Grant finally solves Lakes

Much more was on the line the last time the Grant boys basketball team got a win over Lakes. A holiday tournament championship, to be exact.

But the Bulldogs gladly accepted Saturday's 59-41 victory over Lakes in the third place game of their own holiday tournament. It was, after all, the first time Grant has beaten its North Suburban Conference Prairie Division nemesis in two full years.

The last Grant victory over Lakes came in December of 2006 in the championship game of the very first holiday tournament at the school. The Bulldogs have gone 0-5 against Lakes since then.

"This feels great. It's a huge step for us to beat them," said Grant senior forward Gilbert Sheehan, who poured in a game-high 19 points. "Getting first place (in the tournament) would have been better. But we're glad we were able to beat them to get third place."

Grant, which improves to 8-4 thanks to a 15-1 run in the final two minutes that sealed the deal, has never gotten worse than third in its tournament. After the championship in 2006, the Bulldogs took third place last year.

"We told the guys before the game that there's a big difference between going 3-1 and 2-2 in the tournament," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "Plus, the fact that Lakes beat us (two weeks ago in a league game) was kind of on our minds a little bit. There were a couple different reasons we wanted to get this win. I think by getting it, we're taking a nice step forward."

The Bulldogs had taken a step backwards just the night before, losing to McHenry after getting off to a horrible start. They were down 15-3 at the end of the first quarter.

"Last night, we weren't pumped up at all," said Grant senior center John King, who played a key role in the big run Grant made in the final minutes. He made a traditional 3-point play and scored another clutch basket. "The coaches were pretty mad about the way we started (against McHenry) and they really tried to get us psyched up and ready to go before this game.

"I think we had a lot of guys step up."

Three players scored in double-figures for Grant - Sheehan, Garrett Olsen (13 points) and Shane Richardson (10 points). But it wasn't just the offensive production that made a difference against Lakes (3-8).

The Bulldogs also rose to the occasion defensively. Their goal was to shut down Lakes guard John Androus. Two weeks ago, Androus carried Lakes to a win over Grant by rolling up 29 points.

"Before the game, we just said, 'We can't let that happen. We can't let one guy do that,'" Sheehan said.

Androus finished with 17 points, but had just 3 points at halftime and 6 points through the third quarter.

"In the fourth quarter, I hit the boards more and that's how I got most of my points (on putbacks)," said Androus, who was the only Lakes player to finish in double-figures. "Early on, it was pretty tough. They put a lot of pressure on me, especially in fast break situations. They really tried to attack me on defense."

Yet, even with Androus quiet in the first half, Lakes trailed by only three points (23-20) at halftime.

Grant extended its lead to 38-27 by the end of the third quarter and Lakes rallied to get to within four points (44-40) with two minutes remaining in the game.

But the Bulldogs clamped down and closed out with that 15-1 run.

"We showed guts to come back and cut it to 4 points," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "We just couldn't turn the corner."

• Four players from this game made the all-tournament team: Tyler Swindle (Lakes), John Androus (Lakes), AJ Spohr (Grant) and Gilbert Sheehan (Grant).