Grant's Gaylor gets the job done

With a minute left in the game, Grant's Jerry Gaylor missed a couple of free throws that left the Bulldogs' boys basketball team tied with visiting Round Lake.

Looking to atone for the misses, Gaylor drove to the basket less then 30 seconds later. His basket it carried the Bulldogs to their first home victory a 57-55 win over Round Lake in a North Suburban Prairie Division contest in Fox Lake on Friday night.

Gaylor scored the go-ahead basket with 34 seconds remaining, driving hard to find a seam in the defense to give the Bulldogs (4-3, 1-2) a lead of 56-54.

“I was thinking, I missed 2 points for the team and I've got to get it back to them,” said Gaylor, who scored 9 points. “I was going, looked at the clock, eyes in front of me and a guy to the side of me.

“I was just going to take it (to the basket) and see what happens. I really didn't know how I was going to get there.”

The Panthers (3-6, 2-2) closed to 56-55 when Gage Steger made 1 of 2 free throws with 19 seconds left.

But the Bulldogs' Vic Muntu sank 1 of 2 free throws four seconds later.

The Panthers had one last chance in the final seconds, but a 3-point attempt was short.

“We got the win,” said Bulldogs coach Wayne Bosworth. “For some reason, everytime we play Round Lake it's a good game. No matter what the records are, you can throw those out the window.

“Any win is a good win on our own court.”

The Bulldogs scored the first 9 points and led 15-5 after the first quarter.

But the Panthers chipped away and tied the game 30-30 on Danial Uriostegui's baseline jumper in the final seconds before halftime.

The Panthers' Teandre Brown scored all 5 of his points including a 3-pointer during a 9-3 run that put Round Lake ahead 39-33 with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs bounced back with an 11-2 run to lead 44-41 after three quarters as Ilya Kadushin scored 7 of his 9 points.

The Bulldogs led by 5 with five minutes left, but the Panthers responded on a 3-pointer by Juddon Carter (game-high 18 points) that tied the game 50-50 with 3:12 left.

“Our program in the past hasn't been involved in game like that one,” said Panthers coach Jim Roberts. “Lately, we have been involved in games like that. Against Antioch we got it done down the stretch. This one and other ones, we didn't get it done.

“We've got to put ourselves in position to win games. Now, we've got to find a way to keep learning and we'll get there to win.”

The Panthers' Nick Lange added 13 points, and Anthony Gutierrez chipped in with 8 coming off the bench,

The Bulldogs' Sean Wells contributed 10 points.