Elk Grove no match for Highland Park

Elk Grove fell into a deep, dark hole Saturday. And no matter what the Grenadiers did, they could not climb out of the abyss.

Elk Grove turned the ball over on its first 6 possessions to fall behind 11-0. And the Grens could never recover, losing to Highland Park 60-34 in the second round of the 41st annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York High School in Elmhurst.

It was a game Grens coach Anthony Furman would love to forget.

"We thought we were well prepared," Furman said. "But this is a different type of a zone. We had a game plan, we just didn't implement it. They jumped on us and never looked back."

Highland Park (8-2), which rolled over Sandburg 69-26 on Friday, picked up where they left off against Elk Grove. Employing their 1-2-2 half-court trapping defense, the Giants forced 10 first quarter turnovers and 26 for the game.

Elk Grove (8-3), which beat Timothy Christian by 17 points on Friday, tried to rally early. The Grens closed to 19-11 with 1:30 left in the first quarter on a 3-point basket by Dipen Patel.

But Highland Park scored the next 8 points to go on a 22-5 run to close the first half with a commanding 41-16 lead. Thanks to the turnovers and easy fastbreak baskets, the Giants shot 78 percent (14-of-18) in the first half.

"You have to play perfect against teams that are really good," Furman said. "They are just solid all the way up and down. We just didn't respond to the challenge."

Sparked by junior Bradley Hubly, the Grens outscored Highland Park 13-11 in the third quarter. Hubly, who is the sixth or seventh man in Furman's rotation, scored 6 of his 8 points in the period.

"I am just trying to do what the coaches say," Hubly said. "And taking advantage of the opportunities I get."

Furman was pleased with his team's play in the third quarter and hopes to build off it when the Grens play Metea Valley at 6 p.m. Monday.

"We showed a little sign of life," Furman said. "And that is the way we have to play like the whole game. We don't look at any one loss and panic. We knew the things that helped put ourselves in a hole, and we will get better to fix them."

Dan Hadler had 8 points and 5 blocked shots for Elk Grove while Tyler Ingebrigsten had 8 points and 6 rebounds.

Highland Park was led by David Sachs (16 points) and Jacob Iden (10).