Maine East changes pace on Elk Grove

Elk Grove's best chance to knock off No. 2 seed Maine East in their Class 4A boys basketball regional semifinal Tuesday was to control the tempo.

For all of the first half and two minutes of the third quarter, the 17th-seeded Grenadiers did exactly that.

Then came the press. Maine East (19-8) applied a trapping press that created 5 turnovers and sparked a 15-0 run and a 59-46 victory at Elk Grove.

Maine East advances to Friday's 7:30 p.m. championship game in search of back-to-back regional titles against the winner of tonight's St. Viator-Glenbrook South semifinal.

"We needed to control the tempo for four quarters, and we did for a half," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "They made some great adjustments."

Elk Grove (8-21) employed a 3-2 zone that effectively slowed the Blue Demons for 18 minutes. The Grens led 10-8 after one quarter and 21-18 at halftime. Junior Donny Duschinsky had 10 of his team-beat 16 points in the first half, including 6-of-6 from the line in the second quarter.

"In the first half, we came out strong and confident," Duschinsky said. "We had nothing to lose. In the second half, they set the tempo, but we kept fighting."

Duschinsky's basket with 6:32 left in the third quarter gave the Grens a 23-18 lead, but they wouldn't score again until J.J. Lastovich's 3-point play with 3:24 remaining cut the margin to 33-26.

In between, the Blue Demons scored 15 unanswered points, including 8 points with a couple of 3s by guard Nusreth Khan (game-high 21 points).

"That's been our M.O," said Maine East coach Glenn Olson, a former two-sport star at Rolling Meadows. "We've been a team that goes on 14-0, 18-0 runs. Tonight we got it going."

"Coach said to attack," Khan said of the third quarter outburst. "We've been through so much adversity, this (halftime deficit) was nothing."

Elk Grove continued to battle from behind. Keven Zelaya's basket cut the margin to 47-39 with 4:22 left, and the Grens had a chance to cut that lead to 6 points with 2:46 left. They missed a pair of free throws and Maine East iced it with 6 unanswered points that made it 53-39 with 1:49 left.

"We made some runs to get back in the game," Duschinsky said. "We made them earn it."

"There's no question (about that)," Furman agreed. "Maine East was a better team tonight, but I couldn't be any more proud of our guys."