Elk Grove gets Meadows in 2 OTs

What a way to finish off the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball schedule. Host Elk Grove went toe-to-toe with Rolling Meadows for two overtimes before emerging with a 77-75 victory Friday night.

Elk Grove's entire starting lineup scored in double figures, led by Donny Duschinsky's 23 before fouling out in the first OT. Six-foot-6 Scott Siwicki scored 16, blocked 7 shots and altered or discouraged more than a dozen. Brian Battaglia added 13, Keven Zelaya 12 and John Lorenz 11 for Elk Grove (11-15, 5-5).

"If you can make them think, that's half the battle, and if they hesitate, you've won the battle," said Siwicki.

"Donny played his heart out, and Scott picked us up when he went out (on fouls)," Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman said. "Both teams made great plays until time ran out."

"I thought Duschinsky hurt us a lot," Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. "He took over and hit some big shots."

Meadows (9-15, 3-7) erased a 48-40 deficit in the final 3:10 of regulation to force the first overtime. Sophomore Brian Nelms' 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left tied it.

Baskets by Kyle Weiner gave the Mustangs leads of 64-63 and 65-64 inside the final minute of the first overtime, and Jimmy Garoppolo's free throw made it 67-65 with 11.8 seconds left. Zelaya forced the second OT when he scored with 4.7 seconds left.

Elk Grove built a 75-70 lead with 50 seconds left in the second overtime when Joe Biscoff made 2 free throws. Meadows' Tyler Gaedele (18 points) drained his sixth 3 of the game to cut it to 75-73 with 14.0 left.

Zelaya's free throws with 11.4 on the clock turned out to be the winning points, though the Mustangs did have one last chance after Nelms' free throws cut the lead to 2. Battaglia missed 2 free throws but Meadows' long outlet pass off the rebound was knocked out of bounds as time expired.

Meadows' Richie Kemph led all scorers with 29 points.