Maine South's too much for Elk Grove
Stifling defense by Maine South, and the 1-2 scoring punch of Hawks center Matt Palucki and guard Justin Wasik were too much for Elk Grove to overcome.
The third-seeded Hawks beat Elk Grove for the second time this season, this time 56-41 in Class 4A regional play in Park Ridge.
Both Palucki and Wasik scored 17 points as the Hawks improved to 25-5. One Friday night, they'll face the winner of Wednesday's game between Notre Dame and Leyden.
"Our hope was to control the boards and keep their key players from having big games," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "But that didn't happen. They put on their 1-2-2 defense, and it closed gaps and challenged our shots. They read everything well."
Elk Grove ended up shooting 40 percent on 17-for-42 from the field.
"Defense was a key factor for us," said Maine South coach Tony Lavorato. "We did not take them lightly. I think our 1-2-2 defense slowed them down. I think we played our best defense in the fourth quarter. We knew that (Donny) Duschinsky's been having double-digit fourth quarters, and we couldn't let that happen."
Duschinsky led the Grens (12-17) with 16 hard-earned points, but only fourth in the final quarter. Center Scott Siwicki was the only other double-digit scorer with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Elk Grove led 11-10 early in the second quarter before Pat Maher's 3-point basket gave the Hawks the lead for good at 13-11 with 5:46 left in the half.
Palucki, always a factor, scored 10 points in the first half, of which 6 came in the later stages of the second quarter for 25-19 halftime lead.
"We wanted to attack the glass early and then rely on our inside-outside game," said Palucki. "We wanted to get into a running game and get the inside controlled early."
Palucki started the second half with a putback and followed that with a 3-point play. After Lenny Allegretti connected for a 3-pointer, Maine South pulled out to a 35-23 lead with 3:41 left in the third quarter. The Grens could get no closer than 39-29 at quarter's end.
Wasik scored 9 points in the final quarter for the Hawks.
"In the third quarter it was just a slow bleed for us,"said Furman. "It was just hard to stop them inside.
"We finished the season well. Once we were a healthy team in the second half we played with alot of confidence."