Willowbrook holds on to down Elgin

It was not the holiday tournament the Elgin boys basketball team was hoping for as the Maroons fell for the third time in four games, losing to Willowbrook 52-48 on Saturday in the final round of the 35th Annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Tournament.

Elgin took a 44-42 lead with 2:23 to play but that was the last time the Maroons saw the lead as the Warriors outscored the Maroons 10-4 in the final 2 minutes of the game.

Willowbrook's CJ Thornton (9 points) converted 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch with the final two coming with 9.9 seconds left to give the Warriors with a 52-46 lead.

"We have a problem playing with a sustained intensity," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter. "We have a tendency to go on runs of 10 in a row but then we have a tendency to give back 20."

Elgin opened the game with a 17-point first quarter and led the Warriors by seven. But by the end of the first half Willowbrook fought back and the Maroons went into the locker room with a 23-21 lead.

Eric Miller led the Warriors with 18 points, scoring 9 of the 11 Willowbrook points in the second quarter.

The second half started with Elgin's Jordan Dean (19 points, 5 3-pointers) hitting from beyond the arc to give the Maroons a 26-21 lead but then the Warriors went on 12-4 run to take 33-30 lead. Elgin got the lead back at 36-34, but a basket by Willowbrook's Graham Olatunji (10 points) tied the game at 36-36 at the end of three quarters of play.

Kory Brown added 12 points for Elgin.