A few great finishes can sometimes help you forget one very bad start.

Rolling Meadows’ boys basketball team may have been beaten handily in its opening game in the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York in Elmhurst on Monday, but the Mustangs responded with four straight victories, including a 49-35 victory over Batavia on Friday in the consolation championship.

The Mustangs struggled coming into the tournament, and may have gotten tossed around by Wheaton North, but they finished the tournament as well as they could have with a four-game winning streak.

“We came in here and pretty much got embarrassed by a tough Wheaton North team so it took a lot of mental toughness to bounce back,” Rolling Meadows senior Jack Schoessling said.

Rolling Meadows (6-7) only led Batavia 18-16 at halftime, but opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run to seize control of the game.

Justin Thompson’s three-point play and Schoessling’s 3-pointer were the key offensive plays during the run.

They had to be most pleased with their effort in the fourth quarter.

A putback by Batavia’s Eric Peterson with 26 seconds left in the third quarter pulled the Bulldogs to within 35-29, but they didn’t make another field goal until Nick Valente scored inside with 27 seconds left in the game.

“At the moment this doesn’t feel too good with how it ended there,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “But looking back on the tournament, we had the heartbreaking loss but then won three games to get to this spot. There are a lot of positives we can take away from this.”

Batavia (7-7) couldn’t find many open looks and while its 3-point shooting has been so good at times this winter, the Bulldogs struggled to a 2-for-19 performance.

“They shut us down,” Nazos said. “And then they had 21 points in the third quarter. Some of that was us turning it over, but they hit shots and did a lot of good things in the quarter there.”

Schoessling led Rolling Meadows with 16 points while Jared Murphy added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Colin Cheaney paced the Bulldogs with 12 points while Peterson chipped in with 9.

“It’s a tough ending, but I think we’re in a good spot heading into the second half of the year,” Nazos said. “I think this tournament helps prepare us. This one was tough, but I like where we’re heading.”