Payne fits right in with winning Saxons

ROCKFORD -- Brandon Bolger and Cully Payne haven't needed much time to become best friends.

So close, in fact, that Schaumburg boys basketball coach Bob Williams joked they're joined at the hip.

And Bolger smiled and said he's OK with the fact that his sister Heather has been dating Payne for three months.

"He wants to be basically like everyone else," Bolger said Tuesday night.

Payne fit in nicely in that regard in his Saxons debut at the Rockford Boylan tournament. Bolger and Payne were also joined closely in the scoring column -- with 13 and 12 points respectively -- in a 72-38 romp over Rockford East.

Some people may have expected Payne to fire in 30 points or fog up a ton of shots -- he was 4-for-12 from the field -- to prove a point after his transfer late this summer from Burlington Central.

But watching the final minutes from the bench with a wide smile was the point Payne wanted to make clear.

"It just took a while to get in a little rhythm," Payne said of missing his first 4 shots before getting his first points on a rebound and coast-to-coast drive 5:24 before halftime. "The big thing is people will think, 'He doesn't have a lot of points.'

"I don't care if I have 2 points and 30 assists or 30 points and 2 assists as long as we win. I'll do whatever I have to do to help us win."

Which is expected in a program where 21 wins has been the average the last 14 years.

"He's going to make us a lot better," Bolger said. "As a point guard he shows leadership and he's making decisions that make us better."

And that's why Williams knows Payne will get better and better as he blends in with a lot of other guys getting used to bigger roles.

"He's been better in practice than he was today," Williams said. "He's still an excellent leader for us and he takes care of the basketball. He does so many intangible things."

And they figure to eventually make the Saxons much crisper offensively.

The Saxons turned to a familiar staple to break open a 29-23 game at halftime. Bolger, Perrish Bell, Sean Everitt, Dan Slowik and George Kalousek helped turn up the heat and force 12 of Rockford East's 35 turnovers in a 19-4 tear.

"The second half we picked it up and brought it to them," Bolger said of the E-Rabs going 3:43 before getting their first shot after intermission. "We put the pressure to them until they couldn't handle it anymore. That's what got us to score more -- our defense."

Mick Trimarco, who took last year off to concentrate on football, showed he'll be able to help. His defense and aggressiveness led to 8 points and 7 rebounds as all 13 Saxons who played scored.

And they're still waiting to get 6-foot-5 junior Blake Mueller, their leading returning scorer, back from injury.

"I think we're actually pretty close right now," Bolger said of the Saxons getting to where they need to be in terms of execution.

It looks like they're already there in another critical area.

"I like it at Schaumburg a lot," Payne said. "It's a big school with great kids there and the basketball kids have been great."