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Focused Elk Grove finishes off Buffalo Grove

When Elk Grove's Brad Hubly was whistled for an offensive charging call late in the first quarter at Buffalo Grove, Grenadiers coach Anthony Furman knew what to do.

"Brad wants to do so well for the team that when something goes wrong his focus could change," Furman said. "I shouted a reminder to him to keep his focus, and he responded well."

Hubly and the Grenadiers used a strong third quarter and outlasted the Bison 53-45 in the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game.

The win keeps the Grenadiers (11-7, 5-1) in the conference race while BG falls to 7-12 and 2-4.

Elk Grove was without swingman Fulton Wingba, who sprained an ankle Thursday in practice. Wingba is expected back for next week's game against Hersey.

"We wanted to come out with a strong third quarter," said Hubly who led Elk Grove with 20 points. "Their different defenses (1-3-1) surprised us at first but at halftime we made some adjustments to get our baseline players closer to the basket. We just had to step up our game in the second half."

The Grens led 24-22 at half despite trailing 18-13 with 5:23 left in the second quarter.

Hubly and Joey Gatziolis (16 points. 9 rebounds) keyed the 11-4 run to close out the quarter with 4 points each.

Stefan Pantovic's basket with 5:35 left in the third quarter gave the Grens the lead for good after four lead changes to start the quarter.

Pantovic's basket started a 11-2 run that saw Hubly connect on two of his five 3-point baskets and a free throw. That run gave the Grenadiers a 36-29 lead and Elk Grove finished the quarter ahead 37-30.

The Bison pulled to within 44-41 on Mac Camardo's 2 free throws with 1:35 remaining.

Elk Grove kept the Bison at arm's length by hitting 9-of-12 free throws in the final 1:34.

For the game, though, the Grenadiers hit only 18-of-32. The Bison made 12-of-14.

"We know what we are capable of doing," Hubly said. "Tonight we had some good senior leadership when we needed it and our juniors came off the bench and played well."

"We want to embrace where we are in the conference race and to be humble about it," Furman said. "We made some good adjustments during the game. We didn't want their 1-3-1 to beat us."

Camardo, along with sophomore classmates Jack Vaselaney (10 points, 5 rebounds) and Colin Calcagno (12 points), bring hope for the future.

Camarado scored 6 of his 7 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down 5 rebounds. He became the starting center during the Wheeling Holiday Tournament.

"Our goal is to play hard every game and to make a run in the playoffs," said Camardo. "We have the talent and we just have to find the right matches to be successful.

"Today we wanted to show Elk Grove different looks and the 1-3-1 was one of them. It worked pretty well for us in our win Friday at Wauconda. We're feeling comfortable with it."

  Buffalo Grove's Jack Vaselaney, left, drives for a layup against Elk Grove's Kyle Zuba during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Buffalo Grove's Jimmy Trieb, left, is met by Elk Grove defender Joey Lopez along the baseline during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Buffalo Grove's Jack Vaselaney, left, and Elk Grove's Tyree Howard try to control a loose ball during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson leads his team during Saturday's game against Elk Grove. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Buffalo Grove's Jack Vaselaney shoots while being guarded by Elk Grove's Tyree Howard during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Elk Grove's Kyle Zuba, left, guards Buffalo Grove's Colin Calcagno during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Elk Grove's Tyree Howard, right, passes the ball along the baseline during Saturday's game against Buffalo Grove. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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