Grant rallies to beat Rolling Meadows
Grant’s long ride to Rolling Meadows for Tuesday’s boys nonconference basketball game was worth the trip.
Led by 6-foot-4 senior forward Ilya Kadushin’s 17 points and 17 rebounds, the Bulldogs came back to beat the host Mustangs 60-57.
“When we fell behind at the begining of the fourth quarter (45-38), we just had to keep our composure,” said Kadushin. “We played with a lot of heart and came back. We just want to show people that Grant has a good team.”
“Ilya plays with a lot of heart and he plays big for us,” said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth. “He plays with a lot of intensity and does not give up.”
Early on it looked as if the Bulldogs (14-7) would run away from the 12-7 Mustangs. After one quarter the Bulldogs led 19-10 and owned a 12-4 rebounding edge.
Meadows went on a 14-0 run to start the second quarter and led 24-19 before Kadushin hit 2 free throws with 4:45 left in the half. The teams were tied at halftime at 30-30.
A nip-and-tuck third quarter saw the Mustangs lead 42-38 going into the final eight minutes.
A 3-pointer by Mike Olson (17 points) gave Meadows a 45-38 lead to start the quarter.
Kadushin put Grant ahead for good at 2:58 when he put back his own missed shot for a 51-50 lead. Kadushin followed that with another basket. Sean Wells (17 points, 6 rebounds) scored from the field and Allen Lewis added 2 free throws to finish a 8-0 run that kept Grant ahead 57-50 with 0:49 left.
Brian Nelms (11 points) hit a 3 for the Mustangs at the buzzer to set the final score. They also got 16 points and 5 rebounds from Tyler Gaedele.
Grant won the rebound battle by a 41-28 margin as Meadows lost its second straight game after winning 12 of 14.
“We knew their rebounding was their strength,” said Mustangs coach Kevin Katovich. “You can’t give up 16 offensive rebounds. We didn’t finish off a lot of our defensive plays. They had too many second chance shots. It’s something we will work on.”
“Our kids bust it everyday in practice,” said Bosworth. “They just want to keep getting better. We know we have to do that for the next month.”