Elgin can't stop DeKalb's Threloff
ROCK FALLS - Quickness is the name of the game for the Elgin boys basketball team this season, not size.
Thus, the guard-oriented Maroons, with no players on the roster taller than 6-foot-3, were at a distinct disadvantage when they faced DeKalb and 6-10 center Jordan Threloff at the Rock Falls Shootout Saturday.
Though the scrappy Maroons found ways to score, they couldn't halt the big man. The Illinois State-bound senior and reigning Western Sun Conference player of the year scored a game-best 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to pace the Barbs to a 68-61 victory.
"I've been double and tripled teamed all year, so it was nothing I'm not used to," Threloff said. "I don't know if we really played like it, but we know how to react to that and get our guys open. It wasn't the most physical game that we've played."
The win was the eighth straight for DeKalb (13-3). The loss was the second in a row for Elgin (4-11).
The Maroons tried to prepare for Threlof in practices this week, but nothing compares to facing the real thing.
"You can't emulate a 6-10 guy in practice," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "Our goal was to front him and I thought we did a very good job. We had guys where we wanted them, but he just overpowered us whenever he wanted to."
Threloff set the tone with a dunk seven seconds into the game and DeKalb jumped to a 9-2 lead. But with Threloff on the bench with 2 first-quarter fouls, the Maroons ran off 9 straight points to take an 11-9 lead early in the second quarter.
However, Threloff wasn't the only weapon in DeKalb's arsenal. Senior guard Dylan Donnelly splashed four 3-pointers in the contest en route to a 19-point game. His first 3-pointer in the second quarter gave DeKalb the lead back and the Barbs outscored Elgin 20-10 in the period to build a 29-19 lead by halftime.
The teams played to a draw in the third quarter, but Elgin made it a game in the fourth. The Maroons trailed 48-35 with seven minutes to play but were able to trim the deficit to 62-58, a balanced push capped by Andres' putback with 37 seconds to play.
"Our kids played hard," Sitter said. "They competed from the opening tip and they didn't give up until the final buzzer, and you could tell that by the final score. There were a couple of times they got up by 12 points or so and our kids could have folded and they didn't. They just kept scrapping back, scrapping back. I'm proud of them for that."
However, Elgin was forced to foul and DeKalb senior forward Chris Calbow sandwiched 4 straight free throws around an Elgin missed shot, and he added another bucket with 10 seconds left to seal the Barbs' victory.
Sophomore guard Dennis Moore led Elgin with 14 points and senior guard Mike Richard added 13. Each sank three 3-pointers.