Maestranzi, South Elgin hang on against Metea Valley

Not even blurred vision in one eye can stop South Elgin point guard Jake Maestranzi, especially when it comes to free throws.

In the final minute of the fourth quarter during the Storm's 64-52 home win over Metea Valley Friday night, Maestranzi lost a contact, forcing one of the referees to ask Storm coach Chaz Taft if he wanted to take Maestranzi out.

Taft confidently said, "no."

Good call by Taft; Maestranzi connected on both. And while his vision was blurred for two more foul shots, his free throw shooting was not. He'd finish 14 for 14 at the line, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter and helped stave off the Mustangs, who cut a 23-point lead to 4 with under seven minutes remaining in the Upstate Eight Valley game.

"I have so much confidence and trust in that kid," Taft said. "I'll have him shoot them with no eyes. I have confidence in him."

"It was a little hard to see," said Maestranzi, who scored 19 points. "I still got one eye, you only need one eye to play. I think free throws are key to the game and I practice them a lot."

Practice made perfect in South Elgin's case as it endured a whirlwind of fouls in the fourth and free throws (15-for-18) became the only scoring for the Storm, which managed just one basket.

South Elgin (10-9, 4-4) grabbed an early 15-point second quarter lead behind an offense that shot 13 for 23 in the first half and after halftime led by as many as 23 when Sammy Sutter nailed a 3-pointer to make 46-23 with four minutes left in the third. Sutter finished with 20 points on 4 for 11 shooting, 12 coming in the first half.

But what ensued until about the 6:36 mark in the fourth was a full-fledged 20-1 run by Metea that cut the Storm's lead to 4.

Consecutive 3s by TreSean Mackey and Raysean Parker cut the deficit to 17 with 3:10 left. Parker's layup off the glass with 45 seconds left made it 47-36 and Ryan Soloman's bucket off a steal to begin the fourth cut the lead to 47-39.

"We'll play great one half and we'll have another half like this where if didn't have that lead, anything could have happened," Taft said. "You can't afford to have those turnovers because that's how they build those runs and they get back in the game."

South Elgin committed 14 turnovers in the second half, 22 overall, thanks to Metea's trap. One led to Sean Davis' layup, cutting the lead to 4 with 6:41 left. But that's as close as the Mustangs got.

"That was the team we expect for four quarters," Mustangs coach Bob Vozza said. "I think we expended a whole bunch of energy to try to make that run in the third quarter. Then we stayed at that high level, then Maestranzi did a great job of slowing (us) down and unfortunately we were fouling him.

"He needs to be a senior," Vozza chuckled.