Grant shares the wealth

Proving he’s wiser, Grant guard Mike Burns showed no anger following a missed dunk. He displayed only a sheepish smile.

After all, the last time the junior let off some frustration, his actions wound up costing him the first month of the basketball season. He punched a locker at school and broke his right (shooting) hand.

“I learned my lesson,” Burns said with a grin.

Besides, when Burns missed his one-handed dunk try on a breakaway early in the fourth quarter Friday night, Grant was up 21 points en route to a 65-46 win over visiting Antioch in a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division contest.

He didn’t even blame his healed hand for being unable to throw down the dunk.

“I took off too far from the hoop,” said Burns, who has dunked in a game this season.

Steve Dunning’s game-high 13 points led a balanced scoring attack for Grant (11-12, 4-5), which won its third game in a row. Tom Blanchette added 12 and 6 rebounds, while Ryan Noda added 10 points and 5 assists.

Burns, who’s provided a jolt of offense since making his season debut in Grant’s holiday tournament, chipped in 8 points and 5 assists. Matt Malmberg came off the bench to score all 7 of his points, including a 3-pointer, in the third quarter.

“That was our best game all season as a team,” Burns said.

Noda agreed.

“We all contributed,” the junior point guard said. “Everybody that started got a (basket) in the paint. We just all had a good all-around game. Our points were all spread out very well.”

Burns and Noda each sank a 3-pointer and added a conventional basket in the opening quarter in helping Grant build a 17-8 lead. Antioch (2-19, 0-9) actually led 4-0 on a baseline bucket by Ryan Weber (8 points, 6 rebounds) and 2 free throws by Tyler Innis, before the Bulldogs scored the game’s next 10 points. Burns’ alley-oop feed to Keion Miller for a layup capped a 17-4 run.

Grant had 7-0 and 6-0 runs in the second quarter. Blanchette’s buzzer-beating putback gave the Bulldogs a 38-18 lead at halftime.

“They looked for each other really well tonight,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said of his players. “They weren’t selfish at all. We took turns pounding it in and getting guys in the post.”

Eleven players scored for Grant, which played its third straight game without guard Rayvon Jones (illness).

Antioch guard A.J. Marsiglio scored all of his team-high 11 points in the third quarter, as the 5-foot-6 junior sank three 3-pointers. Marsiglio, who shot 4 of 8 from the floor, also had 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

“He had probably one of his best games in a long time,” Antioch coach Jim White said. “He’s been stepping up handling the ball, but him knocking down shots is good to see.”

Sam Smithson added 9 points coming off the bench, and James Konvalinka knocked down a 3 for the Sequoits, who surrendered 13 offensive rebounds.

“Give (Grant) credit,” White said. “They killed us on the boards. It was painful.”