Wrap: Larkin, South Elgin fall
The Elgin boys basketball team held a double-digit lead for all but a minute and 45 seconds Friday night.
But its 82-72 victory over East Aurora at Chesbrough Field House was anything but easy.
"A win is a win," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was solid."
The Maroons scored the first 10 points of the game to grab a double-digit lead with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter. The lead was 23-3 with 1:40 left in the first quarter and 41-10 with 4:20 remaining in the second.
At that point, Armani Williams scored 15 of his game-high 25 points. Gustavo Herrera had 9 of his 13 second-quarter points and Jeremy Granger added 8.
"Our defense dictated the game," Granger said. "Our offense goes on our defense. Our defense was good so our offense was even better."
It appeared the Upstate Eight Conference matchup was going to be a rout. But that's when the game got interesting.
The Tomcats (12-8, 3-4) went on a 19-4 run to finish the first half to cut the deficit to 16, 45-29, going to the break. Elgin committed 7 turnovers in the quarter, 5 coming in the final 4 minutes.
"We can't allow teams get back into games like that," Williams said. "We have to stay focused."
East Aurora's Jamar Shepard, who scored all 17 of points in the second half, opened the second half with a layup as the Maroons' lead fell to 14, 45-31.
Elgin (11-8, 4-2), more specifically Granger and Williams, responded. Williams scored 10 points in the quarter, including a fast-break pull-up 3-pointer with 4 minutes left in the third quarter to increase the lead back to 20, 57-37. Granger, who finished with 20 points, added 7 as Elgin regained its 31-point advantage, 72-41, with 1:25 remaining in the third.
The Tomcats scored the final four points of the third and 15 of the first 17 of the fourth to again cut the deficit to 14, 74-60. Turnovers again cost the Maroons, who committed 10 turnovers in the quarter, as East Aurora used a full-court press to frustrate Elgin.
While the lead never fell below 10, the Maroons were just happy to survive.
"I'll tell you what, if we had another 2 minutes, who knows what would have happened," Tomcats coach Wendell Jeffries said.
Boys basketball
St. Charles East 77, Larkin 39: Putting an emotional loss from nearly a week ago in the rearview mirror, St. Charles East's boys basketball team took out its frustration on struggling Larkin Friday night.
Hitting their first 8 field goal attempts, the Saints (8-10, 4-3) shot out to a 21-3 lead in the first 6 minutes and held a commanding 47-17 halftime advantage.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Saints, who led by as many as 45 points at 64-19 late in the third quarter, had cruised to a 77-39 Upstate Eight Conference triumph.
"We believe we're a good team -- we're not a 7-10 (team)," said Saints coach Brian Clodi. "There are only three games where we haven't had the lead in the fourth quarter. We just keep saying, 'it's time, guys.'
"We've given up 75 points the last two games and you're not going to win (doing that) come regional time. We emphasized defense (tonight) and we just said, 'we've got to take it out on these guys. All the frustrations, all of that needs to come out in this game. It just so happened that they (the Royals) were next."
The Royals, (1-17, 0-7), who connected on just 1 of their first 9 field goal attempts in the opening quarter and misfired on their first 9 shots in the second stanza, were completely taken out of their game.
"Our record is not good but believe it or not, that's the first time I can say we've been dominated the whole game," said Larkin coach Larry Hight. "This is the first time we've gotten our lunch handed to us.
"We didn't have an answer for it. Their defense wouldn't let us run our offense."
St. Charles East, which was outscored 48-31 in the second half during last Saturday's 75-64 loss to cross-town rival St. Charles North, came out with a purpose Friday night.
"After that North game, it kind of sank in that it's now or never," said junior guard Zach Scott (6 points), who canned 2 of the Saints' 8 three-pointers. "We need to come together and finish off the season."
Like a hockey coach shuffling lines, Clodi substituted freely throughout, often making 5-for-5 lineup switches.
"We played two groups and challenged the first group versus the second group to see which group was going to score the most points," said Clodi.
For the record, the starters, led by Kevin Senechalle's 10 points, edged the second group, 34-33.
Senior Collin Pryor paced the second unit, scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter.
"That first group got us off to a good start, and then Collin (came in) with the second group - he obviously performed."
St. Charles East visits Geneva Saturday night (6 p.m. tipoff).
"It'll be a great test," said Clodi.
Ryan Shriver came off the bench to lead Larkin with 9 points.
-- Craig Brueske
Neuqua Valley 56, South Elgin 48: For one team it was the Mona Lisa, for the other, a Velvet Elvis.
That described Friday night's first quarter, when Neuqua Valley played a near-perfect period, jumping to a 13-0 lead over visiting South Elgin, which missed its first 7 shots, had 6 turnovers and committed 8 fouls. In fact if Josh Glenn hadn't hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left, the Storm would have suffered the ignominy of being blanked in the quarter.
In the end the opening eight minutes proved to be the difference as the Wildcats held on for a 56-48 Upstate Eight Conference defeat of the Storm.
"We didn't get off the bus in the first quarter," said Storm coach Chaz Taft. "We battled back, but we're a second-year program. Being happy being competitive is for first-year programs."
Neuqua coach Todd Sutton pointed to his squad's work on the boards in the pivotal opening quarter. The Wildcats didn't allow the Storm any second shots, while Danny Pawelski and Derek Raridon combined for 3 offensive rebounds and 11 of the Wildcats' 13 points.
"We really dominated on the defensive glass early and that kept them from doing anything on offense," Sutton said.
After extending the lead to 18-3 in the first minute of the second quarter, the Wildcats (17-6, 6-1) seemed content to run out the clock. The Storm (9-11, 2-5) wasn't ready to go down without a fight, and shooting of Glenn and Kyle Osborne got South Elgin as close as 20-15 before Neuqua cobbled together an 11-3 run to end the half for a 31-18 lead.
The Storm still trailed by 11 at 41-30 after three periods, but the long-range shooting of Glenn and Adam Hodge repeatedly knocked the deficit to 6 before Alex Sanchez's scoop layup with a minute left trimmed the lead to 51-46. From there, however, Raridon and Brad Keeler combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws in the last minute to keep the Storm at bay.
"Give credit to South Elgin, their defense made it 'blah' for us," Sutton said. "They played us very physical and we couldn't score. They undid our offense."
As it turned out, the final three minutes of the third quarter may have been as telling as the first quarter. Trailing by 9, the Storm had five chances to cut further into the deficit but came up empty on five straight possessions.
"We didn't capitalize on key turnovers, we didn't capitalize down the stretch, we didn't get the loose-ball plays we usually get," Taft said.
-- Chris Traczek
Waubonsie Valley 64, Barrington 47: In hot pursuit of a strong sectional seeding, the Waubonsie Valley boys basketball team is not about to overlook any opponent.
The Warriors and Jelani Johnson started fast Friday night with a blistering 22-6 first-quarter advantage. The visiting Broncos did slice that deficit with a 12-0 run to open the second quarter to get within 22-18, but the 18-3 Warriors regrouped and finished off Barrington (6-13) 64-47 in non-conference play for their seventh consecutive win.
"I was practicing my shot a lot before the game," said Johnson, who led all scorers with 19 points on Friday. "We want a good spot for sectionals."
When asked about the play of his point guard Kevin VandenBerg and fellow guard John Daniels, Johnson replied, "We care about each other and we care about how far we can go."
That's why someone like VandenBerg attempts just 6 shots while dishing off 6 assists, and why Daniels seemed to enjoy watching Johnson grab his lobs toward the basket and convert them into soaring lay-ups.
"Kevin's playing real well right now and he's distributing the ball well," Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer said. "We actually would like him to look to shoot more than he does, but he had two nice pull-ups when we needed them tonight."
Barrington, which was paced by 6-foot-7 Mack Darrow's 17 points and 10 rebounds, trailed 30-20 at the break after the hosts closed out the half with an 8-2 run. With Chris Howard draining a pair of threes and scoring all 11 of his points in the second half, the Broncos tried to make a game of it. But Johnson had 12 points after the intermission and Daniels and Justin Peaster combined for 27 points in the game and 5 of the team's seven 3-pointers.
Yet it was the Warriors tough defense that Peaster credited with the team's win. "We have to bring it on defense, and in the first quarter we did and we played real well," said Peaster, who had 2 steals and 6 rebounds to go with his 15 points.
Barrington coach Marty Dello saw his team make big strides even while falling short on Friday. "We scouted them enough to know Waubonsie is a great team and they're well coached," Dello said. "You can't stop their three guards. But we adjusted to their speed some in the second quarter and our kids played with a lot of poise and composure. It's a huge step in the right direction."
Tyler Castro had 8 points, 3 rebounds and blocked shot off the bench for the Warriors, who used 10 different players in the first half and 13 all told.
-- Stan Goff
Westminster Christian 51, Luther North 46: Behind double-digit scoring from Joel Benson, Tyler Beachler and Cory Hodge who each tallied 13 points, Westminster Christian (14-5, 4-2) earned this Private School League victory.
"It was a good win," said coach Bruce Firchau. "We were down at the half, we came back in the fourth quarter, kept attacking the basket and never gave up."
U-High 72, Elgin Academy 44: The Hilltoppers (2-10, 0-8) fell in the Independent School League to U-High. Javon McDonald led for Elgin Academy with 10 points. Senior Joe Kozlowicz also added 9 points.
Girls basketball
CL South 34, Woodstock 31: Trailing 19-15 at the half, Crystal Lake South (17-7, 4-2) had a strong fourth quarter to come from behind for this Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win. With 9 points and 3 rebounds, Katie Burton led the Gators, while Caitlin Mize 8 points and 4 rebounds.
Driscoll 52, St. Edward 45: In the Suburban Catholic Conference St. Edward (10-9, 6-5) fell to Driscoll. Katie Yohn led the Green Wave with 19 points. Celeste VonAhnen added 12.
Notes
Crusader Youth Football Registration: The St. Edward Crusaders will be holding their Youth Football registration today at the Elgin Recreation Center from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
New in 2008 will be a 7-8 year old Bantam division. Other divisions go up to eighth grade. All divisions have rules to allow bigger kids to play with kids their own age.
Today only, Bantam level is just $85 and all other levels are $150. Registration will go up to $225 per player at future registrations. Visit www.crusaderyouthfootball.com for more information.