Elgin tournament roundup
Neuqua Valley drafted a blueprint for the rest of the season Tuesday.
Beating Rolling Meadows 87-52 in the second-round of the 35th annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Tournament, the Wildcats' high-flying first half was their top performance thus far, coach Todd Sutton said.
Neuqua Valley scored 34 points in the second quarter, on 12-of-15 shooting, to lead the Mustangs 52-23 at halftime.
"This is where we want to be at," said Sutton, whose team faces 10-0 Fremd in an Elgin semifinal at 6:30 p.m. today.
Neuqua Valley (9-0) was a blur of hands in passing lanes, outlet passes, transition sprints downcourt, lay-in finishes or the odd dunk ahead of Rolling Meadows (4-6).
"I think that's our style," said Neuqua forward Dwayne Evans, who had 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 13 points, among five Wildcats between 10 and 16 points. "It worked really well today and in practice. I think we just really worked cohesively in passing the ball really well."
"Like Dwayne said, we love playing our transition game, just love running up and down," said center Kareem Amedu, who scored 16 including a two-handed dunk five seconds in.
Amedu made all 7 of his shots. He was in good company. The Wildcats were 37 of 50 from the floor (74 percent) including 7 of 12 from 3-point range led by Jim Stocki at 4-for-4.
"Everybody contributed in whatever it was - box-out rebound, a jump shot, a layup, defense," said guard Rahjan Muhammad, who scored 8 of his 10 in the second quarter.
Rolling Meadows' Richie Kemph, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, was Sutton's defensive focus. Kemph averaged 21 points with 29 in Monday's win over Batavia. Guarded by Kyle Pembrook, on Tuesday Kemph scored a team-high 14 followed by point guard Brian Nelms' 12.
No blame, though - the Mustangs were simply hit by a train in navy and gold.
"That's by far the best team I've seen in high school all three years I've been on varsity," said Kemph, who had the Mustangs within 18-12 on a drive to end the first quarter.
Neuqua forced 4 turnovers in less than 2 minutes of the second quarter during an 11-0 run that began the ascent, and midway through the third the Wildcats led 64-26.
"Obviously we didn't put a very good showing on them, so that's disappointing," said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich, who'll see Buffalo Grove at 3:15 p.m. "We were hoping to at least make it competitive and we weren't able to do that. The good news is we get to play again tomorrow."
Fremd 75, Buffalo Grove 62: This was not one of the better beginnings for a Fremd boys basketball team off to one of the best starts in school history.
But the end of the first half was a perfect time for a 10-point run to maintain their perfect start after 10 games.
The Vikings built a 20-point lead in a 75-62 quarterfinal victory over Mid-Suburban League rival Buffalo Grove on Tuesday in the 35th annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament.
"That gave us a lot of momentum and we realized we need to step up and play and good things will happen," said Fremd junior guard Zach Monaghan, who had a game-high 26 points and 4 assists.
"At halftime we knew we had to play defense," said Fremd senior Quinn Williams, who had 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, "and come out with much more intensity."
The Vikings (10-0) know they have to do that right away in today's 6:30 p.m. semifinal against defending champion Neuqua Valley (9-0), which used a 34-point second quarter to beat Rolling Meadows 87-52.
Neuqua Valley beat Fremd 84-49 in last year's semifinals.
"We just didn't come out ready to play," Monaghan said after hitting 13-of-17 free throws. "I think we were still satisfied with our win (67-50 over Glenbrook South on Monday).
"If we come out and do that (today) we'll get our teeth kicked in."
The Bison (8-3), who have a 3:15 p.m. rematch today of Friday's 64-49 MSL East win over Meadows (4-6), had their running game going early. They led 27-25 with 5:13 left in the first half on a drive by Dan Recht.
"We came out really lackadaisical and that's not what we were looking for," Monaghan said.
A 3-pointer by Kevin Mulligan (15 points) put BG up 32-31 with 2:20 left in the half.
Williams and Charlie Rosenberg (7 points, 8 rebounds) countered with a pair of drives and Monaghan scored the last 6 points of the half to put the Vikings up 41-32.
"Through most of the first half I thought we played pretty well and it was the type of game we wanted to play," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. "We just broke down defensively. Our defense was really poor to close out the first half."
And the Vikings' man-to-man defense kept getting better as they allowed only 8 third-quarter points. BG shot just 9-for-31 from the field after halftime.
"After the first quarter I thought we really settled in and played more solid defense and took better care of the basketball," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "Quinn Williams played well at both ends of the floor. He does a lot of little things many fans don't recognize."
Chris Klimek added 12 points and 7 rebounds for Fremd. Mike Cornely had 12 points and Nick Prus and Jeff Zabrin added 11 each for BG.
"If we're going to beat a team of that size, we need to do a better job of trying to exploit that and use our quickness," O'Connor said. "They're 10-0 for a reason."
Auburn 58, Hoffman Estates 52: Hoffman Estates coach Bill Wandro didn't have to recollect very hard to point out two key factors from Tuesday night's 58-52 quarterfinal loss to Rockford Auburn at the 35th Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament.
"To start the second half," said Wandro. "We started out with 6 turnovers. That was a big part. Some of our fundamentals broke down during that span."
Hoffman (6-4) trailed 28-27 following a basket by Hoffman's John Bialek (13 points), but Auburn went on a 8-0 run, converting 2 turnovers into baskets for a 36-27 lead.
A 4-point play, and then 2 free throws by leading scorer Kevin Tiongson pulled the Hawks within 38-33 to close the quarter.
The second key factor occured after the Hawks trailed 42-36 after 2 free throws from Jimmy Fabbrini with 5:04 left.
Hoffman then forced a turnover. Auburn called timeout, but the Hawks could not get the ball inbounds and gave back the ball.
Auburn went on a 9-2 run on 3-point baskets by Fred VanFleet (17 points, 6 rebounds) and Anthony Strickland (14 points), who also added a 3-point play in the run for a 51-40 lead.
"We had to call the timeout at that point to keep things under control," said Auburn coach Bryan Ott. "Hoffman Estates plays very disciplined and they have some shooters. We were able to come up with some defensive stands when we had to."
The Knights hit 7 of 9 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
"We had some good efforts from some players and we made a couple of good comebacks," said Wandro. "But we can't keep depending on Kevin to come up with the scoring. Sometimes we don't have guys looking to score.
"It puts pressure on the others. We were in position to do more but mistakes hurt us."
Lance Vesper finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who will play Larkin at 5 p.m. today. Auburn plays Glenbard East in the 8 p.m. semifinal.
Glenbard East 93, Larkin 58: Larkin stayed within arm's reach of talented Glenbard East for a half thanks to accurate long-range shooting, but the Rams closed out on 3-point shooters in the second half and their defense forced 28 turnovers in an eventual 93-58 victory at the Elgin Holiday Tournament Tuesday.
Glenbard East (9-1) advances to the tournament semifinal against Rockford Auburn (8-2) today at 8 p.m. Larkin (7-4) will face Hoffman Estates (6-4) at 5 p.m.
The Royals sank six 3-pointers in the game's first 9:32 - three by Ryan Smith (15 points) and three by Jermaine Clements (11) - to keep the game tied at 24.
However, the explosive Rams scored 16 unanswered points. Tremendous full-court pressure helped cause 8 Larkin turnovers in the second quarter and junior Jon Hill splashed three 3-pointers in a span of 50 seconds.
The Royals responded with a 14-4 run to keep it close at the half, a surge fueled by a 3-pointer by Ramadan Adili, 4 free throws from Trevor Whitehead and 3 points by senior post Garrett McDaniel. But a floater from senior guard Jack Merrithey with 2 seconds left in the half staked the Rams a 46-38 advantage at the break.
The second half was all Glenbard East. The Rams outscored the Royals 29-9 in the third quarter to break the game open. Hill led the charge with 5 third-quarter baskets en route to a 28-point night, eclipsing his previous career high of 22 points set on Monday in a win over Highland Park. He also had 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots.
"Offensively, he's really starting to put the ball in the basket for us and it really opens up other aspects of the game for other guys," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said.
Hill was modest about his offensive achievements due to what he said was his lack of execution on defense throughout the first half. It was the 6-foot-3 forward's job to shadow Smith at the 3-point line, but Smith notched five 3-pointers in 11 attempts.
"My defense was horrible, let's be honest," Hill said. "Coach told me that I scored almost 30 points but I gave up 25. That's the big thing, being more of an all-around player. I thought my defense could have been a lot better and I was probably the reason they did keep up with us in that first half."
Glenbard East's defense took Larkin completely out of its game in the second half.
"We stayed with them for about a half, and that's all it is - a half," Royals coach Deryn Carter said. "They're a great team. They're a top 15, top 20 team in the state and they showed that in the second half for sure. You've got to be able to sustain some level of energy and effort throughout the game and we weren't able to. You do that and a team like that will take advantage of it."
Junior guard Zach Miller scored 13 points for the Rams, while senior Lee Skinner added 12 points and Merrithey 10. Adili had 9 points for Larkin and McDaniel added 8.
Wheaton North 65, Elgin 59: Wheaton North's bigs eventually got the best of Elgin's youngs in a 65-59 victory at the Elgin Holiday Tournament Tuesday.
Elgin (2-8), which lost its sixth straight, led for three quarters until Wheaton North (5-5) erupted for a 14-4 run in the first 2:47 of the final period to take a 59-52 lead.
Falcons junior forward Jeff Schalk (6-foot-4) scored a game-high 20 points and senior forward Nick Barry (6-6) added 14 against an Elgin team that started no players taller than 6-3.
"We had a height advantage inside," Schalk said. "We wanted to work it around in there and if that led to other shots, that's what happened. We finally started stepping up in the second half. They have a bunch of young players and we had a little maturity over them and were able to pull it out in the end. We have some good varsity experience and that definitely helps us in the long run."
For the second straight game in the tournament, Elgin held a 10-point, first-half lead but couldn't defend it, a trend coach Mike Sitter did not excuse due to inexperience, though three sophomores and a freshman played significant minutes.
"We're 10 games into the season," Sitter said. "At some point you have to grow up and learn how to win a game. It's a learning process.
"It's like Groundhog Day: up by 10 early, lose by 10 late. It's just a matter of having a consistent effort for four quarters. We're trying to get that into the kids."
Elgin led 18-8 after a quarter, but the Falcons outscored the Maroons by 3 points in the second and third quarters to stay within striking distance. Barry pulled Wheaton North within 48-47 early in the fourth quarter with his put back after a missed free throw. Schalk tied the game at 49 on an easy layup with 7:23 remaining after junior Mike Fitzpatrick made a steal on the press and fed him in the paint. Schalk canned a turnaround jumper with 6:50 left to give the Falcons their first lead.
Elgin tied the game at 51 with 2 free throws by Jordan Dean (team-high 15 points), but 4 free throws by senior Matt Nelson, a jump shot from the elbow by Fitzpatrick and another turnaround jumper from Schalk extended the Falcons' lead to 59-52 with 5:13 to play.
Wheaton North's defense forced 27 Elgin turnovers, 8 in the fourth quarter.
"We had trouble guarding them in the first half and they did some pretty good things," Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos said. "I think we kind of made a little bit of a run with a couple of steals that helped us out and we hit a couple of shots. It was one of those days where you just stay with things and, hopefully, get a run going and come back to take a lead."
Elgin pulled within 62-59 on Kory Brown's transition bucket with 1:53 to play, but Mike Small (11 points) sank 2 free throws with 1:47 to play and Nelson split a pair with 1:37 left for the final margin.
Batavia 62, Dundee-Crown 31: There's no arguing that things haven't gone Batavia's way lately.
The Bulldogs lost a couple of close games and dropped 4 of 5 overall heading into Tuesday morning's consolation game against Dundee Crown in the 35th annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament.
Facing the prospect of a .500 record with a loss, Batavia started and finished strong, doubling up a junior-heavy Dundee-Crown team, 62-31.
"Dundee's a young and rebuilding team that plays extremely hard," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "I thought our kids came out with a purpose, especially with a tough loss (Monday)."
After watching Rolling Meadows rally past them in the fourth quarter on Monday, the Bulldogs made sure that the only concern in the final quarter would be playing time for reserves.
"We knew they were young and hungry and we just wanted to come out real hard," said Batavia senior Ricky Clopton, who led all scorers with 16 points. "I don't think they could get anything going against our zone. We executed and played consistent."
Batavia (6-4) jumped ahead 24-13 during a fast-paced first quarter. The Chargers tried to slow the pace to open the second quarter, and while they had some success doing so, they also struggled in hanging onto the ball as turnovers would plague them all morning.
The Chargers committed 24 turnovers. They only scored 12 points in the second half while turning the ball over 15 times.
"It's hard to win many games when you're going to turn the ball over 24 times and some of those were unforced," Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. "We gave them too many extra chances while taking them away from ourselves. We definitely could've used those extra chances."
When they didn't turn the ball over, the Chargers struggled finding open looks, scoring just 18 points after the first quarter. A lot of that had to do with the presence of Batavia's big men, Clopton, Cole Gardner and Elliot Vaughn.
"I thought our big guys did a nice job of rotating and utilizing our size advantage," Roberts said. "I thought we did a nice job of communicating."
Jesse Coffey scored 12 points for the Bulldogs while Gardner, Vaughn and Sam Shump each contributed a half dozen apiece.
Batavia will continue tournament play at noon on Wednesday versus Glenbrook South (3-6).
Dundee-Crown, which lost its sixth straight to fall to 1-7, was led by Ryan Smith's 10 points. The Chargers take on Willowbrook at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Chris Walker, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Dave Oberhelman, Marty Maciaszek and Greg Swiderski contributed to this report