Collazo caps chaotic win for Elk Grove

Elk Grove's boys basketball team played an almost perfect first half on Friday night against visiting Hersey as the Grenadiers ran out to a 20-point lead after two quarters,

It turned out the Grens needed every one of those points, plus some late-game heroics, to stave off a second-half rally by the Huskies.

Hersey fought its way back into the game and actually took the lead with 17 seconds remaining before Grens junior guard Nico Collazo broke the Huskies' hearts.

Collazo's driving layup with five seconds left gave Elk Grove a 50-49 win.

"We did a much better job defensively in the second half," said Hersey coach Steve Messer, whose team went on a 15-0 run late to get itself right back in the game.

"I have to admit that this (loss) is disappointing for both the players and the coaches," Messer added. "But we have to understand that this is not the end of the world, and we can learn some very valuable lessons from this."

Joey Gatziolis scored a game-high 15 points for Elk Grove, which saw a 37-17 halftime advantage slip away.

"I'd have to say that the first half was the best we've played all season," said Grens coach Anthony Furman. "Obviously the second half didn't play out like we planned, but the funny thing is, we didn't give up that big lead all at once."

"It took Hersey almost the entire second half to get back into the game. We earned that big advantage with the way we played early and sometimes when you earn leads like that, you can withstand the other team's best effort."

Hersey's journey back into the contest was a painful one, as three Huskies players took hard charges in the first minute of the third quarter to give them some much-needed momentum.

Then a 3-point basket from Hersey senior Mike Milligan gave the Huskies some offensive firepower. They methodically cut a 42-24 deficit down to 42-39 midway through the fourth quarter.

"In the first half we were getting open looks, hitting our shots," Gatziolis said. "But they (Hersey) came out strong, just like our coaches talked about at halftime."

Four more times, Hersey closed to within 3 points.

Then 4 free throws from Huskies senior forward Kevin Starr in the final minute saw the visitors take a 49-48 lead with 17 seconds left.

Elk Grove got the ball to Collazo on the final possession and he fought through traffic for a tough layup to give the Grens the lead with five seconds remaining.

The basket was Collazo's first points of the game.

"It was actually an isolated play set up for me," Gatziolis said, "But I got off balance and was able to find Nico with the pass, and he made a great drive to the basket."

"I was able to shake my guy off to the left and drive on him," Collazo said. "We needed to get a bucket any way we could."

Hersey set up a final play and got the ball guard Joe Coffaro. But his long 3-point attempt with a hand in his face at the buzzer hit the backboard, bounced around the rim a couple of times and then fell out.

Zach Cooper led Hersey (6-9, 2-2) with 13 points while Starr scored 12 and Coffaro added 11.

Fulton Wingba had 13 points for Elk Grove, which improved to 9-7 and 3-1 in the MSL East, with a share of the division lead.

"This was a conference game," said Collazo, "so we had to do anything we could to get a win. Big win tonight."