Elgin tops Streamwood for 1st conference win

There were at least a few very good reasons for the Elgin boys basketball team to be in a festive mood after defeating Streamwood 64-59 on Thursday night. After coming up short in their first 6 tries the Maroons were finally able to celebrate their first win on their new floor. It was also the Maroons' first Upstate Eight River conference win of the season and it broke a 5-game losing streak.

"We really needed a win," Elgin coach Mike Sitter. "It's been a while since we got one and it felt great to finally get one here on the new home floor. On the whole there were a lot of things to feel good about tonight. I thought for the most part we took good care of the basketball and we had a lot of guys give us some really good minutes."

Elgin (7-15, 1-9) fell behind 10-2 early on, but used a 3-point assault to climb back into contention and pull ahead. The Maroons knocked down twelve 3-pointers in the game, including 6 in the second quarter as they grabbed a 33-29 halftime lead.

Trey Yarber, who had a team-high 17 points, led the 3-point attack for the Maroons with a total of 5.

"He's full of confidence when it comes to shooting," Siiter said. "He's a really good spot-up shooter. If you give him any space to shoot he's going to knock them down. He's working hard to improve the rest of his game. He's been earning more and more minutes and has started the last 3 games."

Yarber had three 3-pointers in the pivotal second quarter when the Maroons pulled ahead. It was a 3-pointer by Yarber that gave the Maroons the lead 31-29 with just over a minute to play in the half.

"My teammates know my role and they do a great job of getting me some open shots," Yarber said. "I'm feeling a lot more confident. Coach Howard has really been working with me a lot."

Daz Cooks came of the bench to score 7 points in the third quarter to help the Maroons extend their lead to 53-40.

"We came out of the half very assertive," Sitter said. "We did a real nice job moving the ball especially against their zone. We made the extra pass and reversed the ball to get some open shots."

The Sabres (11-15, 0-9) rallied back to within 3 points on 2 separate occasions in the fourth quarter, but Elgin was able to hold on with a couple key defensive stands down the stretch and some clutch baskets. After the Sabres had pulled to within 56-53, Roy Panthier scored on a layup and Dan Toolsie, who finished with 15 points, had a putback slam dunk with 2:18 to play to make it 60-53.

Streamwood was again within 62-59 with less than a minute to play, but came up empty on two trips down the floor before the Maroons sealed the deal with a pair of free throws from Michael Weatherburn.

Keenan Cole had 18 points to lead the Sabres.

"Not a good night for us," Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn said. "We lacked hustle on defense. We weren't rotating and we weren't closing out on shots. Elgin did a great job of taking advantage and deserved to win."