Adduci keys St Charles East’s comeback against Glenbard West

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Dom Adduci

Updated: March 28, 2012 10:19PM

St. Charles East guard Dominic Adduci wasn’t in the starting lineup Tuesday night because the Saints opted to start five seniors on Senior Night.

Maybe Adduci should come off the bench every game. The six-foot sophomore erupted for 25 of his career-high 29 points in the second half to lead the host Saints to a thrilling 68-64 comeback victory over Glenbard West.

The Saints (14-11) trailed by 19 points in the third quarter but erased that deficit in less than seven minutes, with Adduci scoring 10 points during a 24-4 run that turned a 45-26 deficit into a 50-49 lead with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter.

“I was thinking about that,” Adduci said of his temporary sixth-man role. “I was joking with my teammates. I was just like, ‘Man, I wish it was Senior Night every night.”

After taking just four shots in the first half, which ended with Glenbard West (15-9) ahead 32-16, Adduci started the second half by sinking his first five shots, most of which came on transition layups.

“I hit a couple quick shots so I knew it was going to be a solid second half and my teammates, I credit them,” said Adduci, who was 10 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 8 from the line after intermission. “They did a great job finding me in open space trying to get me some open looks.”

Indeed, all of the Saints seemed to take their game to a new level.

“Coach really like the fire at halftime,” Adduci said. “He said we have to do it for the seniors, so it really got everyone inspired and we just did a good job of spreading the ball out and driving and kicking and finding more looks. And we were attacking their big guy more in the second half.”

The big guy was 6-8 senior center Pat Mazza, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and wreaked havoc at both ends by pulling down five rebounds, blocking four shots and dishing out two assists.

But the Saints, who went 3-for-17 from the three-point arc in the first half, switched strategies in the second half, attempting only seven treys while attacking the basket with abandon. It paid off as Mazza picked up his third foul at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter and sat the rest of the period. He got his fourth with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter and the Hilltoppers up 53-50 and rarely got the ball down the stretch.

“We really focused on him,” Adduci said. “He’s a great player. He killed us in the first half, so we just wanted to pressure him as much as possible and just double the man as much as possible to get it out of their hands so they couldn’t find him.”

“We were in good rhythm until Pat got in foul trouble,” said Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder, whose team outrebounded the Saints 32-18 but lost its third straight game. “We took him out and we seemed to lose our rhythm offensively and defensively. Without him we’re definitely a different team.”

The Saints used a 7-0 run, capped by two free throws and a three-pointer from Adduci, to go up 57-53 with 2:30 remaining. The Hilltoppers got within two points on three occasions after that, the last coming at 64-62 following a three-point play by Matthew Mache with :30.3 to go, but the Saints answered each challenge by driving for a layup or free throws.

Senior Dom Urso scored the final four points for the Saints on a layup and two free throws. He and junior Kendall Stephens both finished with seven points, while senior Johnny Hendlik tallied 15 points.

So will Adduci be reprising his role as super sub?

“Not a chance,” St. Charles East coach Patrick Woods said. “Credit our seniors. I thought all are seniors did a great job, but we’ve got to go with our core when we need it.”

Mike Mache led Glenbard West with 22 points and 10 boards, while Matthew Mache added 11 points and Jeff Levesque had 10.