Fabrizius sparks Hersey

Mid-Suburban East boys basketball play began Friday night for both the Elk Grove Grenadiers and Hersey Huskies.

The Huskies (3-2, 1-0) ended their two-game skid by handing the Grens (0-5, 0-1) their fifth straight loss by a score of 50-27.

The lack of scoring and execution by Elk Grove is frustrating head coach Anthony Furman.

"We're playing hard and guys are getting to the right spots, but were just not scoring many points," Furman said.

The Grens struggles couldnt be more evident than a stretch early in the second quarter. With the Huskies up 16-9, Elk Grove went to the free-throw line and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and on the next two possessions turned over the ball.

The Huskies took advantage of the Grens' lack of scoring, pulling away in the second quarter by using their defense. Six-foot-10 center Brian Fabrizius showed off his inside-outside game by knocking down three 3-pointers.

Fabrizius (17 points, 4-for-4 free throws) displayed Friday that his hard work in the off-season paid off, and head coach Steve Messer isnt surprised.

"He has all of the skills," Messer said.

Along with Fabrizius, senior Jordan Mertes picked up some of the scoring slack since senior Kyle Miklasz was held to just 2 points.

Mertes (12 points, 6-for-8 free throws) didn't just score for his team but created for his teammates with his drives.

"I got to the paint easily," Mertes said. "They were playing really aggressive."

Even with such as large victory, Messer wasn't happy with his team's shot selection.

"We don't have any selfish players, but they don't trust each other yet," he said.

As for Furman, he knows that if the offense is going to continue to struggle his team will need to step it up defensively to have a chance to win.

"We need to have active hands and feet. Were going to have to hold teams in the 40s in order to win," Furman said.

Brian Battaglia (7 points) and Scott Siwicki (7 blocks) led the Grens.