East Aurora pressure does in South Elgin

South Elgin handled the internal pressure of a first-place showdown with East Aurora well for the first 28 minutes of Thursday's Upstate Eight boys basketball game.

It was a different kind of pressure - the full-court variety - that caused the Storm to unravel in the final four minutes of a 75-63 defeat.

The game was close throughout and South Elgin (10-5, 3-1) pulled within 61-59 when senior point guard Alex Sanchez sank a one-handed runner in the paint with 4:28 remaining.

One possession later East Aurora sophomore guard Ryan Boatright stole an entry pass intended for South Elgin center Dani Lopez and raced the other way for a layup and a 4-point lead. From that point forward, the Tomcats pressed the Storm right out of the game.

South Elgin committed 4 turnovers in 5 possessions against the swarming pressure, which led to a 10-0 Tomcats run that decided the game. Jamario Taylor stole a South Elgin inbounds pass under the basket and converted the easy layup, Boatright stole another inbounds pass and drove for a hanging layup and Kevin Lash made a steal that Boatright converted for a 69-59 lead with 2:43 left to play.

"The plan was to get the ball to the middle and we just didn't do it," Sanchez said of the press break. "We broke down a little bit. We weren't really running the same press breakers that coach wanted us to. He'd tell us one thing, but we were just getting clustered. That's what pressure does."

Instead of being the aggressors, the role the Storm played in the first quarter in taking a 22-15 lead, South Elgin was forced to react.

"They were attacking us, and we'd throw a pass off our back foot, just throw it up for grabs," South Elgin senior Jordan Dobler said. "They're a tall, athletic team and they're going to get the ball. They attacked us, and we didn't attack them."

Sanchez led South Elgin with 15 points while Dobler and Lopez each added 12. East Aurora (14-3, 3-0) was led by 6-foot-4 junior Tramell Weathersby, who scored 27 points to offset the absence of leading scorer Will Brown. Brown was benched for the first half due to a recent missed practice and played 3 minutes in the third quarter before he was ejected with 2 technical fouls.

Playing well for most of the game was of little solace to the Storm afterward.

"We have to make it happen," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "We have some kids who are three-year players here, so that's not enough just to run with somebody. That's not our expectation."