Fourth-place finish shows Elk Grove's growth
Finishing the Jacobs Boys Holiday Basketball Classic with a pair of losses was the tough part of a fourth-place finish for Elk Grove.
But a 74-72 loss to Hope in Friday's third-place game did not diminish what the Grenadiers accomplished the past week in Algonquin. They proved they are a team that will be tough to deal with when they return to action in 2012.
"We showed this game was really important to us to compete," Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman said after his team rallied from a 14-point deficit 43 seconds into the second half. "We're improving as a team. Our philosophy at Elk Grove is having multi-sport athletes and they're jelling.
"We're really excited about the rest of the year. We definitely raised the bar for ourselves."
The Grenadiers (5-8) came into the tourney with 2 wins and came out with last-second 1-point victories over Barrington and Rockford Jefferson. They just missed another dramatic win in the semifinals by 2 points against tourney runner-up Crystal Lake Central.
And they left Jacobs with more than just their best finish in the tournament since they took third in 2004. They realized they can play with anyone on their schedule.
"If we bring this back to our conference we can make a pretty good run for ouselves," said Elk Grove junior all-tourney pick Austin Amann, who scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and finished 11-for-21 from the field.
"We gained so much confidence," said Elk Grove junior guard Kishan Patel after scoring 23 points. "(Jeff) Miceli and (Zach) Solorio are hitting shots now.
"Before we weren't sure what our identity was going to be but after this tourney I feel we found it."
It was evident after Illinois-bound junior guard Jalen James (20 points) and 6-6 Torrance Johnson (18 points) led Hope (13-2), a Class 1A title contender, to a 41-27 lead. Patel hit a pair of 3s as Elk Grove responded with a 13-0 run.
Hope extended the lead to 50-44. Hustle plays by Solorio and Devin Neill led to a 7-0 run and the Grenadiers' first lead with 6:10 to play.
"Huntley did it the night before so we said, 'If they can do it, we can do it,'" Amann said of the eventual tourney champion's semifinal comeback.
"Our team is a bunch of fighters," Patel said. "We're always scrappy and we're going to play defense."
Which was evident after Hope again opened a 66-60 lead with a minute to play. Amann's 3 cut the deficit to 70-69 with 10 seconds left.
James sandwiched 4 free throws around an Elk Grove turnover but Patel nailed a 35-footer with 1.4 seconds left. After a timeout, Patel got his hands on the inbound pass for Hope's 26th turnover but James knocked away the ball and time ran out.
"As a team we took a step forward in this tournament and we're going to build on it," said Furman, whose team was 6-22 last year. "It's very important to them to show their friends and families that Elk Grove basketball is a good program."