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Cary-Grove knocks off Buffalo Grove

The final piece of opening round action of this year's Lake Zurich MLK Tournament was put into place Monday night as Mid-Suburban East co-leader Buffalo Grove hosted Fox Valley Conference front-runner Cary-Grove.

It was a contest that pitted stellar talent from both teams as well.

That skill would light up the night sky outside as well as the scoreboard.

Unfortunately for the host school, it lit the guest side more than the home side as the visiting Trojans outscored the host Bison 72-63.

Cary-Grove (15-2) advances to Saturday's 1 p.m. semifinal versus the tourney host Bears (6-8) while Buffalo Grove (14-4) will begin the quartet of games at Lake Zurich Saturday with a 10 a.m. consolation semi against Round Lake.

"It's huge all these games. We could've scheduled (individual) noncons, but we chose to go to Lake Zurich and have good quality teams to play against," Cary-Grove coach Adam McCloud said.

"Buffalo Grove is a good quality team. We have a gritty team. They fight and battle. Two good teams played (tonight)."

After seeing an early 8-point lead (10-2) in the game's first couple of minutes, the hosts went on a 17-7 run behind 12 of sophomore swingman Kam Craft's team-high 25 points, giving BG a 19-17 edge after one.

The tide turned triumphantly for the Trojans thanks in large part to 15-2 run over the final 5:45 of quarter number two that saw Lewis University commit Beau Frericks score 9 of his game-high 35 during that span, leaving the Trojans ahead 38-29 at half.

C-G then opened up the second half with a 7-2 microburst, using a slam from 6-9 Frank Jakubicek off a feed from Clark Cunningham that put them up 45-31 with 6:24 left in the period. Buffalo Grove could get no closer than 8 on a Tyler Kipley steal, drive, and layup that made it 64-56 Trojans with 2:20 remaining.

Jakubicek, a Belmont University recruit, added 19 points and 11 rebounds while Cunningham chipped in 10 to the winning effort.

"It's tough to stop both of them," McCloud said of his top two scorers. "Beau just started out hot. He just comes out super-confident every night. Teams are trying to defend him hard and they struggle because he can get to the basket. He can make the 3 and when you help too much that's when Frank gets those easy ones and finishes so well. He's a great rebounder."

Junior Bison reserve guard Steph Harris added 11 points for BG, which resumes MSL East play at Rolling Meadows Friday night.

"I think that the start of the game was what really hurt us," Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson said. "We played with such a high level there to get back the lead. I could tell we were a little tired, so I tried going zone a little bit there and they made a couple of big shots. They're a really good team and you gotta come out and pressure them. They executed well and we were just a step behind."

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