South Elgin upsets top seed at Oswego East
It's no secret that when the South Elgin girls basketball team has its offense clicking, the Storm can be awfully tough to beat.
On Monday afternoon at Oswego East, all the engines were firing on high gear for the Storm.
With its second highest offensive output of the season, and best against a quality opponent, the Storm upset No. 1 seed Plainfield North 73-64 in the quarterfinals of the Wolves Winter Classic.
Unseeded South Elgin (6-7) will take on No. 4 seed West Chicago (9-4) at 6:30 p.m. today in the semifinals. West Chicago beat East Aurora 46-36 Monday.
"We got into our transition game today and that's when we're going to score 70-80 points," said Storm sophomore Becca Smith, who had another stellar outing with a game-high 26 points, 9 assists and 4 steals. "When we push the ball we play our best basketball."
The Smith connection was working at its finest Monday, as South Elgin senior Dijon Smith took several of Becca Smith's assists to score 25 points. She also had 7 rebounds as the Smiths did their part in helping the Storm compensate for the loss of starting guard Sarah Havemann, who is out with an illness.
The Storm spotted Plainfield North (10-4) an 11-4 lead at the start of the game before getting the jets going. South Elgin went on a 13-0 run to take a 17-11 lead on a Dijon Smith basket with 50 seconds left in the first quarter. The period ended with South Elgin leading 17-13 and Plainfield North would get no closer the rest of the way.
South Elgin's 21-9 blitz in the second quarter left the Storm with a 38-22 halftime lead. Becca Smith scored 16 of her points in the first half and Dijon Smith had 10. The Storm was 13 of 28 shooting in the first half and had only 7 turnovers.
"That was our best first half all year," said Storm coach Tim Prendergast. "That gave us a cushion."
It was a cushion the Storm ended up needing. South Elgin held a 52-33 lead after a bucket by Lania Robinson with 3:19 left in the third quarter before the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to make it a 9-point game. But sophomore Lauren Vedrine came off the bench to score two straight baskets and South Elgin maintained at least an 8-point lead the rest of the way.
"It was kind of a tale of two halves," said Prendergast. "I wasn't happy with our defense in the second half. We have to be able to guard people better. But we're happy to knock off the No. 1 seed. Our transition, our speed and our athleticism got to them today."
The Storm, which shot 29 of 58 for the game but was outrebounded 37-26, including 19-7 on the offensive glass, also got key contributions off the bench from senior Bree Smith, who took an important charge in the third quarter, and freshman Amanda Behles, who came in and scored 6 points and had 2 steals.
After finishing third in this tournament last season, South Elgin hopes today to advance to the championship game, and to get back to .500 for the season.
"Winning games in this tournament is going to give us the confidence we need to start the new year," Becca Smith said.
Cassie Wolfe had 21 points to lead Plainfield North.