Elk Grove accelerates past Palatine
Elk Grove, which shared the Mid-Suburban East championship with Prospect, now get its chance to topple the top-seeded Cougars in a Class 4A regional final at Conant on Friday.
The Grenadiers, who are 19-9 (and 13-2 since the beginning of January) pulled away from Palatine in the fourth quarter to post a 55-41 win over the ninth-seeded Pirates.
Elk Grove, the No. 8 seed, used strong fourth-quarter performances from Fulton Wingba and Tyree Howard.
Wingba scored 7 of his 9 fourth-quarter points in a decisive 12-1 run for a 52-35 lead with 1:42 left in the game. Wingba finished the run with a slam dunk. Howard scored 6 points in the quarter and Brad Hubly had 5 of his 11.
"My work in the summer is paying off," said Wingba, who led the Elk Grove with 21 points. "Last year I was alone a lot and I missed jump shots. During the summer I must have taken close to 1,500 shots and worked on my game around the rim."
What turned the Grenadiers around after the holiday break?
"It was a mental thing with us," said Wingba. "We were overconfident as a team. We had to put away our own personal numbers and play as a team. He had to humble ourselves and do what was best for the team. Tonight we knew we had the height advantage, so we tried to work the ball inside."
Elk Grove led 33-30 going into the fourth quarter when the turnover bug raised its ugly head against the Pirates.
Palatine (17-13) had committed 14 turnovers through three quarters, with Elk Grove only scoring 5 points off them. The fourth quarter was a different story.
Tyree Howard, who sparked the offense in the second half after having first-half foul trouble, scored off of a turnover for the Grens.
Hubly connected on a 3 and then scored on an assist from Joey Gatziolis (8 points) off of two more turnovers to open a 40-30 lead.
Two free throws by Chris Refka and a basket by Matt Ulrich, who led Palatine with 12 points, pulled the Pirates within 40-34 before Elk Grove took over.
Palatine would end with 24 turnovers to Elk Grove's 15 but only converted 6 points off them. Elk Grove scored 14 points from Palatines turnovers.
"It wasn't a good night to not take care of the ball," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "Elk Grove did a nice job playing defense on us with their (2-3) zone. They did a nice job taking up space. Credit them for their defense. That was the difference."
"We knew this very well could be a bucket for bucket game, and it was for awhile," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "We were fortunate to take advantage and score off of their turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"Tyree (Howard) showed some great leadership in the second half, scoring all 8 of his points. He helped everyone share the ball and find open shots for us."
"When I came back into the game in the second half," said Howard, "coach said to get out there and get the job done. When they committed turnovers we had to take advantage of them. We had to defend and get rebounds. We've been much more focused as a team in the second half of the season."