Rolling Meadows knocks off Batavia at Elgin

With the game on the line, most people figure Rolling Meadows would get the ball into the hands of Mid-Suburban League leading scorer Richie Kemph.

But while Kemph scored 9 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, it was the play of sophomore point guard Brian Nelms down the stretch that enabled the Mustangs (4-5) to knock off Batavia 60-55 in Monday morning's opening round of the 35th annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament at Chesbrough Field House.

Nelms, who finished with 12 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, scored 6 consecutive points in the final 1:01 to help rally Meadows past the Bulldogs (5-4).

Moments after Batavia went up 55-53 on a layup by Elliot Vaughn (15 points) with 1:15 remaining, Nelms tied the score with a free-throw line jumper, then converted 4 straight foul shots to put the Mustangs on top 59-55.

"Brian did a nice job down the stretch," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "He was 6-for-6 from the line. That's a nice contribution for him as a sophomore."

Meadows, which led 44-36 after three quarters, actually fell behind on two separate occasions in the fourth period.

Vaughn capped a 9-0 run with a layup to give the Bulldogs a 45-44 lead before a 3-pointer by Kemph - his sixth of the game - allowed the Mustangs to retake a 47-45 advantage with 3:18 left.

"Obviously Richie scored - that's what he's good at," said Katovich, whose team faces defending champion Neuqua Valley (8-0) in today's 3:15 p.m. quarterfinals. "But I thought he also showed a lot of faith in his teammates."

Kemph, who poured in 18 first-half points, including five 3s, only had 1 field-goal attempt during the Mustangs' 16-9 third-quarter surge.

"That shows his maturity," said Katovich. "He had trust in his teammates."

The Mustangs also received a huge lift from sophomore guard Tyler Gaedele (8 points), who was called up to the varsity for the tourney. He canned a pair of 3s in the third quarter after Batavia employed a box-and-one defense on Kemph.

Kemph, an all-tournament selection at Elgin a year ago, was happy to see his team snap its three-game losing streak.

"This is a major breakthrough for us because we're close to .500 now," said Kemph. "If we're going to go what we want to do this year, we've got to start here."

Ricky Clopton finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Levi Maxey added 9 points and 8 boards for Batavia, which led 21-15 after one quarter before being outscored 29-15 over the middle two periods.

Kemph, who was 6-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc, had 11 of those points.

"They ran a lot of screens for him and he does a good job of playing off the screens," said Batavia coach Jim Roberts. "We've just got to do a little better job of finding him.

"We're on a rollercoaster. Sometimes we look pretty good and other times we're not executing. Consistency is going to be a big thing for us - not just tomorrow (Tuesday) but throughout the rest of the year."

Batavia faces Dundee-Crown (1-6) at 10:15 a.m. today.