Elk Grove tips Wheeling in OT

After Friday night, Elk Grove’s Zachary Solorio may opt to shoot a 3-pointer rather than a layup.

And the senior proved that Friday night as the host Grenadiers outlasted Wheeling 59-57 in overtime in their Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game.

With the score tied at 55-55 and less than a minute to play in overtime, Solorio missed a driving layup. But as Devin Neill fought for the rebound, Solorio drifted to the corner. Neill found Solorio, who then drained the trey to put Elk Grove (12-14, 4-6) up for good with 44 seconds to play.

“I missed the layup trying to draw the foul,” said Solorio, who led Elk Grove with 14 points. “No one was in the corner, so I went there. As soon as I took the shot, I knew it would go in.”

Wheeling’s Jeremy Stephani, who burned Elk Grove for 35 points in their first meeting and was held to 15 points on Friday, added 2 free throws with 33 seconds to play to make it 58-57. Elk Grove would then convert just 1-of-4 free throws down the stretch, but the Grenadiers came up with three defensive stops to preserve the victory.

“We did a good job not panicking at the start of the third quarter when we fell behind by eight,” Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman said. “And then we got three good defensive stops to help us hold on.”

Wheeling (2-22, 1-9), which beat Elk Grove 74-65 earlier this year, led 31-30 at the break on Friday. The Wildcats stretched that lead behind Charlie Kirk (14 points), Chris Pierro (11 points) and Lamont McPherson (9 points) to 38-30.

Elk Grove was able to rally to tie the game at 53-53 with 16.3 seconds to play in regulation on a pair of free throws by Austin Amann (13 points). Wheeling missed a layup to win at the regulation buzzer.

“Our kids continue to battle and battle despite our record,” Wheeling coach John Clancy said. “When kids give energy and effort like that, I will go to battle with these kids any day of the week.”

Peter Kinsella and Anthony Jimenez each added 10 points for Elk Grove.