Elgin edges Lakes at Buffalo Grove

From what the coaches had to say after Elgin's 60-58 victory over Lakes on Saturday at Buffalo Grove's Bison Classic boys basketball tournament, you'd be hard pressed to know who the winning coach was.

The Maroons escaped with the win after Tom Roth (23 points) dropped in a pair of free throws with 7.5 seconds left. Lakes' Mike Scott's contested shot from beyond the arc at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

"We're inexperienced at closing out games," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter after watching his team let a 58-52 lead vanish in the final minute, thanks to a pair of turnovers in the backcourt. "I thought we lacked killer instinct. We need to stay aggressive for the full game."

On the flip side, Lakes coach Brian Phelan was happy with the way his team bounced back from Friday's 30-point loss against Buffalo Grove.

"I thought we did everything in the last three minutes to get a shot at winning," Phelan said. "That's all you can ask. I'm pleased with the end of the game.

"It was a good week," Phelan said. "Even though we're 0-4, there was a lot of growth."

Lakes turned up the pressure after Roth, Mike Richard (9 points) and Alex Kanlic (10) combined for 5-of-6 at the line to give the Maroons (2-2) a 58-52 lead with 1:23 left.

John Androus (23 points, 10 in the fourth quarter) scored the Eagles' last 6 points to forge a tie at 58 with 13.3 seconds left

"We tried to get John in the post," Phelan said.

Roth responded to Lakes' 18-point fourth quarter by scoring 6 in the final quarter, including 4 from the line.

"The team wants me with the ball at the end," Roth said. "If they want me to take the shots, I'll take them.

"We came out strong," Roth said. "We had a mental lapse and didn't do a good job of handling the ball and finishing the game."

Joe Wade scored 10 for Elgin, and Gurveer Raju added 8, all in the first half. Scott scored 13 for Lakes, and Tyler Swindle added 11, including 3 3-pointers.