Grieving Grant prevails

No wonder the pace of Monday's holiday tournament game between Grant and Round Lake seemed super slow at times.

Grant, for one, was weighed down, lugging around a collection of heavy hearts.

The Bulldogs spent part of the past weekend attending services for the mother of junior forward Sean Thandupurakal, who died after a long bout with cancer.

This week, there will be another funeral that will hit close to home.

The sister of senior guard Tom Bronken was killed over the weekend in a snowmobiling accident. Christine was 20 and a former Grant cheerleader.

"A lot of our guys came in today and said, 'I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my family,'" Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "After the last few days, I don't think they're thinking about basketball all that much.

"That probably showed a little bit in the first three quarters. We were just a little slow out there."

But, like teenagers often are, the Bulldogs were also very resilient.

Somehow, they found the strength to dig past the hurt and sorrow to pull out a 46-36 victory over Round Lake on opening night of the Grant Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament.

Grant, which was playing its second game without leading scorer Jerry Gaylor, who is out until January with an injured left ankle, improves to 5-3 overall while Round Lake drops to 2-8.

"We came out flat tonight," Grant senior center Travis Stefanowski said. "We needed somebody to get us started up."

That somebody turned out to be Stefanowski, who is a reserve but one of the first players off the bench.

Before the start of the second half, Bosworth gave him his marching orders.

"Coach told me 'Our guys look like they've given up. Go out there and get the intensity up.'"

Stefanowski scored 5 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter, made some key defensive plays and let out a few hearty roars for added effect.

He was key in turning a 31-30 Grant advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter into a 40-34 lead with 2:23 remaining.

"I wanted to get everyone motivated and psyched up and get some intensity going so that we could put some points on the board," Stefanowski said. "I like to get everyone going. The guys get a kick out of it."

The Bulldogs, who got a team-high 11 points from Shane Richardson, sewed up the victory with four straight free throws from Bronken, who, during the introductions, pointed up to the sky, perhaps a gesture meant for his sister.

Bronken's parents were also in the stands, surrounded closely by dozens of other Grant families.

"This was the best thing for Tommy, getting this win (and hitting big free throws at the end of the game)," Bosworth said. "It's been an emotional few days for him."

Despite 23 turnovers on the game, Round Lake was in control most of the way and still had chances to win in the end.

But the Panthers hit just one shot and connected on 3-of-8 free throws to score just 6 points in the fourth quarter.

"The end of the fourth quarter, we just didn't play very smart," said Round Lake guard Jon Martinez, who scored a game-high 19 points. "It put everyone's head down."

Richmond Burton 55, Grayslake North 53 (OT): Richmond-Burton outlasted Grayslake North in the opening game of the Grant Holiday Tournament. Kenneth Riordan led the Rockets with 19 points and teammate Chad O'Kane added 17 points. Teddy Ludwick and Matt Pucher had 13 and 12 points respectively for Grayslake North.

Johnsburg 61, Lakes 39: At Grant, Johnsburg held Lakes leading scorer John Androus to 4 points to get the victory. CJ Fiedorowicz led the way for Johnsburg with a game-high 18 points while Tyler Swindle topped Lakes with 13 points.

McHenry 46, Northridge Prep 38: At Grant, Brian Madson and Jimmy Preston each had 13 points for McHenry while Robert Rey and Pete Hinderer each scored 10 points for Northridge Prep.