Andrew Waterman, Daniel Sveiteris convert four-point plays in Downers Grove South’s win over Proviso East

DOWNERS GROVE – Senior year is the fourth year in high school, so it sort of made sense that Downers Grove South would use four four-point plays from seniors to beat Proviso East on Friday night in a key West Suburban Gold Conference clash.

After all, it was senior night and seniors Andrew Waterman and Daniel Sveiteris were responsible for their rare scoring sequences during a 77-58 victory.

“It was big for us on Senior Night to come out with a lot of emotions,” Mustangs coach Zach Miller said. “With a lot of the feelings in those seniors that go into it, sometimes you never know how they’re going to respond with all that kind of stuff. I thought it was big with (Andrew) Waterman coming right out of the gate with the four-point play and Danny (Sveiteris) with a dunk, and our defense kind of jump-started us a little bit.”

Offensively, junior Adam Flowers was the one kickstarting things, celebrating his 17th birthday with 28 points.

“I was just taking what the defense was giving me,” he said. “I shot two threes early that didn’t feel that good so I went down to try to get to the rim and get to the line and get my rhythm going. Give credit to A-Wat (Waterman), he was the one who started off hot and then (Sveiteris) with the dunk.”

Downers Grove South (15-12, 8-1) increased their 37-34 halftime lead to 55-43 after three quarters with a late run.

With the game tied at 42-42 with 5:14 left in the third quarter, the Mustangs went on a 13-1 run to pull away from the Pirates (17-9, 8-3).

“Proviso East was going to keep coming and I think in the second half our guys did a really good job of focusing on the defensive end and getting stops,” Miller said. “We only gave up (24 points) in the second half. A team like that constantly puts pressure off the bounce and attacks the paint. Our guys did a great job of having pride on that end.”

Waterman knocked down the first of his four-point plays to open the game not even 10 seconds into the action. He’d do it again, getting fouled in the corner but converting regardless and then draining the free throw for the four-point play and a 27-20 lead with 5:03 left in the first half.

Sveiteris found himself at the free-throw line twice in the fourth quarter after getting fouled and while Proviso East was assessed technical fouls. Within a 42-second sequence, Sveiteris made eight straight free throws during just two visits to the line, shooting four on each of his two stops at the charity stripe.

He scored 14 points going 10 of 10 from the line.

“I ended up being by myself on the free throw line during those late nights in the gym and it paid off, “he said. “We needed this win. It was big for conference. We knew it would be intense. I’m just really proud of (my team). We lost to them by 25-plus the last game we played. The fact we came into it ready to go was just truly inspiring, especially Senior Night right before playoffs. We’re rolling now. The foot’s on the gas.”

Waterman and another senior, Keon Maggit, each scored 10 points and junior Sean Day had 9 points.

“The win puts us in the driver’s seat (in conference) but we still have three conference games left,” Miller said. “We’re focused on getting hot here as we start getting ready for that regional in a week and a half. We’re healthy. This is the first time our group has been fully together in weeks, so just having everybody from top to bottom tonight, it was good to get out there and see. That for me, seeing these guys having these last weeks of practice has been good. Hopefully we’re getting hot at the right time and keep making shots and getting stops.”