shooting, while Stubblefield missed his last 10 shots and finished with five points.

“We gave up 17 first-quarter points and then after that I thought defensively, we really got going well,” Downers North coach Jim Thomas said. “I thought it started with Colin Reed and Semaj doing a really good job on Stubblefield.

“We did a good job on Masys. He didn’t get many clean looks.”

That was by design, and the game plan won’t change Friday.

“For us [the key] is just defense,” Henderson said. “Tonight, I thought we brought it from the start of the game and we came out of halftime saying we’re not going to lay an egg in the third quarter.”

They didn’t. After Charlie Flak, who led Willowbrook (17-14) with eight points and 10 rebounds, sank a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 28-27 lead, Boston scored nine points during a 13-2 run.

Willowbrook senior Scott Tumilty, who had been guarding Henderson, left the game during that run after suffering a bloody nose in a collision with Henderson.

“That was unfortunate,” Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins said. “Obviously, [Tumilty] is a rock on our team so that was a big blow for us.

“We held them to 24 points in the first half. We just could not take advantage of our opportunities. We had shots but we weren’t knocking them down.

“Playing on Monday really hurt us, not having that extra gear to go to that we normally play with.”

Thomas said Willowbrook was unfairly seeded and should not have had to play on Monday. But he’s glad to get a chance to win the first regional title of his coaching career, though the task will not be easy.

“[The Mustangs] are playing very well right now,” Thomas said. “We’re going to have to play exceptional to make it a [close] ballgame and then we’ve got to execute down the stretch.”