Elk Grove leaves Buffalo Grove behind
Elk Grove needed a few minutes to get going Thursday the entire first quarter, in fact.
From then on, the Grenadiers took charge and treated the home fans to a 65-41 Mid-Suburban East win over Buffalo Grove in their home opener.
The first quarter was all BG, thanks to 10 Elk Grove turnovers, including miscues on the Grens' first 6 possessions. That gave the Bison (2-5, 0-2) an 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
That's when Kishan Patel broke out of an early season scoring slump by canning three 3-point baskets to spark a 21-0 run that turned an uphill battle into a rout. Elk Grove (2-5, 1-1) outscored BG 26-5 in the second quarter and never looked back.
"It was our first home game, and there were a lot of emotions," said Patel (17 points), who shared scoring honors with teammate Austin Amann. "Once we got a couple of baskets, we got the offense going."
"Kishan has been very hard on himself," Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman said. "We knew it was coming. He was something like 2-for-17 in the first 5 games."
Amann scored 7 of his 17 in the second quarter and 8 more in the third quarter, when the Grens stretched their lead to 50-24.
"We placed a lot of emphasis on starting the game well," Furman said. "It was evident we were playing hard (in the first quarter). Once we settled in and got everyone some touches, we ran our offense much better and started doing things like we're capable."
Ten Grenadier players got into the scoring column. Devin Neill came off the bench to score 8 points, and Jeff Miceli added 6.
Rich Zirngibl led Buffalo Grove with 9 points, Sam Wacker scored 8, and reserve Andrew Apel added 7.
"Our kids got outhustled and outplayed," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said. "We can't win with that kind of effort.
"We were 0-1 and playing a division game," O'Connor said. "You'd think there be effort, but the effort was horrible.
"Give credit to Elk Grove," he added. "They outhustled us. We couldn't execute our offense and couldn't handle their pressure."