Waubonsie Valley hangs on to down Elgin

At times Friday night, it looked as if two great efforts by Elgin players might be enough to offset the effort of Waubonsie Valley's Jelani Johnson.

After all, the Maroons got a huge game inside from Marcus Redburg and a big effort from guard Tom Roth. The pair combined to score 47 points including 24 of Elgin's 26 first-half points.

But the host Warriors actually opened the second half with Johnson on the bench and his teammates responded in a big way. Jonny Strauss, Tyler Castro and Jacobi Johnson each nailed 3-pointers as Waubonsie Valley (13-11, 5-3) opened the third quarter with an 11-2 charge to break from the 26-all halftime tie. The spurt enabled the hosts to build a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Maroons rallied late before falling 62-58 in Upstate Eight Conference play.

"We showed we can compete with anyone, but we've got to do it right at the end," said Redburg, who fouled out in the waning seconds with a game-high 26 points and 8 rebounds. "They hit those three straight 3s and that was tough. We've lost so many games where we were right in it."

While the elder Johnson was getting some timely 3s and other assistance from his teammates, the Warriors' senior did finish the night with team-high totals of 21 points and 12 rebounds. It was a 3-pointer by Johnson that gave the hosts their biggest lead of the night at 55-43 two minutes into the final quarter. Jacobi Johnson, a sophomore, set up his brother on the play with a shovel pass while the two were hanging out together outside the arc.

"It's the family connection. We've got each other's back," said Jelani, who also assisted on a pair of his brother's baskets. "The team responded well (with me out) and they executed well."

After a 21-13 third-quarter advantage gave the Warriors a 47-39 lead heading into the fourth, it didn't look good for Elgin (10-14, 2-6) when the deficit grew to double digits. But Roth tallied 8 of his 21 points in the final quarter and Redburg had 7 points - including a 5-for-6 effort from the line - as the Maroons made things interesting at the end.

"We get too comfortable some times and we just need to calm down," aid Jelani Johnson. "But we've gotten a lot better with teamwork as the season's gone on and we've improved a lot."

For Elgin coach Mike Sitter, Friday was just another one of many tight losses this season.

"I just told the kids that we're good enough to compete with anybody in the state," he said. "It was two pretty good defenses struggling out there. There were just a couple bounces that didn't go our way."