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Grygo-Frontier tandem a force for Addison Trail

Addison Trail junior Eric Grygo and senior Dante Frontier are used to complementing each other together on the basketball court.

On Tuesday at Fenton, the two replaced each other to combine for a powerful force in the post. Their second-quarter inside domination paved the way for the Blazers' 68-54 nonconference victory.

Usually a starter alongside the 6-foot-3 Frontier, the 6-4 Grygo came off the bench in the second quarter and scored 9 of his team-high 15 points and claimed 5 of his 7 rebounds.

The Blazers (11-4) extended a 14-13 lead after one quarter to 33-21 at the half.

"I like it better when Dante's out there with me. Usually it's nice to have a partner to bail you out, but when you're out there alone, I guess you have to do everything by yourself," Grygo said. "We weren't doing so well in the first quarter, so we had to step up a little as a team. I kind of stepped up myself."

The Blazers were coming off back-to-back losses at the Centralia Tournament after winning seven straight. For the first time this season coach Brendan Lyons used a different starting lineup Tuesday with senior Jaavion Bradley instead of Grygo. After this victory the Blazers already have equaled last year's win total.

"(Fenton) came out and shot it well. We weren't getting through screens very well and leaving some of their guys (open)," Lyons said. "We wanted to get to the offensive glass, create some second-chance opportunities and really kind of play at a quicker clip than we're used to."

The Bison (4-10) were outrebounded by Addison Trail 18-9 in the second quarter. The Blazers had 9 offensive boards with 4 by Grygo, who scored two of his four baskets in the period on putbacks.

"I felt like I came down with every rebound. I guess it was just working for me," Grygo said.

Fenton's tallest player was 6-2 senior Jeremy Biagi, who scored 20 points with five 3-pointers. For various reasons, the Bison dressed only nine players and used seven in the first half.

"Size has played a factor (against) us all year," Fenton coach Josh Payton said. "The second quarter, we kind of ran out of gas a little bit."

Frontier had 8 points and 4 rebounds at the half and finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Senior Matt Gontarek then scored 11 of his 12 points in a big third quarter for the Blazers. Their 15-0 run opened a 52-26 gap and 54-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.

"We were good in spurts today. We've got to have a consistent effort for 32 minutes if we want to be the team we can be and have the potential to be," Frontier said.

"(Grygo and I) know we're partners and we've got to look for each other. We work good high-low. I think we also work well because we both crash the glass. I feel more assertive when we're both crashing the glass."

Lyons said Grygo topped his usual point total of 8-10 points. Mostly a JV player last year, Frontier has emerged as a "really nice surprise" mainly as a solid defender and rebounder.

"We've talked about how you've got to be reliable. You've got to be consistent. (Frontier) has just been very dependable for us," Lyons said. "Eric's been a force for us and hopefully that continues."

Biagi and senior David Alden combined for five 3s in the first half and had the other four in the fourth quarter. Biagi hit his first three attempts before finishing with a 10-point fourth quarter.

"This is the most aggressive either of them have been scoring the basketball and we're looking for them to do that for us," Payton said.

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