Defense carries South Elgin over Elgin

At one point during the second quarter of Saturday's game, Elgin had brought itself within 25-20 of host South Elgin.

Then came the defensive pressure from the Storm. And not just any defensive pressure, the kind of smothering defense that coach Tim Prendergast had been searching for all season.

South Elgin outscored Elgin 20-1 to close out the second quarter, en route to a 75-37 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory in South Elgin.

"Our biggest weakness has been our overall defense," Prendergast said. "Our biggest thing coming in was we wanted to defend. We wanted to get going on defense."

The Strom (8-11, 2-4) scored 11 points off Elgin (1-18, 1-5) turnovers during its second-quarter run. Elgin turned the ball over 11 times in its 17 second-quarter possessions and shot just 1 of 6 from the floor. South Elgin was 62.5 percent (10 of 16) in the second quarter as Becca Smith poured in 8 of her game-high 25 points during the stretch.

The Storm forced Elgin into 30 total turnovers during the first three quarters, which led South Elgin to a 66-28 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. Smith finished with 12 steals in the game, despite not playing in the final quarter.

"We've been really struggling on offense, so we wanted to play hard defense and let the defense create the offense, " said Smith, who added 6 rebounds and 5 assists. "We really played hard defense and that's what won us the game."

South Elgin's defense created 30 points off 22 steals during the first three quarters. Smith alone score 10 points off steals in the first half. South Elgin made 7 straight baskets to close out the first quarter and open the second and then made 8 of its last 9 shots to close out the half.

"We were struggling on defense, especially in transition," Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said. "That's one of their strengths with Becca Smith. We had some breakdowns defensively and (she) hit some shots."

Elgin trailed just 21-14 as the first quarter came to a close. The main source of the Maroons' offense came from the free-throw line, where Elgin scored 11 of its first 21 points. Overall, 19 of Elgin's 37 points were from the foul line. Elgin shot just 27.3 percent (9 of 33) in the game.

"At the beginning we were really intense, than we just lost it," said Elgin senior Abbey Houde, who scored 11 points.

Briana Hamilton added 11 points for the Maroons, while Amanda Behles finished with 11 for the Storm and Deandra Anderson also chipped in 10 rebounds, including 5 offensive.