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Elk Grove parlays balance, depth into victory

Elk Grove exhibited a great deal of balance and depth in its 57-37 Mid-Suburban East victory over Rolling Meadows on Friday night.

The Grenadiers shared the ball, played team defense and had five players score 7 points or more.

"We shared the ball real well," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "Everybody had just a bunch across the board to get to 57. I thought we did a good job. I just thought we really executed our game plan well for four quarters."

While most of the game was controlled by Elk Grove (4-1, 1-0), there was a roughly four-minute stretch to start the second quarter where Rolling Meadows (2-3, 0-1) chipped down an 18-7 deficit to 21-18 by using an aggressive half-court trap to bottle up Elk Grove's offense and force some turnovers.

The Grens were able to adjust and push their lead to 9 by halftime, then extend it to 13 at the end of the third quarter.

"We knew at halftime that they were going to come out and really start pressuring us," Elk Grove senior forward Eric Pillath said. "We came into it knowing they were going to trap. We studied film, and sort of knew when they were going to trap, so we were ready for it."

Pillath scored a game-high 13 points and dished out 4 assists, and fellow senior forward Tyler Ingebrigtsen added 11 points and 6 rebounds.

In addition to Pillath and Ingebrigtsen, junior Joey Gatziolis (7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) was everywhere against the Mustangs. When he wasn't grabbing rebounds, he was locking down on defense or diving for a loose ball. He provided a lot of the grit that often goes unrecognized - but it's individual efforts like the one Gatziolis had on Friday night that can really make a difference between an average team game and a great one, the glue that helps hold a team together.

"He is, and that's exactly what he's doing right now," Furman said. "He's a defensive stopper. He can rebound. He can get to the hoop. So he's got a skill set to go with it. He's kind of letting the game come to him. He's finding the right spots to get to with four seniors playing on the floor. He's kind of emerged as a guy we can really lean on early as a junior."

Dan Hadler scored 8 points and Dipen Patel had 7 for Elk Grove. Junior guard John Lothery and sophomore guard Jack Schoessling each scored 8 points to lead the Mustangs.

The Mustangs were not able to sustain the push they had in the early part of the second quarter.

"We got frustrated a little bit, and you have to give a lot of credit to Elk Grove," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "They are an experienced team. They're big. They have a lot of different weapons. "

They did a nice job of doing what they wanted to do, and did a good job of frustrating us."

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