Elk Grove stuns Barrington
The final seconds were a matter of trust for Elk Grove on Saturday night in Algonquin.
The Grenadiers' faith was being tested in the Jacobs Boys Basketball Holiday Classic. The lead they held most of the fourth quarter was erased on Barrington junior Brad Zaumseil's tough 18-foot pull-up jumper with 14 seconds left.
But Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman saw a calm approach into the frontcourt and didn't use his final timeout. Team scoring leader Austin Amann sent the ball to teammate Devin Neill.
"I had confidence in him," Amann said.
Neill then saw Zack Solorio making a backdoor cut and hit him for a layup with two seconds left to give Elk Grove one of its biggest wins in years 52-51.
"It's a pretty big win and I feel we came together as a team," Amann said after matching Zaumseil for game-high scoring honors with 20 points. "(Friday) night we fell apart in the fourth quarter (65-47 loss to Rolling Meadows), but we kept strong throughout the whole game and put everything together."
Knocking off fellow Mid-Suburban League member Barrington (6-4), which lost to Prospect in last year's league title game, gave Elk Grove (3-6) a win in its Jacobs tourney opener for the first time since Furman took over.
"We played well (Friday) night for three quarters and we talked about making plays in a tight game to the end," Furman said. "I said, 'Are we going to grow and make plays to put ourselves in position to win,' and we did."
And the Grenadiers had to rally from 41-32 deficit midway through the third quarter.
"We never gave up," said Solorio, who finished with 12 points. "We all believe in each other and trust in each other."
An 11-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters put Elk Grove up 48-44. Neill scored on a pair of drives and a steal led to Kishan Patel's tying 3, Amann hit a pull-up jumper and Solorio capped it with a drive off Jeff Miceli's steal.
Miceli's defense also quieted Zaumseil until he hit 2 free throws at 2:17 to make it 50-48. Jackson Wegner (12 points) split a pair of free throws after an offensive rebound.
A turnover then put Zaumseil in position to deliver in the clutch for the second straight night as he put the Broncos ahead 51-50 with Miceli right in his face. Zaumseil had a buzzer-beating rebound basket in Friday's 45-44 win over Schaumburg.
"If they can do it, we can," Amann said.
And the Grenadiers did as a desperation half-court heave at the buzzer was off the mark by Mark Bennett (10 points) after Solorio's winning layup.
"We feel like we always can win night in and night out," Neill said. "We finally put our full product on the floor."
Now Elk Grove is thinking even bigger as it faces Jacobs at 3 p.m. Monday and Rockford Jefferson at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in pool play. Jefferson beat Jacobs 58-46.
"We're looking to win it," Neill said.
"I have great confidence and I'm sure everyone else does," Amann said. "I think we can make a run this year in this tournament."