Gaylor speaks up as Grant stops Wauconda
He can dunk a Gatorade bottle as well as he can throw down a basketball, but when Grant junior Jerry Gaylor slammed a towel down on the bench during a timeout, he really got the attention of his teammates.
"Unacceptable," Gaylor shouted after Grant finished the first quarter of its contest with visiting Wauconda clinging to a 16-14 lead.
"That wasn't us," Gaylor said afterward. "That just wasn't the type of basketball that we are capable of playing."
Grant got back to its type of basketball with a wild run in the second quarter and finally fended off the pesky visiting Bulldogs. An explosive 30-19 final quarter lifted Grant to an 81-64 win in an important North Suburban Conference Prairie Division contest in Fox Lake.
The host Bulldogs picked up their 10th win of the year against just 5 losses while improving to 4-2 in the division 1 game behind co-leaders Vernon Hills and North Chicago. Wauconda (4-12, 1-4) saw its three-game win streak snapped.
Gaylor saw to it quickly that Grant would get back to playing "Grant basketball."
His steal and layup ignited a mighty run in the second quarter that saw the hosts turn a 1-point deficit into a 33-19 advantage. Gaylor scored 10 of his 19 points during the run.
"(Jerry) and Vic (Muntu) are our emotional leaders," said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth. "They can get in guys faces and get fired up, and really get guys going."
It turned out Grant needed every point and then some during the big-second quarter run. Wauconda closed the quarter with a run of its own and seemed to have regained its composure. Wauconda had closed to within 38-32 at the half and within 4 points on more than one occasion in the third quarter.
Juniors Kyle Ryan and Matt Mead were big factors inside and outside for Wauconda. Ryan scored 14 of his game-best 23 points in the first half, while Mead was tough in the second half, scoring 11 of his 18 points after intermission.
"You leave a guy like Kyle open and he will hit a big shot every time," said Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager. "Matt came up big for us down low and scored and rebounded the basketball for us."
Wauconda pulled close to Grant again to start the final quarter. But instead of Gaylor coming to the offensive rescue, junior Jared Helmich provided most of the damage.
Helmich scored 12 of his team-best 20 points in the final quarter as Grant turned a close game into a double-digit win.
"Helmich and Gaylor have gone back and forth as our leading scorers all year," Bosworth said. "They aren't superstars or flashy, they just come to work and get the job done."
Allen Lewis (15 points), Sean Wells (13 points) and Muntu (11 points) were all in double figures for Grant. Michael Lovelle chipped in with 11 points for Wauconda.