Grant acts its age in victory
Fans in the Grant student section at Friday night's boys basketball game put their own silly little spin on senior night.
They dressed as seniors. Not 18-year-old seniors, mind you, but seniors who use canes and collect social security.
Some sported funky colorful sweaters from the 1980s that only your Grandpa might still wear. The bravest tucked those sweaters in and pulled their pants well above their waists. Others added suspenders and thick glasses for good measure.
Luckily for Grant, though, the seniors on the team didn't play as if they were stuck in the geriatric ward. Far from it.
The host Bulldogs, led by seniors Ilya Kadushin, Jared Helmich, Allen Lewis and Sean Wells, were brimming with spunk and energy, especially in the paint, as they crushed Round Lake in their final North Suburban Conference Prairie Division tilt of the season, 62-41. Of Grant's 21 field goals, 19 were scored in the paint.
The victory moves Grant to 18-7 overall and 8-4 in the Prairie, and keeps its hot streak going. The last month or so has been very good to the Bulldogs, who have won 14 of their last 17 games and nine of their last 10.
"Knowing all the effort we've put in for the last four years and how well we mesh together it feels really good for the seniors to come away with a (21-point) win like this (on Senior Night)," said Kadushin, who finished with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds to earn his third straight double-double. "At the beginning of the season, we weren't doing so hot and now we're doing really well and it feels good, especially coming into regionals."
Kadushin is part of that group of four seniors for Grant who are peaking at the same time. All four currently average double-figures, with Helmich at 15 points per game and Wells at 12 points per game while Kadushin and Lewis are both at 11 points per game.
The seniors sat all but a minute of the fourth quarter against Round Lake but still put up significant numbers. Helmich joined Kadushin in double-figures with 10 points while Lewis added 8 points and Wells finished with 6 points.
"The reason we've been so successful is that we've been playing together for so long," Kadushin said. "Our chemistry is really good. Without that, we wouldn't be playing as well as we are today."
Work ethic has played a role, too.
Grant coach Wayne Bosworth says his seniors are among the most dedicated players he's ever coached.
"I'm so proud of those four seniors and what they've done for this program over their four years," Bosworth said. "They've raised this program a couple of levels."
Grant, which also got 7 points from junior Thomas Blanchette, wasted no time collecting the dividends against Round Lake, which falls to 8-16 overall and 3-9 in the Prairie. The Bulldogs were up 16-5 by the end of the first quarter and took a comfy 34-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
"They're just big, tough, strong kids," Round Lake coach Jim Roberts said of the Bulldogs, particularly their post players. "They can put the ball in the basket. We talk about blocking them out, block out this, block out that. But Grant just goes so hard (to the boards). They are relentless."
Round Lake was led in scoring by senior guard Juddon Carter, who had 13 points. Mark Jennings added 8 points and Anthony Gutierrez had 6 points.
"Grant is a real physical team and it was tough for us in the low post to defend them," Carter said. "We came out and had a bad start and just couldn't knock down shots. It's a tough environment to shoot in. It was just an off night for our team but I feel like we can pull it together and shake things up in the tournament and make heads turn."