Elk Grove can't stop big runs by St. Patrick

Tied at 17-17 early in the second quarter at St. Patrick on Saturday night, Elk Grove built a 24-17 lead with 4:55 left in the half.

The Shamrocks then clamped down on defense and held the Grenadiers scoreless the rest of the half, taking a 27-24 lead at the intermission.

Trailing 29-26 with 7:09 left in the third quarter, the Shamrocks went on an 11-0 run to grab a 40-26 advantage over the next 5:17.

The Grenadiers could not recover and dropped a 61-41 nonconference decision in Chicago.

"We are not responding to other teams' runs," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman, who saw his Grens' record drop to 5-11. "We did a good job and a lot of right things in building the 7-point lead. We had a hard time playing offense in the second half."

The Grenadiers pulled to within 45-38 with 3:40 left on a Matt Martinski basket, but the Shamrocks (10-3) went on a 16-0 run.

J.J. Lastovich and Martinski each had 10 points, and Martinski grabbed 7 rebounds.

St. Patrick guard Tim Traversa showed why he is a Division I prospect with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. Bryant Smith added 14 points for the Shamrocks.

"Elk Grove came out and played hard," said St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey. "When they built the lead, we just had to turn up the defensive pressure. Traversa sees the floor as well as anyone that I have coached."