Near miss for Elk Grove

Great players make great plays and there were a lot of great players on the floor Thursday night as Elk Grove met Crystal Lake Central in the semifinals of the championship pool at the Jacobs Holiday Classic in Algonquin.

Central's Chase Cane made his share en route to 27 points, but perhaps his biggest and smartest play involved a couple of bounces but no points. He inbounded the ball to himself off an Elk Grove defender with two seconds left to kill the clock and preserve a 61-59 win that kept the Tigers (11-0) unbeaten and put them in the title game at 7:30 p.m. today against Huntley.

"He carried us," on offense said his head coach, Rich Czeslawski. He had the answer every time upstart Elk Grove threatened, or led. In a wild fourth quarter, he hit a 3-pointer to make it 57-50 and seemingly over.

But after his fourth foul more or less handcuffed him, Elk Grove's Anthony Jimenez (15 points) hit a baseline jumper on a feed from Zach Solorio and foul-straddled Kishan Patel went coast-to-coast for a layin. After Corban Murphy tipped in a Cane coast-to-coast that missed, Elk Grove's steady Austin Amann (16 points) had the look of the night.

"That was a great look," at a 3 from the right wing, said Elk Grove (5-7) head coach Anthony Furman, much like the one he'd hit the day before to set up Patel's game-winning bucket against Rockford Jefferson.

And while it looked good out of his hand, he did wind up with 2 free throws moments later that knotted the score at 59-59 instead of giving Elk Grove the lead. And no one was more disappointed than the foul-troubled Amann, who was everywhere, double-teaming on defense, boxing out on the boards and distributing the ball with point guard Patel in foul trouble.

"We felt confident," he would say later of his team's outlook. Maybe "too confident," after building a double-digit lead in the first half, primarily on his overall floor play and Jimenez's uncanny perimeter shooting.

Central's height (6-foot-7 Kyle Fleck, 6-3 Murphy and 6-3 Nick DeCoster) and Cane's savvy were too much. Fleck, fouled on a drive, hit the game-winning free throws moments later and Elk Grove turned the ball over on an errant pass trying to inbound with 3.9 seconds left after Fleck's free throws.

It all erased a valiant effort by an undermanned, undersized Grenadiers' team, but it didn't undercut their underdog effort all tournament long. They will play for third place at 6 p.m. today against Hope.

"We know we can win," said Amann, after Elk Grove reached the tournament semifinals coming in with a 2-6 overall record. And with bench contributions from the likes of Devin Neill and Jimenez and a suddenly new-found offense, the Grens' outlook is looking up.

With Patel in foul trouble, Solorio (12 points), Jimenez and Neill stepped up and Jeff Miceli made Cane work for every one of his 27 points.

"Number 20 (Miceli) did an amazing job on me," said a worn-out Cane. "He was really physical."

"They're a good team," Central's Czeslawski said of the Grens. "If they have a shot at the end, they're going to make it interesting."

"Three (of 4 games played) came down to the last possession," Furman noted, and his club won two of them, very much due to averaging nearly 60 points per game in this tournament but only 44 per game heretofore. The defense has remained solid throughout.

"We're playing more confidently every day," Furman said.

Barrington 62, Cary-Grove 40: Barrington forward Mark Bennett called it "a lot of energy." Broncos Coach Bryan Tucker said his varsity boys basketball team "played aggressively."

Opposing head coach Ralph Schuetzle of Cary-Grove called Barrington "a well-coached team" with a point guard (Brad Zaumseil) "who did whatever he wanted" and teammates who "can all shoot it."

Put it together and it spelled a 62-40 win for Barrington on Friday in the semifinals of its pool of second-place finishers from the four round-robin groups at the Jacobs Holiday Classic in Algonquin. Barrington meets Lake Zurich today at 4:30 p.m. for the pool title and an overall fifth-place finish in the tournament.

If they shoot like they did Thursday (27-of-49), rebound like they did Thursday (29-16 advantage) and especially play defense like they did Friday (Cary-Grove shot just 14-for-36), the Broncos stand to walk away with their second group-winning trophy in three years and an 11-4 record into the resumption of Mid-Suburban League play.

To what do they attribute this steady string of strong play, even without standout center John Schneider, still nursing a broken finger?

"Everyone's stepped up," said Bennett, who at 6-foot-5 can softly drop a perimeter jumper or mix it up with the rest of the trees around the basket. He had 9 points Thursday against Cary-Grove in what was just the balanced effort he said the team needs to be successful.

"We played as a team," he said. "Defensive pressure turns defense into offense."

In the decisive second quarter, which ended 32-11 for Barrington at halftime, the Broncos forced multiple turnovers and converted them into transition buckets for hot-shooting point guard Zaumseil (17 points, 10 in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers). Zaumseil also fed Bennett for a hoop in transition and then did the same favor for forward Lee Conforti (6 points).

By the time Barrington finished scoring 14 points in a row, it was 32-10 and virtually over. Cary-Grove had but 5 first-half field goals and was 0-for-6 from 3-point range, unable to get a clean look, an offensive rebound or a transition basket of its own.

Barrington got solid play from everyone, including all of those 6-foot-2 interchangeable parts named Ryan Carroll (6 points), Jackson Wegner (4), Vinnie Tuzil (5), Robbie Vollman (2) and ever-improving sophomore Austin Madrzyk.

Cary-Grove, primarily a zone team, was "forced to play man-to-man" against the Broncos, according to Schuetzle, a defense in which the Trojans clearly weren't comfortable. They did get some production late from Jake Bianchi (15 points), Zach Taylor, Casey Snodgrass and Matt Motzel, but they never did find a combination that clicked against Barrington.

Still, Schuetzle was proud of his kids' work this week in this 16-team tournament, getting into the second-place finishers' pool.

"They earned it," he said. "They gave a good effort," and he hopes they'll have one more left today at noon against Marian Central.

Barrington, meanwhile, is looking forward to another crisp effort.

"We were very happy with our practice (Wednesday)," said Tucker. "We still have a lot of work to do."