Buffalo Grove 52, Rolling Meadows 49

It isn't often a Mid-Suburban League boys basketball game boasts the presence of two 1,000-point scorers, but Buffalo Grove's 52-49 East Division victory over Rolling Meadows did just that Friday night.

The Mustangs' Kyle Gaedele (game-high 17 points) entered the game with exactly 1,000 points in his career and joined Rob Garnes, Bryan Porter and Mike Lipnisky as the fourth player in school history to reach that plateau.

BG's Brian DeSimone (14 points) started the contest with 997 points and became its seventh player to surpass 1,000.

Both played important roles in the game, as the Bison (17-5, 7-2) inched a step closer to the East Division title. BG and Prospect are tied atop the division, but the Bison hold the tiebreaker and would represent the East in the MSL championship game if they win next week at Hersey.

DeSimone scored 10 in the second quarter when the Bison turned a 13-9 first-quarter deficit into a 27-23 halftime advantage.

"Coach just told me (about surpassing 1,000 points) after the game," DeSimone said. "I had no idea."

Gaedele was consistent throughout the game, and helped keep the game close until BG stretched its lead to 44-34 with 3:33 to play.

Even as the Bison were converting at the foul line (13-of-16), however, Meadows (11-11, 4-5) kept chipping away. Ben Sabal scored all 6 of his points in the fourth quarter, and Ty Kirk and Richie Kemph (9 apiece) both scored 4 points in the fourth.

Kemph's putback at the buzzer cut the margin to the smallest since early in the second half.

"They didn't go away," said Bison coach Ryan O'Connor. "They hit some shots, and Gaedele got to the basket. We did a pretty good job keeping the ball away from him."

"They doubled me from the weak side," said Gaedele, whose strength posting up poses problems for most opponents. "They made some good defensive plays in the post tonight."

"I thought we did a pretty nice job of hanging in there," said Mustangs coach Kevin Katovich. "I thought the kids did a nice job knowing where (DeSimone) was and didn't lose him. Stan (Pheteau) did a good job in his first (start) back."

Mike Ricciardi (team-high 16 points) and Paul Timko (8) both scored 6 points in the fourth quarter, and they combined to make 7-of-8 from the foul line.

A layup by Ricciardi on the receiving end of a bounce pass through traffic from DeSimone at the top of the free-throw circle sparked the Bison to a 9-2 run that gave them some breathing room.

"It was a tough game," Ricciardi said. "They're hard workers. We just have to limit the turnovers (18)."