South Elgin nips Waubonsie Valley

With 6-foot-9 senior center Dani Lopez still out of the lineup with an ankle injury, the South Elgin boys basketball team has to, as coach Chaz Taft said, "play small."

And for the first half, the Storm struggled with that never holding a lead.

But a strong third quarter from junior Tommy Childs gave South Elgin the boost it needed as he tallied 10 of his game-high 18 points to lift his team to a 59-56 Upstate Eight Conference win over Waubonsie Valley on Wednesday night.

"I thought our whole team needed a spark," Childs said. "Our seniors said we needed a spark at halftime and I thought I could be that guy to step up."

Trailing 26-23 entering the third quarter, the Storm (18-7, 7-2) captured the lead for the first time at 29-28 after senior Alex Sanchez (8 points) hit a layup. The Storm never trailed again taking a 47-42 lead into the fourth quarter after finishing the third on a 7-3 run started by a Childs' 3-point play.

However, the Warriors (13-12, 5-4) didn't go away easily, pulling within 2 at 58-56 on a basket from senior Alex Stokowski with 11.2 seconds remaining on the clock.

But several Waubonsie turnovers in the final minutes kept the Warriors from tying the game.

"We weren't tough at times," said Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer. "I was happy with their effort in the fourth quarter. But we turned the ball over too many times down the stretch."

The Warriors did get one last shot off from behind the arc to attempt a tie, but Jeffrey Lewis (11 points) grabbed the rebound to secure the win after he split a pair from the line for the final Storm point.

Seniors Jelani Johnon (15 points) and Johnny Strauss (11 points) led the Waubonsie offense.

For the Storm, the win comes after a seven-game win streak was snapped in a 43-42 loss against Aurora Central Catholic.

"It was good to just gut this one out," Taft said. "That was a tough loss and it's great to bounce back from it."