Brendan Savage, the Hinsdale South senior whose mother sued to get him back on the basketball team, played in his first game of the season on Friday at Downers Grove South.

Savage checked in with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Hinsdale South crowd cheered and the large Downers Grove South student section booed. Savage quickly grabbed a rebound. He was the first substitute off the bench for Hornets and checked out with 17 seconds left in the quarter.

Downers Grove South leads Hinsdale South 49-31 at halftime. Savage checked in with 3:17 left in the second quarter and played for more than two minutes.

Erin Savage, Brendan’s mother, sued the school district and several employees when Brendan was cut from the team after tryouts. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 22 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. It alleged that Hinsdale South boys basketball coach Michael Belcaster cut Brendan after tryouts this fall in retaliation for the family filing a complaint, alleging verbal abuse and bullying, against the previous coach, Michael Moretti.

Belcaster was the sophomore coach under Moretti last season.

“I’ve never filed a lawsuit before,” Erin Savage told the Sun-Times on Monday. “Our six kids have been involved in approximately 31 varsity sports at the high school. I’ve never complained about a coach. But we’ve also never encountered [someone] who thinks he can do whatever he wants. That was [Moretti].”

Tuesday morning, Savage learned Brendan was back on the Hinsdale South basketball team as a result of the lawsuit. The Hinsdale Township School Board made the decision in a meeting Monday night. 

The school district didn’t give her any guarantee that Brendan would receive playing time. The lawsuit hasn’t been dropped yet.

Hinsdale South hasn’t released a statement on the matter. A school district spokesperson said the district doesn’t comment on legal matters.