Meadows' win no small feat

Rolling Meadows big man Kyle Berbeka didn't look so big Monday night against Lake Forest Academy.

Few people will against a team that has a starting front line of 7-foot-1 Aziz Ndiaye, 7-0 Kyle Rowley and 6-9 Todd Zafirvoski.

But the first time the 6-4 Berbeka touched the ball he ventured into the land of Caxys' giants and emerged with a layup.

And Meadows didn't give an inch as it trailed only once and rolled to a 69-55 victory in Fenton's 22nd annual Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament in Bensenville.

"Our big guys aren't going to back down from anyone," said Meadows guard Kevin Serna, who hit 4 second-half 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

"As a team we didn't want them to think we were afraid of them," Berbeka said. "We took it to them right away."

Kyle Gaedele led Meadows with 19 points and 5 assists and Ty Kirk added 14 points and 3 assists.

Berbeka finished with 6 points but his two inside hoops in the first three minutes showed the Mustangs weren't intimidated.

"We wanted to be real aggressive," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "Berbeka set the tone early. We talked to him the last two weeks … if they block his shot, they block his shot."

Ndiaye finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 6 dunks and 4 blocks. The Caxys had a 43-22 rebounding edge.

But Serna, Kirk, Gaedele and crew put on enough pressure to force 33 turnovers that were parlayed into 27 points as Meadows built a 63-42 lead with 4:31 to play.

"We wanted to make sure if the big guys did get the ball it wasn't off the pass," Katovich said.

And Berbeka, Ben Sabal, Joe Okon and Dan McCarthy didn't make it easy when the ball did get inside.

"We came out and played awesome 'D,'" Serna said. "Our post players really came to play tonight."

Will Trunk also came off the bench to hit a pair of 3s as the Mustangs used 12 players in the first half.

"This was our toughest challenge as a team," Berbeka said.

And easily their biggest.

Fenton 57, Elk Grove 48: Fenton has never hoisted the big hardware from the boys basketball tournament it has hosted.

And the Bison didn't get off to a good start Monday night. They gave up 22 points in the first 10 minutes and 6-foot-4 senior Damian Sieradzki was ice cold against Elk Grove.

But the defense clamped down and Sieradzki heated up for a career-high 24 points as Fenton pulled away to a 57-48 victory.

"We stepped it up a lot," Sieradzki said. "We came out not playing to our potential.

"As the game went on we finally realized what we were playing for and stepped it up. It was all a team effort."

Sieradzki, whose previous high was 22 points, wasn't deterred by a slow start. He scored 6 points in a 8-0 run that put the Bison up 47-39 with 4:17 to play.

"As a shooter, if you miss your first 3 shots, you can't go back and think about those," said Sieradzki, who also had 12 rebounds of the Bison's 50-32 advantage. "You've got to let it go."

Elk Grove senior Billy Hubly (21 points) hit 3 straight 3-pointers and found Cory Cetkovic for a layup in an 11-0 run for a 21-11 lead.

But Hubly and Chris Hayworth, who hit three 3s and scored 12 points, each hit just once from behind the arc in the second half.

"I thought we dug in and got back in the game by tightening up defensively," said Fenton coach Dennis Cromer.

Andy Larson's steal and layup put the Grens up 36-35 with 2:30 left in the third. But Fenton's relentless work on the boards paid off -- particularly in the decisive run.

"They did a good job of going to their strengths," said first-year Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "The pounded the glass, got good penetration and shot well from the line (21-for-30).

"We learned a lot tonight. We played 11 and I think all 11 can contribute."

Gozie Umeadi had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Darek Potuszynski scored 6 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter for Fenton, which finished second for the sixth time in its tourney last year.