South Elgin nearly upsets East Aurora

South Elgin outscored East Aurora in the second, third, and fourth quarters, got a long, key 3-pointer from Sammy Sutter, and an impossible one-handed hoop from Jacob Maestranzi to send the game into overtime Thursday.

But all of that still wasn't quite enough to overcome East Aurora's quickness, its defensive intensity, and senior guard Ryan Boatright, whose 2 overtime free throws capped a 23-point performance, and proved to be the difference in the Tomcats' 55-54 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division win in Aurora.

“I knew I had to finish strong for us to win the game,” Boatright said. “Any player who has the ability I have has to thrive in those moments.”

But Boatright's performance was somewhat overshadowed, and nearly overtaken by Sutter, who scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter when his team needed them most.

“(Sutter) made big shot after big shot tonight,” South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said.

Boatright and teammate Letrell Viser helped East Aurora (14-2, 7-0) jump out to a 10-0 lead, and for much of the first 8 minutes the Tomcats were playing the game they wanted to play.

“We came out very focused and played extremely hard,” East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said.

But South Elgin (9-9, 3-4) wasn't fazed by its opponent's fast start, or its full-court trap, and when Martin Duarte sank a pair of free throws the Storm had its first lead, 20-19, having outscored the Tomcats 20-9 over a nine minute stretch.

“Collectively, the guys made great plays and great stops,” Taft said. “We're happy with the toughness we showed tonight and the way we played.”

While the Storm's crisp ball movement led to open looks and quick layups, the Tomcats seemed to lose a lot of their energy on the floor, and with it, their shooting range.

“South Elgin made us work more than we've had to all season, and I think that affected our shooting,” Jeffries said.

South Elgin's tight defense held East Aurora to 17 points in the second and third quarters combined, and as the fourth quarter began East Aurora held a slim 33-31 lead.

“Every game we've seen East Aurora play the points have been in the 70s, we wanted this game to be from 55 to 60,” Taft said. “We felt if we were able to do that we'd have a chance to win the game.”

With momentum in South Elgin's corner, and Boatright seemingly neutralized, a different Tomcat, guard John Williams, stepped up, hitting a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. Williams followed that up with a pair of hoops, giving him 7 points in the quarter's first three minutes, to stake East Aurora to a 42-35 lead.

But just as they had done in the first half, the Storm rallied from a 9-point deficit to tie the game.