We step on the court with the Metea Valley Mustangs for the regional quarterfinals at Metea against Hinsdale Central. The Mustangs hold the 14th seed while the visiting Hinsdale Central Red Devils sit in the 17th spot.
Hinsdale Central already leading by 4 in the first, Manny Hess goes for the triple, it bounces around but luckily Tahj Morgan is there for the cleanup. Mustangs down 2.
2:40 left in the first, Hinsdale Central in transition, Matthew Rush gets the ball behind the arc, nails the three pointer for the red devils to go up 3.
Seconds ticking down in the first, Hinsdale keeping the tempo up, Scott Bitautas nails the wide open three, 13-6 at the end of the first.
Into the second, Manny Hess gets the feed and sinks the jump hook in the lane, Mustangs trailing by 5.
Red Devils next possession, Matthew Rush, with a hand is his face, hits the triple from the corner, he had 24 points on the night at they extend their lead 18-10.
Ethan Helwig says anything you can do, I can do too. Nails the three pointer at the top of the key, Metea down 5.
It’s a back and fourth three battle. Justin Bradshaw gets the 3, pushing Hinsdale Central up 21-13.
3:41 left in the 2nd, Ethan Helwig grabs the lose ball and lays it in through traffic, mustangs again trailing by just 5.
Helwig notched 24 points on the night… no surprise as he hits a baseline jumper. Again, still trailing by 5.
Into the third quarter, just the start of it and Ryan Isaacson comes out with momentum. He gets the bucket and the foul. Red Devils up 38-23 which gets the bench pumped up.
Isaacson isn’t done. After hitting the driving basket… he shows he has range too, sinking the three, Hinsdale up 20.
Metea just trying to stop the bleeding. Helwig steps into a three and nails it. Metea down 13.
But the Red Devils were just too much to handle taking the victory 69 to 56. They move on to play the number one seed Geneva on Tuesday night in the Regional Semifinals.
