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Elk Grove regains its groove

Elk Grove owned the boards Friday night against visiting Rolling Meadows from the first tip to the final buzzer, but struggled early putting points on the board.

Once they found their shooting touch from 3-point range, there was no stopping the Grenadiers.

Six-foot-6 Elk Grove junior Tyler Ingebrigtsen led the way with a game-high 15 points and 6 rebounds, and senior teammate Anthony Bianchini (12 points) had three of the team’s 7 3’s in a no-doubt-about-it 60-43 Mid-Suburban East win over the Mustangs.

“We’d lost a couple of MSL games in a row,” said Ingebrigtsen, “and we’ve been trying any way we know how to get a win.”

“We’ve been working on our rebounding in practice. Our coach (Anthony Furman) told us tonight that the big thing would be to have a plan going in – not be clueless out there.”

Senior Matt Dolan scored a team-high 14 points for Meadows.

“I have to give Elk Grove a ton of credit,” said Mustangs coach Kevin Katovich. “Physically, they really took it to us.”

Meadows held the lead through most of the early going but the contest turned midway through the second quarter when senior guard Joell Melendez (10 points) canned a 3, then drove the lane for a layup after a steal.

Another 3, this one from Scott Furlong, gave the Grens a double-digit third-quarter advantage, and the home team took a 22-point lead at the third period buzzer when Bianchini swished an NBA-length 3.

“I thought we played well,” said Elk Grove senior Adam O’Malley. “We tried not to let their zone slow us down. We kept attacking the basket, crashing the boards and playing our game.”

Meadows rallied in the fourth quarter, and a 3-point play by Dolan brought the Mustangs to within 11.

Then Melendez had a 3-point play of his own, and Bianchini hit another 3 moments later to put the game out of reach.

Furlong added 7 points for the Grens while Dan Hadler (6 rebounds) and Eric Pillath (5 boards) helped pace the winners on the glass.

Senior Pat Kramp scored 7 points for Meadows while sophomore John Lothery pitched in with 6.

“We’ve been playing well lately,” said Katovich, “so hopefully this is just a minor blip. We’re a better team than we showed in this game, but it was Elk Grove’s night tonight. They outplayed us and outhustled us.”

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