It's a slam dunk as Kadushin, Grant win

The tall, athletic Grant student standing in the second row of the home bleachers, in full basketball uniform, couldn't have done it any better.

Ilya Kadushin, also tall and athletic, anticipated the pass, stole the ball and sped nearly the length of the court. He then jammed hard with one hand.

Just like ...

"Just like Jerrry," Grant's student fans chanted.

Call it one giant step for Kadushin, the 6-foot-5 returning starter, who threw down his first dunk of the season and then had his second less than a minute later during the fourth quarter of Grant's 59-35 win over visiting Antioch on Friday night.

Call it one larger step for Kadushin and his teammates, who apparently will play the rest of the season without 6-3 senior Jerry Gaylor, who is "no longer on the team," Bulldogs coach Wayne Bosworth said.

"I think the guys in that locker room come together real well," Bosworth said. "They're one solid unit and not too many things will get inside their heads. They'll stick together well. We just got to move on."

The athletic Gaylor is a four-year varsity player and great leaper who's had plenty of flashy dunks in his high school career. Despite not being a member of the team as of this week, he sat in the bleachers in his uniform with his classmates.

His former basketball team didn't seem to miss him, as the Bulldogs improved to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the North Suburban Prairie Division, while dropping Antioch to 1-7 and 0-3.

"We just worked together as a team," Grant senior Jared Helmich said. "We moved the ball around and swung it around the outside. When we do that, it just gets the post wide open underneath. We make easy passes and get easy layups."

Helmich had a double-double of 14 points (7-of-9 shooting) and 11 rebounds. Allen Lewis scored half of his 14 points in the opening quarter in helping the Bulldogs build a 17-6 lead and finished with 7 assists, as well. Kadushin tallied 8 of his 13 points in the fourth.

"This was the best we've looked as a team all year," Bosworth said.

Kadushin punctuated the win in the fourth quarter. His first dunk came when he stole the ball in the Antioch frontcourt and dribbled nearly the length of the court. He then got ahead everyone else in transition again and again dunked with his right hand.

"I felt good because everyone said I can't dunk in a game," Kadushin said. "They said it will never happen because Jerry's in there. But I got my opportunity and I just took it."

"He's been dunking in practice (only), and we're always been giving him a hard time," Helmich said. "He finally did it in a game, so it was a good thing. I was definitely happy for him."

So was Bosworth, who appreciates what Kadushin brings to his team.

"He does a real nice job crashing the glass," Bosworth said. "So he usually doesn't get too many opportunities to get out (in transition) and get (dunks)."

Helmich was a force in both halves, wearing his usual No. 33 jersey in the first and No. 24 in the second. He had to switch jerseys after getting head-butted in the mouth and dripping blood on his No. 33.

"I got my lip caught in between my teeth," Helmich said. "(The head butt) wasn't on purpose at all."

Anthony Formella led Antioch with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Karl Nettgen added 8 points coming off the bench.

Grant held Sequoits' leading scorer William Waschow to 3 points.

"We practiced really hard this week," Kadushin said. "We worked on our defense, and that kind of showed."