Meadows gets physical, pounds way past South Elgin

All that was missing were the shoulder pads and helmets.

In a game bogged down by 49 personal fouls, 2 technical fouls and 70 free throw attempts, Rolling Meadows fought its way past South Elgin on Tuesday, 65-57 at Fenton's 22nd Annual Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament in Bensenville.

"It was a physical game both ways," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "We have to get the football out of some our football guys. It's better to be too physical than not physical enough."

That definitely wasn't a problem for the Mustangs (2-0), who can clinch a spot in Friday's 7:15 p.m. title game with a win at 6 p.m. today over Glenbrook South.

From opening tip to the final buzzer, the constant wave of players (11 saw action in the first half) hounded the Storm from baseline to baseline -- challenging every pass, every dribble and every shot.

"It's great because we play up-tempo defense and we can keep bringing in guys off the bench and not lose much," said Meadows senior Ben Sabal, who scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

The Mustangs, sparked by the tireless efforts of Ty Kirk (12 points), Kevin Serna, Kyle Gaedele and the rest, forced 18 turnovers to increase their two-game total to 51.

"Coach (Chaz Taft) prepared us for a physical game -- we practiced hard for it," said South Elgin junior Jordan Dobler.

And those efforts showed as the Mustangs coughed it up 16 times.

"We didn't take care of the ball good enough and our guys are disappointed," Katovich said. "But a lot of that has to go to South Elgin. They did a nice job defensively."

Considering the in-your-face defense they faced for 32 minutes, the Storm (1-1) also fared reasonably well on the offensive end. Especially with junior Alex Sanchez, who led the Storm with 12 points against Glenbrook South on Monday, left to watch from the sideline after spraining his left ankle in the second quarter.

Down 49-33 with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter, South Elgin rallied with a 14-6 spurt, opened by a 3-pointer from Joshua Glenn (9 points) and capped by a 3-point play from senior Adam Hodge (team-high 13 points).

Six-foot-nine center Dan Lopez added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Dobler scored 8 of his 10 in the second half.

"They're a tough team, a scrappy team," Gaedele said.

A perfect description of his own team.

"Going against each other in practice every day, maybe we're going a bit too physical than we should be," said Sabal, who hit 9-of-10 from the foul line. "But we fouled a lot, they fouled a lot, it was a pretty physical game."

Naperville C. 62, Elk Grove 48: Elk Grove (0-2) was even after three quarters but Naperville Central (2-0) raced away with a 20-6 final eight minutes.

Billy Hubly scored 23 points and hit five 3s and Matt Martinski added 15 points for the Grenadiers.