Vincas Buzelis, Hinsdale Central rally past previously unbeaten Brother Rice for tournament title

HINSDALE – Vincas Buzelis, one night removed from a tournament record 40-point game, had things much harder Monday.

Hinsdale Central’s 6-foot-4 senior forward and South Dakota recruit, facing a physical Brother Rice defense, went the whole third quarter without scoring.

[ Photos: Hinsdale Central vs. Brother Rice ]

He even had to leave the game after spraining his wrist on a hard fall and his team down eight.

“I’m all good,” Buzelis said. “I had to finish the game for my team.”

Buzelis finished in a big way.

He scored nine of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. Hinsdale Central, coming from behind in the second half for the third consecutive tournament game, beat previously undefeated Brother Rice 52-51 in a thriller of a Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship game that came down to the final play.

Brother Rice senior guard and Citadel commit Marcos Gonzales, who scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, rebounded a Hinsdale Central miss in the final seconds.

He went coast-to-coast, but his shot at the rim as time expired was contested by 6-foot-7 Hinsdale Central senior Michael Howell.

“Really, really physical game. I told [Brother Rice] coach [and former Hinsdale assistant] Conte [Stamas] you got some tough kids,” Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre said. “They played hard. I thought our kids did a good job of hanging in there. Couldn’t be more proud with how we persevered.”

Dillon Dell added 11 points, all in the second half, and Howell 10 points and 10 rebounds for Hinsdale Central (12-2), which beat a pair of tournament favorites in Niles North and Brother Rice (13-1) to win its tournament for the second time, joining the 2022 team.

“It feels great. Nobody thought we were going to win the tournament,” Dell said. “We all knew that we were a contender for it. To prove everybody wrong and to keep the tournament championship at home feels great.”

Brother Rice led Hinsdale Central 25-23 in a nip-and-tuck first half in which the biggest lead either way was five.

The Crusaders surged ahead 35-25 on a Gonzales basket midway through the third quarter. The advantage seemed even more daunting with Buzelis on the bench.

But Dell scored Hinsdale Central’s last eight points of the quarter with two 3-pointers to close the gap to 37-33 going into the fourth.

And his heroics weren’t done.

Dell stuck a corner 3-pointer to give the Red Devils the lead for good, 48-46 with 2:26 left, in a back-and-forth fourth quarter that featured seven lead changes and one tie.

“We’ve been down every game in this tournament except for the first round,” Dell said. “I’m just looking to play defense, rebound and hit the catch-and-shoot three.”

Buzelis, a rugged forward, had nine points and seven rebounds in the first half, but was held to just two shot attempts – misses from three – in the third quarter.

But he came alive in the fourth quarter, and got aggressive with a series of tough scores inside the arc.

He wheeled and dealed for a spectacular drive through the defense and scoop and score for a 50-47 lead with 1:42 left, and after Gonzales answered Buzelis discarded two defenders to roll in a shot from the top of the key for Hinsdale Central’s last basket with 53 seconds left.

Buzelis, named the tournament MVP, shot 7-for-10 and also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists, two in the fourth quarter.

He needed all of it the way Gonzales was slicing up Hinsdale Central’s defense with a series of crafty, old-school moves around the basket.

“My coach told me don’t settle for jump shots, get to the basket so that’s what I did,” Buzelis said. “We all believed in ourselves, believed in our coach, knew our roles.

“He [Gonzales] is very skilled, a very good player, tough to guard. But this win shows that we’re here to stay, a good team.”