Manly effort helps Grayslake C. jilt Johnsburg

At some point this season, Grayslake Central boys basketball coach Brian Moe knew he would need each member of his team to contribute.

On Saturday night, during a big Fox Valley Conference Fox Division contest at Johnsburg, just about all of them did as Moe got just what he needed from his bench.

Needing a big body to match up against massive 6-foot-7 Johnsburg forward C.J. Fiedorowicz, Moe called on senior Troy Manly to do the dirty work.

Manly, who is listed at 6-foot-7, provided the beef the Rams needed and junior Josh Rappaport and senior Alex Anderson provided the scoring to help Grayslake to a 64-56 win at Johnsburg. It's the Rams' seventh straight win.

"Before the season I told the kids that we would need all of them at some point," Moe said. "That is why we carried 18 kids on the roster because at some point we would need each and every one of them."

Grayslake improved to 14-6 overall and 4-0 in the FVC Fox. But the Rams were anything but calm after a wild sequence ended the third quarter. Two close calls didn't draw a whistle from the referees, but a reaction from a Grayslake player did and it cost the Rams 2 points after time expired. The technical foul seemed to light up the Rams to start the fourth quarter.

"Coach just told us to keep our mouths shut and just go play basketball," Rappaport said. "This is a good rivalry we have here and everyone on the court was pretty fired up."

Rather than come unraveled, the Rams ran off a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter to build a 54-47 advantage with 3:44 to go. Grayslake held Johnsburg (10-9, 1-2) scoreless for over four minutes.

"(Grayslake) just hit one of those runs where everything they threw up went in and we couldn't do the same thing," said Fiedorowicz who led all scorers with 20 points and 11 boards. "They had two guys for every position and we just wore down at the end."

Manly had a lot to do with Fiedorowicz and the Skyhawks wearing down. Manly limited Fiedorowicz to just a bucket in the four plus minutes he played. Fiedorowicz also fouled out during that stretch.

"(Manly) was a big body and was hard to get around," Fiedorowicz said. "I had to take different shots to get around him."

Rappaport led the Rams with 18 points. Alex Anderson, whose 3-pointer tied the game with 7:05 to play, chipped in 13. Mike Brumm also was hot from behind the arc with 4 3-pointers and 16 points.

Mike Dixon added 17 points for the Skyhawks.