Elk Grove 58, Wheeling 39

Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman stood at mid-court prior to tip off, microphone in hand, praising his group of senior boys basketball players and their efforts this season.

"They always came to work every day," the first-year head coach told the Senior Night crowd.

And Friday night was no different, only this time, unlike 22 of the previous 25 decisions, Elk Grove (4-22, 1-9) came out the victor, defeating Wheeling 58-39 in the Mid-Suburban East.

"This is truly the first time that we executed for a half, then came out in the third and continued to get the job done," Furman said. "We got effort from 10 guys strong through 3½ quarters, and that made a difference."

The biggest difference, not surprisingly, came from the team's leading scorer, senior Billy Hubly. The 6-foot-4 swingman greeted his father Bill with a hug and his mom Jodi with a rose before the game, but wasn't as kind to the Wildcats when the ball was put in play, scoring nine of the Grens' first 15 points.

But Hubly's final points may have been his most impressive. Dribbling the final few seconds out in the third quarter, Hubly danced with the dribble near mid-court, drove to his right, then nailed a pull-up 3 in the face of Wheeling's James Kurtz (team-high 11 points). The shot ended a 7-0 Wildcat run and cemented the Grens' double-digit lead at 38-24.

"It feels good to get that first win in conference on Senior Night," said Hubly, who left the game with 1:48 left to a nice ovation. "We kept working hard in practice and we knew it was going to come."

Junior Tim Furlong added 9 points and 6 rebounds, senior Ricky Jansen added four, and Joe Baxter scored all 8 of his points in the second half for the Elk Grove.

"Last time we played them they beat us by like 20-something (61-44)," said Baxter, a senior. "That's almost a 40-point swing the other way. Avenging one of our losses means a lot.'

But it wasn't just a night to celebrate the Elk Grove seniors. Furman brought up sophomores Donny Duschinsky and Brian Battaglia, and the pair didn't disappoint, each scoring 6 points in their varsity debuts.

Wheeling (13-11, 3-7), which was riding a 4-game winning streak, converted only 5 field goals in the opening 16 minutes and shot a not-so-hot 38 percent (10-of-26) from the foul line.

"We played a terrible game," said Wheeling coach Lou Wool. "Honestly, I don't think there was anything we did really well.

"As goofy as this sounds, I feel happy that coach Furman got a win and that their kids picked up a win for Senior Night because they certainly earned it tonight."