Depth helps carry Rolling Meadows past Elk Grove

How deep is the Rolling Meadows boys basketball team this season?

So deep that all 15 available players on the roster saw meaningful minutes in the first half alone against visiting Elk Grove Friday night.

Freshman Cameron Christie led the way for Meadows with 16 points as the Mustangs scored a 76-53 Mid-Suburban East victory over the Grens.

"Our guys work hard in practice," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich, "so we try to get them all minutes when we can."

"That just shows that we know everyone can do their job," added Mustangs senior guard Sean Nolan. "We don't have a weak link."

Max Christie scored 15 points for Meadows to go along with 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

"I'm just so proud of Max," added Katovich. "He had a ton of assists as well, he distributed the ball and showed tonight just what an unselfish player he is."

The Grenadiers fell behind by 20 points in the second quarter, but fought back and cut the lead to single digits in the third quarter before Meadows was able to pull away.

"We're never going to give up," said Grens coach Nick Oraham. "That's kind of our thing. We play hard, we rebound well and we take charges, and those can be momentum changers."

Junior guard Brian Burns of Elk Grove scored 6 points in the first quarter, but Max Christie matched him by scoring 6 of his own as Meadows took a 20-12 advantage.

Then it was Max Christie taking control of the game in the second period by scoring 7 points, and when junior Aidan Hosler hit a free throw with 2:40 remaining before halftime, the Mustangs led 34-14.

Elk Grove slowly but surely gained ground, and after senior Devin McKinney sank 3 of 4 free throws (2 of the attempts coming courtesy of a Meadows technical foul), the Grens trailed just 44-35 midway through the stanza.

"We started the second half a little slow," said Nolan, "but we were able to regain our momentum."

First junior Luke Duffer got a steal to slow down the Grens' rally, then after a tough offensive rebound by Nolan, Duffer swished a 3-pointer.

Then Duffer found Cameron Christie on the next possession with a great pass, Christie nailed a 3, and just like that the home team led by 15 again.

Orlando Thomas opened the fourth quarter with a steal and layup, Cameron Christie hit 2 consecutive 3s, and teammate Foster Ogbonna scored 5 fourth-quarter points as Meadows put the game away.

McKinney scored a team-high 16 points for the Grens, while Burns added 12 points and Jordan Miller had 10.

Thomas scored 9 for Meadows and had 8 boards, while Ogbonna (9 points), Jonah Ogunsanya (8 points) and Joey Mickey (7) all contributed to a balanced Meadows scoring effort.

"They're a good team," said Oraham of the Mustangs. "There's only one other guy right now in our conference who can hit the kind of shots that Max Christie can and that's (Kam) Craft of Buffalo Grove. It's going to be fun to see what Meadows can do in regionals and sectionals."