Williams, Streamwood cruise past Elgin
Going into Monday night's girls basketball game at Elgin, Streamwood junior Jenejha Williams wanted to dictate the tempo early on.
She did.
Williams scored 8 points in the first quarter, allowing the Sabres to open up a big lead and then cruise to a 54-20 Upstate Eight Conference River Division win over the Maroons at Chesbrough Field House.
Setting the early tone with the 6-foot-2 Williams dominating was the Sabres' game plan.
"The plan was to feed off her and that opens the floor for others," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "J has some good partners out there to get her the ball. They're all sophomores but they're getting better and better and she's getting better and better."
One of those sophomores, 5-9 Andrea Bracy, scored 7 of her 9 points in the first quarter as the Sabres (3-14, 1-5) jumped ahead 15-1 and never looked back.
But it was Williams' dominance that did in the Maroons (1-15, 0-5). She finished the night with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.
"(Rosner) warned us that we were equals," Williams said of her team and the Maroons. "He told me it was important for me to set the tone and I think I did that."
Streamwood led 25-9 at halftime then duplicated its first quarter with another 15-1 advantage in the third to take a 40-10 lead into the bench-clearing fourth quarter.
It took the Sabres until the last two games of the Mundelein Holiday Tournament to pick up their first wins of the season but Rosner, now in his 36th year coaching girls basketball, never gave up on the season, nor did his team.
"We knew we'd have a rough go of it, especially early," Rosner said. "We've got three girls starting with no varsity experience and Maddie (Exline) with just her freshman year on varsity. This is only Bracy's third year of playing basketball and she's become an amazing athlete, in my opinion, and has helped us a lot. Exline is a very smart player and Becky Roncone is getting better and better at the point guard position.
"We are definitely playing better basketball and this group has been a pleasure to coach."
Bracy finished with 9 points and 14 rebounds while senior Jaimee Melo came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers and score 10 points. Exline added 7 points to the win. Streamwood went 18-for-47 (38 percent) from the floor and made 14 of 18 from the free throw line. The Sabres had just 17 turnovers while Elgin finished with more miscues (24) than points.
"We gained confidence with those two wins at the tournament," Williams said. "We realized we were capable of winning. We never gave up on ourselves and Rosner never gave up on us."
For Elgin, it was another tough night in a tough season. The Maroons made just 7 of 53 field goal attempts but did win the rebounding battle 41-40. Senior Lakiya Harvey led Elgin with 6 points and 7 rebounds while junior Tianna Stewart added 5 points and 7 boards.
"We struggled offensively and defensively right out of the box," said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. "Our energy wasn't very good tonight. The things we're working on in practice and looking good on in practice aren't carrying over to games. Our defense has not been good and our defensive principles are weak. We have a lot to improve on.
"Streamwood's kids came out and accepted their roles and did a nice job and Jenejah had a nice game for them."