Against Vernon Hills, Grant finds winning mix

With the exception of last season's sophomore trio and a couple of other players, these aren't your same Grant Bulldogs.

"It's upbeat, full of energy," said junior forward Andy Kaye, who along with his classmates Logan Lewis and Ben Kusiak played varsity basketball last winter. "It's different chemistry, for sure."

Apparently.

Despite going 1-4 in its Thanksgiving tournament last week, Grant took powerful Lake Zurich to overtime before losing. Then Thursday night, playing on their home court again to open North Suburban Prairie Division action, the Bulldogs finished the game with an 11-0 run to stun Vernon Hills 56-54.

"We just showed a little more energy," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "Our defense stepped up. We made some nice traps and got the tempo up a little more, and that obviously favored us."

Vernon Hills (3-2) had won its last three games in the Northridge Prep tournament. In snapping a four-game losing streak, Grant (2-4) moved within one win of last season's total.

When Kaye scored the game-winning layup with three seconds left, off a dish from point-guard Lewis, it marked Grant's first lead of the night.

"It was a good pass," said Kaye, who scored 7 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter.

"He's our distributor," Bosworth said of Lewis. "He's averaging about 6 assists per game."

Up 30-21 at halftime, in part thanks to zero turnovers, Vernon Hills increased its lead to 48-41 by the end of the third, despite Grant getting within 35-33. The Cougars' advantage was 54-45 after Michael Dougherty (game-high 19 points on 9-of-25 shooting) finished a layup midway through the fourth.

The home team then switched to man-to-man defense, and the Cougars struggled with the pressure. Kaye commenced the comeback with a putback. Then he and James Mobley (6 points) each hit both ends of 1-and-1's.

Then it was John Kerr who took over on back-to-back possessions. The 6-foot-5 junior converted a 3-point play to tie the score at 54-54, then took a charge at the other end of the floor.

"We were just trying to play good defense," said Kerr, who also scored 9 points to tie Kaye for team-high honors. "Our energy wasn't there in the first half, and then we just started picking it up in the fourth quarter. We were just playing as a team. We were talking to each other and trying to pick each other up the whole game."

Vernon Hills committed 8 turnovers in the fourth quarter and scored only 6 points. Grant held Cougars sharpshooter Jake Helfand, who scored all 15 of his points on five 3-pointers through the first three quarters, to just 1 shot.

A half-court shot by Vernon Hills at the buzzer was late and off the mark.

"We played great defense down the stretch," Kaye said. "It was a great team effort."

Grant received 8 points apiece from Davion Williams and Kyle Dupree. Both Dupree and Lewis sank a pair of 3-pointers. Grant clearly benefitted from its tourney, despite winning just the one game.

"It was a good tournament," Bosworth said. "We played some tough teams, and we played even with them all except (North) Lawndale, which got us pretty good."