Grant savors victory over Round Lake
Turning things around is just slightly more satisfying when it happens on your home court.
Grant avenged an earlier loss to visiting Round Lake and got its second victory of the season with a 61-43 victory on Friday night in a North Suburban Prairie Division boys basketball game in Fox Lake.
Justin Hanlin led the Bulldogs with 18 points and 6 rebounds, Jason Mobley chipped in with 16 and Jason Kaye added 10 points.
Late in the game, Grant was especially glad to have Pierre Bailey-Gutierrez back on the court after he'd missed a couple of weeks with a health concern.
The Bulldogs won for the second time this season to improve to 2-19 overall and 1-6 in the NSC Prairie.
"It feels great to get a second one," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "We started out well and we have to give credit to our seniors on senior night. Our defense did a good job in the first quarter, holding them to 4."
Hanlin had the hot hand early, scoring 9 points as Grant opened a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
"Out whole key was to get payback because we lost to them by 2 points at their place," Hanlin said. "Our key through practice was to beat Round Lake."
Grant held a 30-19 lead at the half and led 47-32 going into the fourth quarter.
Round Lake (3-13, 1-6) scored 5 straight points opening the final period as Zach Kuligoski knocked down a 3 that cut the lead to 47-37 with 6:12 remaining.
A comeback, perhaps? It wasn't to be, as the Panthers lost Javari Goodwin to a knee injury and couldn't regain the momentum.
The Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 14-6 the rest of the way.
"We thought that if we got it to single digits, then we could see what we could do," Round Lake coach Jeremy Fisher said. "Once, Javari went out it was a big blow, because he's a hustler and rebounder."
Michael Green led the Panthers with 16 points and Cezar Rodgers added 14.
Bailey-Gutierrez played the final three minutes after he was cleared to play earlier in the day. He missed his first couple of shots but made a layup in the final seconds.
"I felt pretty good to get back on the court," Bailey-Gutierrez said. "I had missed the last two weeks. I was a little nervous going back - I was a little out of shape, but it felt normal. When I made the shot I was pretty happy to see it. I'm just happy to come back."